YOUNG PEOPLE IN BULGARIA NARRATING ABOUT THEIR PAST AND FUTURE: LIFE PLANNING AND ITS RELATIONS WITH OTHER CONSTRUCTS
YOUNG PEOPLE IN BULGARIA NARRATING ABOUT THEIR PAST AND FUTURE: LIFE PLANNING AND ITS RELATIONS WITH OTHER CONSTRUCTS

Summary/Abstract: The pace of modern life places the topic of life planning among the most challenging issues of the social sciences. The article summarizes findings from a qualitative study of young people (aged 18-35 years), focused on how they approach important decisions pertaining to different areas of life. Content analysis of 45 semi-structured calendar interviews outlines different models of planning in basic life trajectories such as choosing a place of residence (including migration plans), education and career development, decisions concerning intimate partnerships, parenting, and financial/ material achievements. On the basis of the analysis, the authors propose a 24-item Dominant Model of Life Planning Inventory extracted from the actual narratives of respondents. Data from a pilot and a nationally representative survey of Bulgarians aged 18-35 years (N=1200) is reported. Structured Dominant Model relates to optimistic expectations and has a negative correlation to risk propensity. The findings provide new perspective on the way young people approach their future and important life decision, and have implications both for psychological theory and practice.

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