English 101 - Research Paper (1) (1)

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Elliott-Hamper 1 October 22, 2023 Rebecca Goodrich Washington State University Dear Reader: This paper is written on a topic I am very passionate about. As someone who has struggled with anxiety my whole life, and is a part of Gen Z, I had to know why it was a common mental illness in people in my age group. I have a lot of friends who also deal with anxiety and when asked to pick a prompt for this paper, I knew what I wanted to learn more about. The process of researching, writing, and revising this paper was a long one. After picking my topic, I searched for reliable sources for my information. I finally found a handful of sources, which I deemed reliable, read through them, and gathered my information. I produced my rough draft and submitted it for peer review. From my peers, I received a lot of great feedback which I took into consideration when producing my final draft. There were a lot of changes made. Overall, I’m glad this was the topic I chose, that I learned more about it, and that I was able to produce a thoughtful and cohesive paper on the subject. This assignment helped me with my writing skills, but most importantly, my skills in searching for sources. This was something new that we hadn’t done prior to this assignment, and it was definitely a learning process. Sincerely, Kiley Elliott-Hamper Kiley Elliott-Hamper

Elliott-Hamper 2 Rebecca Goodrich English 101 22 October 2023 The Rise in Anxiety in Gen Z versus Other Generations Anxiety is something that a lot of people experience, no matter their age. Many different things can be the cause, from social media to significant changes or life events. In recent years, there has been an increase in anxiety and the number of people experiencing it. Gen Z, people born anywhere from 1997-2013, contains a large amount of that population and includes many members who deal with anxiety regularly, and far more than other generations such as Gen X. But why is that? The use of social media, and the internet in general, combined with the COVID- 19 pandemic has caused a spike in people with anxiety. Internet and social media addiction is a growing problem among younger people with Gen Z being part of that category. According to DataReportal in the 2020 Digital Global Statshot, “social media users grew by 10% over the past year, which represents more than 3.96 billion active users on social networks.” ( Benavides and Berenice, 2023) The internet is becoming increasingly relevant in our everyday lives, and Gen Z was the first generation to have access to such a powerful resource at a young age. They are becoming accustomed to being connected at all times. Older generations remember a time before technology changed their way of life but Gen Z has grown up with communication in the form of texting and social media. It is proposed that Gen Z reacts differently to social media interactions due to this early exposure. This includes an increase in anxiety involving their online experiences. (Domzalski, 2020) This could be caused by the amount of information these children had access to at a young age. Generalized pathological internet use is the overuse of the internet, which can refer to the

Elliott-Hamper 3 use of the internet without a specific objective, essentially to waste time. In 2018, it was found that young people in the United States (Gen Z) spent around 5 hours on their phones daily. ( Benavides and Berenice, 2023) This is a form of internet addiction, which exists in the same way as any other addiction, including gambling, drugs, alcohol, etc. Internet addiction can cause a variety of anxiety indicators such as fast heart rate, sweating, and dry mouth. ( Benavides and Berenice, 2023) The normality of the internet and social media regarding Gen Z makes this form of internet use common, and therefore, the consequences (such as anxiety) are common among this age group as well. “Prior research on the dark side of social media use suggests that other aspects of psychological ill-being (e.g., anxiety, depression, and burnout) could result from problematic social media use… among the younger generation.” (Liu, 2021.) The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was a period of time when the internet and social media thrived and these symptoms were prevalent. A significant defining event of this generation is the COVID-19 pandemic. The epidemic itself was stressful and anxiety-inducing for almost everyone. According to a recent report, 60% of Gen Z was concerned about COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic, and almost half of them were anxious. During the lockdown, people expressed fear regarding the virus due to the major level of uncertainty regarding the future and the virus itself. Something that seemed to intensify this anxiety though, was the overexposure to information regarding the virus. The pandemic led to an increase in social media use among Gen Z and, “the latest observations suggest that the enormous amount of COVID-19 information generated on social media has overwhelmed users and had a strong impact on their psychological well-being.” (Liu, 2021) New information about COVID-19 and the status of the pandemic was published on the internet every day during the lockdown. Studies also show that adolescents feared for their safety

Elliott-Hamper 4 more than the safety of their elders, who might be better suited to fight off the virus if it’s contracted. (Liu, 2021) Not only information regarding health concerns plastered all over social media and internet home pages, but the status of the current state of the economy, politics, and resource shortages were too. Hongfei Liu explains that “information about impending societal threats… and individual concerns… caused by COVID-19 that appear on social media also aggravate Gen Z’s fear of the virus.” (Liu, 2021) The uncertainty of the situation, mixed with the mass amount of media and information consumed surrounding the virus led to a large amount of anxiety, especially in Gen Z, who use social media more frequently than older generations. Also contributing to the larger amount of anxiety within Gen Z is the difference in personalities between generations and the ways they use technology and social media. From a marketing perspective, Gen Z and Gen X, people born anywhere from 1965 to 1980, differ a lot in the ways they choose to engage in social media activities. “Gen Z market mavens use social media to achieve their self-actualization needs, including the need for strengthening their confidence and credibility.” (Goldring, 2021) Gen Z takes a lot from their social appearance and lets what other people think about them define what they think about themselves. They’re very influenced having grown up seeing and reading people’s opinions on every topic imaginable from every point of view on the internet. Gen X however, uses social media less and “conversely… does not emphasize what others think of them, nor are they as concerned with status consumption or conformity.” (Goldring, 2021) Practitioner research has concluded that Gen Z is more likely to be independent-minded but still heavily influenced by other people’s opinions, which are found all over social media and the internet. Gen Z uses social media more and is more likely to be influenced by people’s opinions which contributes heavily to their self- image and stress and anxiety involving their appearance. Gen Z is also more likely to avoid

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