Strivers and satisficers
How much do people in the UK want to be successful?
STRIVERS & SATISFICERS
How much do people in the UK want to be successful?
STRIVERS & SATISFICERS
How much do people in the UK want to be successful?
Different perspectives on competition and success
In a report focussed on success, we can often fall into the trap of assuming that everyone is equally interested in reaching the top of the pile. Yet our research reveals that the UK public are generally comfortable with their lot and relatively few relentlessly seek advancement.
For instance, just a quarter (24%) of the public agree that “fulfilment in life is achieving a prominent position in your career”, with over four in ten opposed (44%) – rising to almost half of women (48%) and Baby Boomers (49%). Even among the more career-oriented younger generations, agreement is just 35% for Generation Z and 29% among Millennials. As we explore elsewhere, a similar proportion confess to feeling jealous of those they consider more successful (23%) and just one in ten say they think others are jealous of them (11%).
What this points to is a country where the idea of competition and success is in fact a divisive topic. Half of people in the UK agree that you must be competitive in order to be successful, while a quarter actively disagree. This hints at different ways of assessing success.
“Just a quarter,
of the public agree that ‘fulfilment in life is achieving a prominent position in your career.’”
To strive or to settle?
One question takes us to the heart of this matter. We asked people about their outlook on life and achievement.
One statement spoke to a more settled view: “I am happy with what I have, even if I know some things could be better” – this is our “satisficer” group, people who might be happy with where they are, or consider the extra effort they could put in to be not worth the investment.
The other statement provided a hungrier outlook: “I want to get the best I can in life instead of settling for what I already have, even if that means more hard work” – we term those who agree with this statement the “strivers”.
We find that the UK is broadly a nation of satisficers. We found 51% agreeing more with this statement, while three in ten (30%) associates with the striver sentiment. This appears to be good news for our wellbeing – satisficers report higher levels of life satisfaction, how worthwhile their lives are and how happy they were yesterday, as well as being less likely to have been anxious yesterday. More importantly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, satisficers are also more likely to rate themselves as having been successful. They give a mean score of 6.67 out of ten, compared with 6.11 for strivers.
Meet the strivers
These attitudinal groups contain strong demographic differences which show how attitudes to success vary. As with so much else in UK society, age is the prime dividing line – but other factors like education, pay and tenure also feature.
As a group, the satisficers are older, but not richer. Fully three-quarters of the over 75s fall into this group. Perhaps as a result, those with no formal qualifications (72%), people living in rural areas (64%) and those with household incomes under £26,000 per year (59%) are also among those highly likely to share this mindset.
By contrast, the strivers are younger and more diverse. The three most-strongly associated groups are students (60%), 16-24s (60%) and those in Generation Z (56%) – three groups with a significant level of overlap.
There is a strong association with living in London too, as well as living in privately rented accommodation and being from an ethnic minority background. But this group is not simply younger and poorer – it contains the truly driven too; we also see that those on the highest household incomes (over £100,000 per annum) are also more likely than average to report a striver mentality.
Throughout this report we talk about the markers, signs and possessions that denote success. The findings here should serve as a reminder that although people might have a view of what constitutes success and the mindset that might be required to achieve it, following this path is not appealing for all.
“The satisficers are older, but not richer... the strivers are younger and more diverse.”
