A large global survey released yesterday showed a surge in despair and disillusionment with established politics, particularly among young American men, the only US population group to turn more conservative over the past decade.
The study by the international research agency Glocalities offered context for November’s US presidential poll and a plethora of votes worldwide, including an EU parliamentary election in June.
It surveyed respondents to determine their position on a scale on a scale of optimism between “hope” and “despair,” and on another between “control” and “freedom” — in other words, conservatism and liberalism.
On average, the world became more liberal from 2014 to last year, even as it became more pessimistic, according to more than 300,000 surveys in 20 countries representing nearly 60 percent of the global population.
Young people the world over feel especially let down by society, Glocalities head of research Martijn Lampert said, adding that “the surge in despair among young adults in the US far outweighs the rise in despair among young adults in EU countries.”
Most strikingly, young US men were the only population group in the US or even seven EU member states to have become more conservative since 2014 — or, in the poll’s terms, to favor more control rather than freedom.
In total, 14,526 Americans were polled from 2014 to last year, including 2,242 men aged 18 to 34.
Worldwide, “feelings of hopelessness, societal disillusionment and rebelling against cosmopolitan values partly explain the rise of radical right anti-establishment parties,” Lampert said, citing elections in several European countries.
Social media algorithms were magnifying the trend by drawing “moderately conservative young men towards more extreme and radical conservative male role models and world views,” the report said.
The report also highlighted a sharp difference between the world’s young men and young women.
Both were worried about career prospects, financial security and education, but while men aged 18 to 24 overtook men aged 55 to 70 as the most socially conservative group, women aged 18 to 24 grew more liberal and anti-patriarchal.
On a scale where 1 represents the most conservative and 5 the most liberal, women worldwide aged 18 to 24 moved from 3.55 in 2014 to 3.78 last year — both easily the highest for any age group.
Men of the same age moved from 3.29 to 3.36. And in the US, men aged 18 to 34 became less liberal, dropping from 3.48 to 3.46.
“Globally, young women are likely the most liberal group in human history,” the report said.
Young women were worried above all about social issues such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect.
Young men were more geared toward achieving social and economic status, and set store by conservative family values and competition, bravery and honor.
If the report offered a glimmer of optimism, it was among the world’s men and women over 55, the only groups to become generally more hopeful over the decade, as well as more liberal.
Respondents were asked 43 questions to assess where they ranked. To gauge social values, Glocalities assessed their views about patriarchy, gender role flexibility, same-sex marriage and cohabitation before marriage.
The measurement of sentiment focused on future prospects and feelings about being let down by society.
Surveys were conducted in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the US.
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