For most of us, owing thousands of dollars in student loans, all while [--1--] credit card debt, probably sounds like a nightmare. But for people in their early- to mid-20s, all that debt actually seems to [--2--] their self-esteem—possibly because they consider that debt an investment in their future. So says a study in the journal Social Science Research. [Rachel Dwyer, Laura McCloud and Randy Hodson, Youth debt, mastery, and self-esteem: Class-stratified effects of indebtedness on self-concept]

Researchers analyzed [--3--] national survey data on 3,000 young Americans. The questions covered student loans and credit card debt, as well as some designed to measure the respondents’ self-esteem and sense of control over their lives. Even after accounting for the fact that more self-confident teens might be willing to take out more loans in college, the researchers found that the more debt respondents had, the more [--4--] they felt. Especially young adults from low-income families, who might have been afforded opportunities beyond their means.

But the honeymoon appears to end around age 28—right around the time when college grads have been working a few years and they realize their [--5--] may have been just a tad too high. Oh, and when the bills for those student loans start showing up.
【視聽(tīng)版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
juggling crushing boost ongoing empowered salary expectations
債務(wù)包袱，昂揚(yáng)斗志 對(duì)于我們中大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)，如何靈活的管理好上千美元的助學(xué)貸款可能就是一個(gè)噩夢(mèng)。但對(duì)于剛邁入20歲和20多歲的年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)，所有的債務(wù)貌似激發(fā)了他們的自尊心，可能因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為對(duì)自己的未來(lái)進(jìn)行了債務(wù)投資。這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《社會(huì)科學(xué)調(diào)查》期刊上。 研究人員對(duì)全國(guó)3千名美國(guó)年輕人進(jìn)行調(diào)查并分析數(shù)據(jù)。這份調(diào)查問(wèn)卷涵蓋助學(xué)貸款和信用卡債務(wù)，還有一些問(wèn)題旨在測(cè)試受試人的自尊心和對(duì)過(guò)去生活的掌控感。研究人員甚至發(fā)現(xiàn)，更多的自信滿滿的年輕人愿意在大學(xué)負(fù)擔(dān)更多的貸款，而且貸款越多，他們更加感到斗志昂揚(yáng)。尤其是來(lái)自低收入家庭的年輕人，他們被給予的機(jī)遇可能已經(jīng)超出他們的能力范圍。 但是這種“能量期”在28歲左右便會(huì)結(jié)束，剛好就是大學(xué)畢業(yè)出來(lái)工作幾年后的時(shí)期，他們開(kāi)始意識(shí)到自己的工資期望可能有點(diǎn)過(guò)高了。對(duì)了，也剛好到了該還錢(qián)的時(shí)候了。