Marion Barraud for HBR

In a previous study, our data science team at Happify found that people in their twenties and early thirties are in a relatively negative state of mind. This age group experiences a sharp increase in ongoing stress, characterized by the most negative thoughts and the least positive emotions, compared to other age groups. These findings go along with research on the quarter-life crisis, the tricky transition from adolescence to adulthood.

What’s causing Millennials so much angst? We decided to harness the power of big data to answer this question. What we found is that Millennials are obsessed with their jobs, socialize with friends less often than many older folks assume, and don’t seem to set much store in developing a spiritual life.

We examined a data set of over 250,000 Happify users and more than 12 million words they wrote about the things they are grateful for and their goals. Using a topic extraction algorithm (Latent Dirichlet allocation with stop words removed and hyperparameters optimized), we extracted descriptive topics that characterize the data set. Each of these topics includes a set of common words and their frequency.

Examining the words along with some of the actual raw text, we were able to come up with a meaningful label for the topic. For example, we gave the label “applying for a job” to a grouping of words that contained “jobs,” “résumé,” “apply,” “interview,” and “employers.”

Once the topics were extracted, we looked at the average composition of topic scores for each age group across all of the text users wrote, and picked out the topics where the 25–34 age group varied the most. In other words, we looked for topics that occupy the Millennial mind much more than people in other age groups and for topics that occupy other age groups very much but Millennials only marginally.

Topic extraction was performed separately for three different writing activities within Happify: a gratitude activity, an activity where users were asked to write long-term goals, and an activity for short-term (weekly) goals.

Gratitude – What Do Millennials Value?

When asked what they are grateful for, people typically respond with the things they personally recognize as important — what they appreciate and value. Gratitude text can therefore provide a glimpse into the fundamental life priorities of individuals. In our study, 276,296 Happify users (30.7% of them in the age range of 25–34) responded to a gratitude exercise where they were asked to “jot down three things that happened today or yesterday that made you feel grateful.” Users were directed to think of a broad range of possibilities: “It could be something someone did for you, something you did for yourself, or just the simple fact that the sun was shining.”

Across all ages, the most common topics were related to “spending quality time with family and friends.” Yet the topics for which Millennials specifically expressed the most gratitude were different: “positive interactions with colleagues,” “having a low-stress commute,” “getting a new job,” “being satisfied with an existing job,” “sleeping,” and “relaxing in bed.”

Four out of these six topics were career related and had to do with the process of finding a job or with daily work experiences, and the remaining two topics were related to time spent in bed. Since the gratitude question specifically asked about things that happened today or yesterday, we can fairly confidently say that the unique things characterizing positive Millennial experiences take place at work or in bed.

The two topics of gratitude that were far less common for Millennials were “religious events,” a positive event that happened at church or a church event like singing in the choir, and “friends and family,” a topic that was among the most common for users of other ages.

Long-Term Goals – Where Are Millennials Hoping to Go?

After looking at the topics that Millennials value and appreciate, we looked at their aspirations. In this second study we looked at the way 5,561 Happify users (36.2% of them in the 25–32 age group) responded to the following question: “Set a very long-term goal — one that can be completed in the span of several years. Maybe you finally complete the memoir you’ve wanted to write for years. Or, you go back to school in order to make a major career change. Imagine the benefits of achieving that goal. What will happen? How will you feel?” This question focused on strategic or life goals, asking respondents to think well into the future.

We extracted 80 different topics. The common ones that surfaced across all age groups had to do with time management and physical and emotional well-being. For example, popular topics included “making time to take steps toward my goals,” “work/life balance,” “achieving fitness goals,” “stopping worry,” and “reducing stressors.”

The long-term goals that were more typical of Millennials seem to target the same general objectives of reducing stress and worry and exercising more, although Millennials were more specific. For example, Millennials were much more likely to mention specific wellness goals, such as yoga, than to simply say they were hoping to get more fit. But in this study too, Millennials were more likely to talk about work. They mentioned finding a new job with better benefits, more pay, better hours, and more work-life balance, as well as work that was more intrinsically rewarding. This, again, was much more typical of the Millennial age group than older or younger groups.

When looking at long-term goals that are the least typical of Millennials, we find that Millennials are the group with the lowest interest in goals related to faith and worship. They were much less likely to use words such as “god,” “pray,” “spiritual,” or “Bible,” for example.

Short-Term Goals – How Do They Plan to Get There?

In the third study we looked at goals for the near future. The way the questions were phrased, we expected users to specify goals for the week that advanced them toward their long-term goals:

Think of something you’d love to achieve by the end of the week — something that matters to YOU (not something your partner or boss or friend wants you to do) — or a task you’ve been avoiding. It could be reconnecting with an old friend or cleaning out your garage. Now jump ahead and imagine that you’ve just completed your goal. How is it making a difference in your life? What’s the feeling of accomplishment like?

Extracting 100 topics from 13,445 answers (34.9% of them from the 25–34 age group), we found that common topics were related to doing work tasks, doing something that’s challenging or that’s been put off, and being able to feel happy even in the face of annoyances and discouragements. Looking at the topics that characterize Millennials, weekly goals were again more specific. The four most common topics for Millennials were “do things from my to-do list,” “apply for a job,” “get out of my comfort zone,” and “stop worrying.”

This suggests Millennials are stressed and worried (and aware of it), and are occupied with getting a great job and going about it in a way that is conscientious and organized, unafraid of pushing the envelope and facing challenges. Looking at both long-term and short-term goals, we see a clear job focus and an attempt to address worry and stress.

A Happiness Prescription for Millennials?

If we overlay gratitude with long-term and short-term goals, a picture surfaces of a Millennial mind that is mainly occupied with landing the perfect job and that is subject to a good deal of stress and anxiety. This picture is in line with our previous findings, reinforcing the existence of a quarter-life crisis and shedding more light on the processes that drive it. Millennials are quite aware of the stress in their lives, and they seek ways to reduce it. They attempt to do so by following a workout regimen and by spending some relaxing time in bed. In general, self-improvement is an important part of their lives, and it’s possibly viewed both as a developmental goal and as a means to reduce emotional distress. It is also an organized process, following a routine that includes practices such as yoga and meditation along with frequent gym visits.

We find that Millennials are the least occupied with religious or spiritual concepts. This finding is supported by a study published earlier this year, which showed that an increasing number of young individuals define themselves as secular, meaning that they identify themselves as neither religious nor spiritual. In addition, we find that Millennials do not tend to mention close relationships with family and friends as a goal or as something they appreciate. This too is supported by previous research, showing that the goals of young individuals are shifting away from community, affiliation, and civic orientation and toward individual success. Both spiritual and religious interest and a focus on deeper social links seem to come later in life, and both are important for one’s emotional well-being and happiness.

Looking at these differences between Millennials and other age groups, and coupling them with the differences previously found in well-being, one cannot help wondering if spiritual life and social life are not the missing ingredients that could make Millennials happier. It seems that as we go into our thirties and forties, and out of the quarter-life crisis, we start to realize that life cannot be optimized. Being happy also involves being occupied with fundamental and spiritual human questions and with having a network of deep, close relationships with family and friends.