What young people really value

This “value perception gap” has real consequences. To better understand it, Global Action Plan and the University of Bath have been working together on a research project. In this newsletter, we’re sharing insights from Study 1, where we explored:

• The size of the value perception gap among young people in the UK – in other words, how similar their core values really are, and how accurate (or inaccurate) their perceptions of their peers can be.
• What this gap means for young people’s sense of hope about the future, and their motivation to protect the planet.
  
  

Value perception gap

So what did we find? Across more than 1000 young people aged 12-24, we saw that their values are overwhelmingly similar. For example, 95% of young people say that values like protecting the environment, helping others, and world peace are highly important to them.

But importantly, young people often miss these similarities and assume their peers care about very different things. For example, 77% of young people believe they personally value caring for others and protecting the environment more highly than their peers do. We discussed these results with our Youth Advisory Board, who helped us put together this video summarising the findings.

What this means for hope and environmental action

These findings highlight a powerful opportunity for schools and educators. When young people recognise how much they actually have in common, it can strengthen connection, build hope, and encourage action. In other words, the issue isn’t a lack of values – it’s a lack of visibility of those shared values.

Coming soon we’ll share insights from Study 2, where we tested what happens when young people are made aware of this shared ground. Early findings are encouraging: helping young people see their common values can increase their sense of connection, hope, and willingness to act for the planet.

This opens up exciting possibilities for the classroom as a space where shared values can be surfaced, discussed, and turned into collective action.