BAT study: constant stress increases aggression

Young people become aggressive when they are not left alone. Every second young person in Germany gets angry when they are „disturbed by others“ (56 %) or cannot pursue their own leisure activities because they „have to be considerate of others“ (51 %). Many young people can only free themselves from the stress they have created in their free time by retreating. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute, in which 2,600 people aged 14 and over in Germany were asked about their personal reactions to stressful situations in their leisure time.

Well organised, totally planned and always fully booked

Young people increasingly have the feeling that they are running out of time. The more free time they have at their disposal and the more diverse the consumer offers are, the more their personal leisure desires grow. When everything becomes too much for them because they have „taken on too much“, they become a victim of their own demands: 28 per cent of all 14 to 19-year-olds can then only help themselves with aggression. Their inner restlessness and dissatisfaction with themselves „has to come out“: they annoy their own family, react by going jogging or playing football or deliberately pick fights with others. Many young people find it difficult to set themselves limits in their free time - in terms of time, finances and psychosocially.

They experience the consumption imperative „Stay tuned!“ as a single stress rally. The constant demands threaten to become excessive. Young people take on more than they can actually manage, especially at weekends.

Social obligations trigger stress symptoms

The social trend towards individualisation is not without consequences, because more and more young people are going on an „ego trip“. Social obligations and considerations immediately trigger stress symptoms in them if they have to „fulfil them“. Family gatherings and visits to relatives are particularly affected by this. For 29 per cent of all young people, visits to relatives are purely obligatory, which they only fulfil with great reluctance, compulsion, irritation and „with anger in their stomachs“. Such visits supposedly prevent them from doing what they actually enjoy more. In the wake of consumer and leisure stress, the social dimension of their own behaviour sometimes threatens to fall by the wayside.

Youth under constant stress: when nervousness turns into aggression

Compared to the population as a whole, young people only react relatively cool and calmly to stressful situations: The constant streaming of music is hardly a cause for excitement and anger for them (6 % - total population: 18 %). The Walkman generation sends its regards; they can obviously live well with music around the clock. The situation is different when it comes to constant TV: one in seven young people (16 % - total population: 13 %) are aggressive when watching TV all the time. Several hours of television can sometimes trigger more aggression than eight hours of work. Their own passivity demands physical exercise and many young people only feel good again when they can let themselves go.

The results of the BAT survey lead to the conclusion that the young generation, most of whom have grown up in affluence and consumer abundance, are resisting the constant overstimulation in their own way: They do not resign themselves, do not become apathetic, do not appear insecure or confused. Instead, she simply reacts to her inner restlessness.