Adolescents’ Hopes for Personal, Local, and Global Future: Insights from Ukraine

Abstract

This study explores adolescents’ hopes for personal, local, and global future in postcommunist Ukraine. The research is based on a survey of 200 sixth-graders in the cities of Donetsk and Lviv in fall 2005. The analysis identifies six domains related to personal aspirations of adolescents: education, career, self-actualization, personal relationships, material possessions, and physical well-being. The findings also indicate that local concerns of respondents focus on the quality of public services and the environment. The study further finds that students fear most the deterioration of crossborder interpersonal relations. In addition, the analysis suggests that Ukrainian adolescents are more concerned about domestic politics than their peers in mature democracies. Moreover, the findings reveal gender and regional variations in the content of adolescents’ hopes.