AMSTERDAM - A large global survey released on April 12 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 international research agency Glocalities, shared with Reuters, offered context for November’s US presidential polls and a plethora of votes worldwide, including a European Union parliamentary election in June.
It surveyed respondents to determine their position 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 between 2014 and 2023, even as it became more pessimistic, according to more than 300,000 surveys in 20 countries representing nearly 60 per cent of the global population.
Young people the world over feel especially let down by society, said Mr Martijn Lampert, head of research at Glocalities. He added 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 American men were the only population group in the US or seven EU member states to actually have become more conservative since 2014 – or, in the poll’s terms, to favour more control rather than freedom. In total, 14,526 Americans were polled between 2014 and 2023, including 2,242 men aged between 18 and 34.
Worldwide, “feelings of hopelessness, societal disillusionment and rebelling against cosmopolitan values partly explain the rise of radical right anti-establishment parties”, Mr 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 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 between 18 and 24 overtook men aged between 55 and 70 as the most socially conservative group, women aged between 18 and 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 in 2023 – 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 from 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 towards achieving social and economic status, and set store by conservative family values and competition, bravery and honour.
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, Britain and the US. REUTERS
