Youth representations of life success structural and content aspects of the study

Abstract

The empirical study presented in the article resulted in determination of the life reference points which the youth treat as life success. Those are good relations, social recognition, wealth, professionalism, career, authority, and creative self-realization. The author emphasizes that it is the life reference points that determine the role which the young people attach to luck, risk, deliberate decisions, social links, common norms and rules in achieving life success. The importance of risk is mostly recognized by the youth that chose authority as a sign of success. The youth who prioritize professionalism be-lieve that deliberate decisions play a key role in achieving success. The findings of the study also show attitudes of the young people to such life reference points as confidence in achieving success, satisfaction with one’s achievements, recognition of one’s success in life, and evaluation of the attitudes of others to their success. The youth who have chosen good relations, wealth and career as indicators of life success are more confident of their success in the future and already see considerable success in their life unlike those who have chosen professionalism. The author concludes that the youth who have chosen good relations, social recognition and career as the signs of their life success are more content with their achievements, whereas the youth who gave preference to profes-sionalism, authority and creative self-realization are less content. Socio-economic conditions have a considerable impact on the level of confidence in achieving success. The youth who demonstrated high confidence rate mainly come from the high-income families and study economics as their major.