[3] It is defined by clinical psychologist Alex Fowke as "a period of insecurity, doubt and disappointment surrounding your career, relationships and financial situation".
[3] According to Meredith Goldstein of The Boston Globe, the quarter-life crisis occurs in one's twenties, usually after entering the "real world" (i.e., after graduating from college, after moving out of the family home, or both).
According to Erikson, after establishing a personal identity in adolescence, young adults seek to form intense, usually romantic relationships with other people.
[7] These tendencies can be explained by changes in external social factors rather than characteristics intrinsic to millennials (e.g., higher cost of living and higher levels of student loan debt in the US among millennials when compared to earlier generations can make it more difficult for young adults to achieve traditional markers of independence such as marriage, home ownership or investing).
Other notable films that also do so are Bright Lights, Big City; The Paper Chase; St. Elmo's Fire; How to Be; Reality Bites; Garden State; Accepted; Ghost World; High Fidelity; (500) Days of Summer; Lost in Translation; Silver Linings Playbook; Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Amélie; and Shaun of the Dead; as well as the musical Avenue Q, in the television show The Office, and the HBO television series Girls.
Other movies exploring the quarter-life crisis include: Tiny Furniture, The Puffy Chair, Fight Club, Stranger than Fiction, Greenberg, Frances Ha and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
[13] English indie rock band Spector's song "True Love (For Now)", the opening track to their 2012 album Enjoy It While It Lasts, references a quarter-life crisis.
"20 Something", the final track on SZA's 2017 album Ctrl, delves into the many insecurities she experienced in her twenties, both personal and professional, and the urgency she felt to make the most of her life before entering into mature adulthood.
The albums lead singles are portrayed by "Dream Girl", "We Can Be Anything" and for the deluxe edition "All The Things" and six of her other songs that were featured in the Netflix series based on the graphic novel, Heartstopper.
Bella stated in an interview, "This album tells the story of my journey through my early 20s – leaving my childhood and my adolescence behind but never really losing my childlike wonder and never quite growing up.
She also added, "I really want this album to leave people feeling hopeful, because there is so much beauty to live through and look forward to and it truly is magical and extraordinary to be alive and to have the very short opportunity to experience every emotion imaginable.