Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Short Sharp Science - When do life crises strike? Help us find out

Jessica Griggs, careers editor
Psychologist Dan Levinson once remarked that he had never met anyone who had not gone through at least one major crisis during their adult life.
While films, sports-car cliches and personal experience may back up his comment, the questions of when and for whom crises occur have received little academic attention. Well, not for much longer.
Last year, New Scientist reported on the phenomenon of the quarter-life crisis; the re-evaluation and dramatic change of direction that sometimes occurs during early adulthood.
This was based on research carried out by researchers at the University of Greenwich who interviewed 50 young people about their emotional experiences during this time. The work established that the quarter-life crisis exists (as corroborated by the comments on our news story) but the sample wasn't large enough to determine how common it is or when it occurs.
Now, the innermost secrets of the crisis are to be laid bare. The Greenwich team are conducting an online survey of British adults which will probe the link between crisis episodes, age and life stage across a diverse group of adults.
The researchers are looking for adult volunteers to participate in the study. You can take part here (and be in with the chance of winning a cash prize for your efforts).
Stay tuned as New Scientist will exclusively report the findings later this year.

http://www.newscientist.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment