MTV NETWORKS INTERNATIONAL “WELLBEING” STUDY REVEALS FASCINATING INSIGHTS INTO GLOBAL CULTURE - TELLING A TALE OF TWO WORLDS FOR KIDS AND YOUTH
Nickelodeon and MTV’s Biggest-Ever Kids and Youth Study Underscores Audience Expertise
India Leads in Young People Wellbeing Index
London and New York (20 November, 2006) – They dress alike, listen to similar music, play the latest video games and have online friends they’ve never met. They face comparable pressures in their daily lives at school and during young adulthood. But while today’s global youth are superficially the same, their innermost thoughts about their futures and families, religion and relationships are very different, according to the biggest-ever study of kids and young people undertaken by MTV Networks International (MTVNI).
The Nickelodeon/MTV Wellbeing study tells a tale of two worlds; a developed world where young people who are materially wealthy but pessimistic about their futures, and a developing world where young people are optimistic and hopeful despite facing greater challenges.
And according to MTVNI’s own Wellbeing Index, Indian young people have the greatest perceived sense of Wellbeing out of the countries surveyed.
“The world is changing at unprecedented speed and our research has revealed unique and surprising youth cultural differences between developing and developed countries,” said Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International. “This survey underscores our commitment to understanding the diversity of kids and young people throughout the world.”
The study, the largest ever undertaken by MTV Networks International, took six months to complete and encompassed 5,200 interviews with 8-15 year-olds and 16-34 year-olds in 14 countries. Young people were surveyed in Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the USA.
Across the board results from the Nickelodeon/MTV study were counter-intuitive.
“Some cultural commentators claim that the world is culturally ‘flat’ and that there are more similarities than differences amongst global youth, but our survey has revealed the opposite,” said Graham Saxton, MTVNI Senior Vice-President for Research and Planning. “There were some common trends amongst all global youth but the differences were greater than the similarities.”
The experiences that were common to all included stress and job fears. “Kids and young people are growing up younger and appear to be experiencing higher levels of stress in their daily lives,” said Saxton.
The Wellbeing Index
As part of the survey, MTVN developed the Wellbeing Index to compare the perceived wellbeing of 16-34 year-olds in different parts of the world. The index is based on the perceptions of young people, how they feel about safety, where they fit in to their society and how they see their future.
The country where young people had the greatest perceived sense of wellbeing was India, followed by Sweden with the USA coming third. The full list runs in the following order: 1) India, 2) Sweden, 3) USA, 4) Denmark 5) France 6) UK 7) Argentina 8) Indonesia 9) Germany 10) Japan 11) South Africa 12) Mexico and 13) Brazil (China was not included in the Index as not all questions were able to be asked).
"The index is a unique and original way of looking at wellbeing by focusing on the perceptions of the young people themselves,” said Roedy. “Overall our study showed that developing countries had considerably higher levels of happiness and optimism, but that other factors such as the lack of personal safety compromised their perceived wellbeing.”
MTVNI will use the 3.5 million pieces of information gathered to develop public affairs initiatives relevant to its global audience, such as on climate change and obesity. It will also inform developments in tone, content and themes for MTVN’s 130 TV channels worldwide and 150 digital services.
“For example, it’s clear from the study that young people are worried about jobs and work, so we have new MTV shows in development which help demystify the job market,” said Saxton.
The Wellbeing Study’s main findings are:
The Future
• Kids in developing countries were more positive about their future than those in developed nations.
o A majority of 16-34 year-olds in developing nations expected their lives to be more enjoyable in the future, led by China with 84%.
o More 8-15 year-olds in developing nations expected to have more fun in the future than 8-15 year-olds in developed countries. 83% of Chinese, 69% of South African and 68% of Mexican 8-15 year-olds expected their lives to be more fun, compared to 51% of American, 42% of French and just 30% of German kids.
o In contrast to developing nations, a majority in every developed country expected to earn less than their parents.
o Some 79% of Indonesians and 78% of Chinese 16-34 year-olds believed that they will earn more than their parents. Just 17% of Japanese, 27% of Germans and 32% of French thought the same.
Happiness
• Globally, only 43% of 16-34 year-olds asked said they were happy with the way things were. Younger children aged 8-15 were happier, but surprisingly not much more so: 57% on average.
• However, developed nations dragged down the averages. Young people in developing countries were at least twice as likely to feel happy as their counterparts in developed nations.
o More than 70% of 16-34 year-olds, and 80% of 8-15 year-olds said they were happy in Argentina and Mexico, versus fewer than 30% of 16-34 year-olds and under 50% of 8-15 year-olds in the US and the UK.
Religion
• Young people in the developing world were more religious, and there was a correlation between youth who were actively religious and happiness levels. Over half of 16-34 year-old Indonesians, Brazilians and Indians said they were religious, compared to one in four in the USA and one in 10 in Sweden and Germany.
o 76% of Japanese, 63% of French and 50% of Swedes asked said they were faithless.
o 40% of Germans and 35% of Americans described themselves as believing in a higher power, but found traditional religious institutions too rigid.
Stress
• One consistent finding across ages and in every country was the pressure on youth to succeed. Kids and young people are stressing about the same things as adults. More than half of 8-15 year-olds worry about getting a job. By comparison, only 34% were concerned about fitting in at school and only 25% worried about looking cool.
o 66% of 8-15 year-old Brazilians were worried about their weight while 93% said that looking good was a sign of success.
o 65% of 16-34 year-olds chose listening to music as their main form of stress relief, with television (48%) their second choice. For younger children, watching television (59%) was slightly more popular than music (58%).
Terror and safety
• Terrorism came just eighth in the list of fears for 16-34 year-olds and tenth in the list of fears for 8-15 year-olds. Parents dying, cancer, AIDS, and robbery were greater fears for both age groups.
• Personal safety is a major issue for young people in the developing world.
o Kids in Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia were the most fearful about their personal safety (73%, 73% and 69% respectively).
• The forces of globalisation and constant access to the news media create a world that feels less safe to kids and young people in all countries. The more news media young people watched, the less safe they felt.
National patriotism
• Kids from developing nations appear to be more patriotic.
o 91% of Indian 16-34 year-olds were proud of their country. By contrast only one in three 16-34 year-olds were proud to be German or Japanese (33% and 35% respectively).
o 63% of Americans asked were proud of their country.
School and bullying
• In 12 out of the 14 countries surveyed more than two thirds of 8-15 year-olds said that getting good grades in school was their top priority.
o The figures ranged from 88% in South Africa to just 37% in Sweden.
• While bullying happens everywhere, it is more of a problem in the developed world.
o 56% of kids in the USA and UK said they had been victims of bullying, following by Denmark, France and South Africa on 49%. However, a developing nation, Argentina, topped the list of kids who had been bullied, with 72%.
New technology
• Digital technology and media is changing kids behaviour.
o Chinese 16-34 year-olds have 22 online friends, and 30% of them said they found it easier to make friends online than in person.
o More youth in Germany, Japan and Sweden watched news online than on TV.
Both qualitative and quantitative research for the Wellbeing project was gathered via questionnaires as well as online, telephone and face-to-face interviews and ethnographic immersions. MTVNI commissioned Synovate YC to conduct the project globally. The survey aimed to provide detailed statistics and analysis on attitudes towards wellbeing factors and insights into emotions, beliefs and values. It explored issues such as states of mind and stress, the mental and physical, health, faith, family and friends, relationships, obesity and eating.
About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with 133 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services – MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, with all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 150 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.