47
workplace , in order to aid them in developing positive relationships and maintaining good physical health . 89
Not knowing what to do next , being unsuccessful in job applications , moving back home to parents , living with debt , losing touch with friends , and financial instability are just some of the factors that can engender poor mental wellbeing amongst graduates . 90 Many graduates feel a pressure to succeed after they leave university and secure a well-paid job , however , for those students who are yet to gain experience in the workplace , they can begin to feel hopeless and dissatisfied . 91 A survey of 374 undergraduate students , found that the top three concerns affecting students were pressure to succeed , academic performance and post-graduation plans . 92 This research recommended that universities do more to tailor their programmes to suit the needs of students in order to better prepare them for the future . 93
Social media impact
Social media is known to take its toll upon students ’ ( and young people ’ s ) mental wellbeing , with regard to anxiety , depression , ‘ FoMO ’ ( fear of missing out ), and poor self-esteem . 94
It is a platform where some users continuously post the ‘ best parts ’ of their lives , presenting a superficial image of themselves that would come across as desirable to their followers . 95 Research , for instance Vogel et al . ( 2016 ), suggests that the more time an individual spends on social media , the more at risk they are in terms of developing negative self-esteem through defining their image and ensuing self-worth in relation to others . 96 Young people are likely to adopt a ‘ compare and despair ’ attitude online , and this can lead users to believe that other individuals ’ lives are better than their own . 97 In relation to post-graduation wellbeing , this can be
89
Ivan Robertson and Cary Cooper , Well-being : Productivity and happiness at work ( Palgrave Macmillan , 2011 ), 3 – 13 .
90
Oliver Robinson , ' A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Case Study of Quarter-Life Crisis During the Post-university Transition : Locked-Out and Locked-In Forms in Combination ,' Emerging Adulthood 7 , no . 3 ( 2019 ): 167-179 .
91
Byrom and Reino , Graduate Mental Wellbeing in the Workplace , 27-29 .
92
Rebecca Beiter et al . ' The prevalence and correlates of depression , anxiety , and stress in a sample of college students ,' Journal of affective disorders 173 , ( 2015 ): 90-96 .
93
Ibid .
94
Shirley Cramer and Becky Inkster . # StatusOfMind : Social media and young people ' s mental health and well-being . ( London : Royal Society of Public Health , 2020 ), 8-12 .
95
Howard Gardner and Katie Davis , The app generation : how today ’ s youth navigate identity , intimacy and imagination in a digital world ( New Haven : Yale University Press , 2013 ), 190-180
96
Erin Vogel et al . ' Social comparison , social media , and self-esteem ,' Psychology of Popular Media Culture 3 , no . 4 ( 2014 ): 206 .
97
Edward Noon . ' Compare and despair or compare and explore ? Instagram social comparisons of ability and opinion predict adolescent identity development .' Cyberpsychology : Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 14 , no . 2 ( 2020 ).