Failure feels more unforgiving to young Koreans: study

Young Koreans feel greater anxiety and frustration over failure than older generations, a report showed Monday.

According to a nationwide survey of 1,500 adults conducted by KAIST's Failure Research Institute in October 2024, 62.3 percent of Gen Z respondents, born between 1997 and 2012, and 65.3 percent of millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, agreed that people who fail once are viewed as losers in Korean society.

The figures were roughly 10 percentage points higher than those among first-generation baby boomers, born between 1955 and 1964, and second-generation baby boomers, born between 1965 and 1974.

Younger respondents were also less willing to openly discuss their struggles, with 39 percent of Gen Z saying such experiences were better kept private, compared with just 15.7 percent of first-generation baby boomers.

The study suggested that younger generations' greater anxiety about failure stemmed in part from a lack of confidence in their ability to recover from setbacks.

While 66 percent of first-generation baby boomers believed that society offers people opportunities to recover from setbacks, the figure fell to 55.7 percent among Gen Z respondents.

Established in 2021 at the tech-strong KAIST, the Failure Research Institute aims to foster a culture where students can take risks and pursue creative ideas without a fear of failure. It organizes events for sharing personal setbacks and publishes research on public attitudes toward the issue.

Ahn Hye-jung, a research assistant professor at the institute who participated in the study, told a local news outlet that young Koreans' fear of failure is rooted in a highly competitive education system where academic performance from an early age can shape their future opportunities.

"Today's teens and young adults have grown up in an environment where grades from exams and individual assignments accumulate throughout middle and high school, affecting their chances of getting into college," she said.

"They feel they must do everything perfectly, believing that even a small mistake could put them at a disadvantage later in life. This mindset appears to fuel their fear of failure."

Ahn also highlighted the strong emphasis placed on early milestones in life, particularly the university a person attends and the company where they begin their career.

"When your choice of university or first job is seen as shaping much of your future, even a single setback can feel impossible to overcome," she said.

"This reflects a broader problem of defining success and failure too narrowly from childhood. We need to help young people understand that there is no single path to success and encourage them to explore different possibilities for their future."