The rapid social and economic change was found to
have much impact on the psychology, behavior and value system of
young people. The phenomenon was common to the young in four
cities, namely Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. This
study examines four main areas: the personal status in a rapid
changing society, the stress results from employment, family,
marriage and friendship, the way young people manage stress and
their physical well-being. A good reference and worthwhile to
read.
Major findings:
In respect of personal situation in a rapidly developing
society, most of the Hong Kong respondents said their
lives had changed just a little bit or not changed during
the past year. The majority of the respondents from the
Mainland said their lives had changed a little bit,
totally 51 per cent, 45 per cent and 40 per cent
respectively of the youth in Guangzhou, Shanghai and
Beijing.
In respect of stress in a restructuring economy/ economic
reform, the Hong Kong respondents are most worried about
the effect on "job hunting" or that the changes
might cause "unemployment" (each about 20 per
cent). There are similar portions of Guangzhou youth
(about 16 per cent to 17 per cent) worrying that economic
reform may affect "job security,"
"income" or "fulfilling one¡¦s
potential." Many Shanghai youth (20 per cent to 23
per cent) and Beijing youth (about 20 per cent) said they
were worrying that "job security" or
"income" would be affected.
Young people in the four cities considered the
qualifications required in a marriage partner quite
differently. More than one-third of the young people in
Guangzhou and Beijing said they would consider
"loving them" as the most important
qualification when looking for a marriage partner. More
than 40 per cent of the Hong Kong youth would consider
"the compatible personality/ interest" first.
The majority of the respondents of the four cities said
they would not marry someone for financial reasons whom
they did not love.
An overwhelming percentage of the Hong Kong interviewees
strongly agreed or agreed with the statement that
"personal interactions today mostly involved
interests."
Nevertheless, about one-third of our respondents from
Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and more than half of
the respondents from Beijing claimed that in their
experience, "being sincere" was the main
ingredient factor in making friends.
Most young people in the four cities said they were
confident about coping with the stress they were
subjected to. However there are quite a few young people
in Guangzhou (about 18 per cent) who felt "not very
confident" or even "not confident" about
coping with stress ;
More than 57 per cent of the Hong Kong youth said they
did not need services to deal with stress. In contrast,
most of the respondents from the Mainland preferred to
have "personal counseling services/ psychotherapy
services." Nearly 30 per cent of the Guangzhou youth
expressed this need. However, about 22 per cent of the
Shanghai youth and 32 per cent of the Beijing youth
respectively said they did not know/ it was hard to say
what kind of service they wanted.
Comparative Youth Study No.6 
