SAJ: On a psychological level, what are the most common reactions/fears that we may feel during that transition?
AN: If before the pandemic there was already job hopelessness among young people, now it has worsened. The pandemic “happened unexpectedly,” and since then, we are permanently alert, waiting for other events, capable of occurring overnight, with the power to destroy our efforts. If the consideration before was, “I am going to make an effort because maybe I will make it happen/achieve it that way”, now we add an additional dimension: “I am going to make an effort because maybe I will make it, but who knows what happens tomorrow.” So, that percentage of influence or responsibility over our own future has fallen drastically. If this is prolonged over time (as has been the case – also adding the Ukraine War, inflation, rents, etc.), we run the risk that it will end up becoming a kind of justification that does not even invite us to take the first step. “Why should I even try?”
SAJ: Do you think that because of the vital moment in which we are entering the labor market – our twenties – this transition can become even more complicated?
AN: Undoubtedly; I think that there is also a "social morbidness," without really understanding why, but where our personal responsibility fights every morning against news like "how bad it is for us young people, how difficult it is going to be, how little is in our hands...".
SAJ: Is there anything we can do as a society to support young people in this process?
AN: Hopefully, now that our hope is waning – understandably – it would be good to at least counteract this attitude with exemplary messages from young people who don’t give up and/or with useful or accessible “roadmaps” to optimize the options available for the youth. I insist, without really understanding why, that we need to reflect on why the difficulties of being young are the ones mainly publicized.
SAJ: Young people who find their first job usually encounter a new obstacle: the "imposter syndrome", which tells them that they are not qualified enough for the position they just got. What advice would you give to face this thought?
AN: I would like to connect the “social alarmism” piece to this impostor syndrome; is it a coincidence that, if we commonly receive messages highlighting how difficult it is to be young and get ahead, when someone succeeds, they feel they are being an impostor? I don't think so.
We need to base our self-perception on “samples of reality,” not be driven only by “emotional” criteria or “intrusive thoughts.” We should look at our preparation, the years we have been studying to reach this place, the selection process we have gone through, how “updated”/qualified we are – perhaps in comparison to those who might have been in the position for years without “updating themselves”... Those samples of reality should take priority over thoughts.
SAJ: You have previously spoken on social media about the dangers of "Sugarcoat Psychology" and how it is not possible to find motivation at all times in our lives. How is this reflected in that first job search for young people? Could you explain to us what "Sugarcoat Psychology" is?
AN: I am happy and feel a certain "pressure" that this term is becoming popular. I thank you for the question, so I can clarify what I mean when I use it; the metaphor is based on the "sentences" that we find on some social media, on posters, on coffee cups, and even on sugar cubes themselves. They are sentences with a usually motivational intention. I don't think that harms anyone; that's not the "criticism." The battle would need to be waged against the “lack of context” that it entails. There is no room for a therapeutic exercise behind a sentence that fits in that space, and we have to understand the detrimental part that it can entail. For example:
"Never take a step back, not even to gain momentum." // "Today is going to be a great day." // "If you want to, you can."
How certain are these expressions? I may be putting everything I have into a goal, because I really dream of achieving it, and yet I may not achieve it. If I had been convinced that wanting it would be enough – what went wrong with me? Where did I fail?
Here we can see a possible negative repercussion where a person considers "sugar-coated psychology" an answer to their needs, without taking into consideration the whole context that should accompany it. For example, knowing our own biography, understanding why we made the decisions we made in the past, what that entailed, and how we got to this present moment involves the hard and necessary part of looking back.
This is not a criticism of sugar cubes as such, obviously – only a warning against messages that try to summarize a whole process in a simple expression that can generate confusion in those who need to give credibility or motivation to that phrase.
SAJ: Is it important to set boundaries to separate personal life from work? What advice do you have for this?
AN: Totally. In fact, following the natural order of this interview; if I feel like an imposter for having achieved a job despite the hopelessness that exists, then perhaps I decide to overwork myself to compensate for possible doubts about my performance. We are mistaken in this conception; in the same way that we organize our space for work, there must be an “ironclad organization” for our rest:
At what times am I not going to use my cell phone? // When am I going to stop answering e-mails, even if others are still pending? // When am I going to leave, even if there is still work to continue tomorrow?
It is essential not to lose our youth with the hopelessness of not having a good job, nor with the hopelessness of not having lived it because we spent it only working.
Alejandro is a Spanish general health psychologist (based in Baena, Cordoba) and a specialist in educational psychology. If you want to know more about his approach to therapy, you can follow him on social media (Twitter: @Alex11NC, Instagram: @psicoalejandro11, Facebook: ///PsicologíaBaena).
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