Students… what image comes to mind? It comes as no surprise the world has a certain negative perception of a student lifestyle - But what does this really mean? A lifestyle choice is a choice a person makes about how to live and behave, according to their attitudes, tastes, and values.
However, according to Universities UK, in 2015-16, there were 2.28 million students studying at UK higher education institutions, and figures show that more than 90% of graduates were in work or further study within six months of leaving University.
At Emotional Logic, we decided to conduct a study with University students to see how many of these ‘lifestyle’ choices were really true. Eating a balanced diet is something that has recently became increasingly popular, more people are wanting to become strong rather than skinny – in light of this 88% of students strongly agree and agree that healthy eating is important to them.
According to the NHS Statistics on Smoking, in 2016, 15.5% of 18+ adults smoke, down from 19.9% in 2010, and 82% of University students strongly disagree and disagree that they smoke.
In the same experiment, it was found that 71% of students strongly agree that they put money into a savings account and 64% strongly disagree with the statement ‘I live in the present and don’t think about the future.’
Another surprising fact was that 64% of students disagree that they only drink to get drunk – along with the 82% that enjoy fine dining. From this statement, it can be shown that a proportion of students would rather have a civilised drink whilst eating at a posh/expensive restaurant.
Another perception is that teens / young adults only care about themselves and aren’t bothered about consequences – however 79% of students strongly agree that family is the most important thing to them and 80% strongly agree that they think about their actions before doing something.
Taking all of this into consideration – student lifestyle choices are no longer what they used to be.
