Tekijät

• Pulkkinen, Lea (University of Jyväskylä. Department of Psychology)

Asiasanat

alcoholism, development, education, families, future, identity, labour and employment, leisure time, life cycle, life events, living conditions, smoking, values

Sisällön kuvaus

The data are part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS), in which the same individuals have been followed over 30 years. At this research stage, the life situation of 27-year-olds was charted regarding topics such as family, education, work, leisure, values, and changes in life. The research stage also includes theme interviews and two personality tests.

First, the respondents' family relations were canvassed. They were asked about their marital status, number of previous partners, household size, number of children, and satisfaction with the current state of their closest relationships. There were also questions on housing, education, choice of career, working hours, and the parents' occupation.

In relation to leisure, the respondents indicated how often they went to discos or theatres. Further questions covered reading books, listening to music, watching television, and physical exercise. Some questions pertained to the respondents' use of alcohol and smoking.

The respondents were presented with a set of attitudinal statements measuring their certainty on various issues including career and occupation, beliefs, political support, lifestyle, friendships, dating, hobbies, and sharing family responsibilities. The importance of politics, technology, religion, and sports was also examined. The respondents' satisfaction with themselves was surveyed, as well as their development targets. In addition, they were asked whether they had obtained their goals in life and whether they generally looked at various things trustingly.

Finally, changes in life were queried. The respondents were asked to name various events in their life (e.g. beginning studies, getting married, the death of a parent) and rate their positivity or negativity. The respondents were also asked to sort various things (e.g. home and family, work and studies, free time activities, friends) into ascending order according to how much satisfaction they received from them in their current life situation. Views on important issues and threats in the future were also queried.

The background variables included the 27-year-old's gender.