NEW STUDY: GIVE UP

Telling children to “dream big” when they grow up could be doing more harm than good. A new study by international researchers finds that having unrealistic aspirations as a teen could have a negative effect during adulthood. Researchers from the University of Basel and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid followed the lives of over 17,000 people in the United Kingdom who were all born in the same week in 1958. They analyzed data on the participants’ childhood environments, their parents’ professional and financial backgrounds, each child’s own abilities, their aspirations when they were younger, their job, and their well-being as an adult. The results:
– On one hand, researchers found that ambitious career goals motivated participants to invest more in their future career success. Also, parent’s aspirations for their children had a strong effect on a child’s future career goals.
– But on the other hand, the study also revealed the other side of “dreaming big” and the disappointments that could follow. There was a negative impact on life satisfaction during early adulthood if participants achieved less than what they aspired to when they were younger, although these negative effects did tend to dissipate in their later working lives.
* Y’know – when they realize there’s not enough time left to turn things around.
* Face it: we’re all going to end up in the fast food industry eventually.
* As the saying goes, “As you reach for the stars, be sure to keep your feet on the ground, or you’re going to die a horrible death in space.”
* Capitalism is a pyramid scheme, folks. The higher you go, the fewer slots there are to fill.
* Meanwhile, the researchers are thinking: “I had such high hopes, and here I am working on these stupid studies.”