MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is a phrase you might have heard over the last few years on TikTok and money blogs.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is money dysmorphia.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Money dysmorphia.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Money dysmorphia.
MARTIN: Now, money dysmorphia is not a clinical diagnosis. It refers to young Americans now being richer than young people in previous generations, and yet about 3 in 5 are anxious about their finances. Our colleague Darian Woods at The Indicator looks at why some in Gen Z feel like they're in the economic dumps, even if they're doing OK.
DARIAN WOODS, BYLINE: The median income for a 25-year-old is somewhere between $42,000 and $50,000 a year. Millennials, Gen Xes, baby boomers all earned significantly less at that age, even accounting for inflation. Young people's wealth is also higher, and yet a significant portion of young people today feel like they don't have enough. There is student debt, high house prices and inequality, yes, but they don't fully explain this mismatch. Tali Sharot is a neuroscientist at MIT and University College London. She thinks there are some other factors at play.
TALI SHAROT: In order to be happy and satisfied, we need to see ourself progressing.
WOODS: A sense of progression is important, Tali says, because we easily get used to the status quo.
SHAROT: So it might be that you have great things in your life, like an interesting job or a comfortable home, but it brings you less joy on a day-to-day basis because it's been there all the time.
WOODS: This is called habituation, a fundamental concept in psychology.
SHAROT: And so coming back to the Gen Z kind of idea is that, well, the fact that they have quite a bit doesn't mean that they don't then feel that they need more.
WOODS: The second reason for young people's financial dissatisfaction, Tali says, is comparison.
SHAROT: They are the generation where social media is - huge thing that they kind of grew up with. Everyone's posting their travels or their whatever, and, you know, half of it is not really an accurate representation of what's true. So now you're comparing yourself to what appears to be your peers. That will definitely have a negative effect.
WOODS: Tali Sharot says that the pains of comparison are real.
SHAROT: There are so many studies. And some of this - these are studies that we've conducted that show that people will care more and are happier if they get more rewards - in this case, money - relative to others.
WOODS: Now, somebody listening into our conversation might say, you two are gaslighting me - that you're essentially saying, this is all in your head. What do you have to say to that critique?
SHAROT: I agree with the fact that what matters is your subjective experience. Here's the thing. If the reason you are anxious and sad, and you know, could be potentially lessened by simply not following certain people on social media, maybe having a break from social media. I mean, try to make a change in your habits to see whether, as a result, maybe that does have a positive effect.
WOODS: Tali also points out that dissatisfaction with the status quo can be a powerful driver for change. After all, if we'd stayed happy with how things were thousands of years ago, we might never have left our caves.
Darian Woods, NPR News.
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