The term slacker is commonly used to refer to a person who avoids work (especially British English), or (primarily in North American English) an educated person who is viewed as an underachiever.^[1][2] Slackers, understood mostly as males in their twenties and thirties, may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in many cases their behavior may merely be due to apathy or laziness.

While use of the term slacker dates back to about 1790 or 1898 depending on the source, it gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme, when Sudanese labourers protested their relative powerlessness by working lethargically, a form of protest known as 'slacking'.^[3] The term achieved a boost in popularity after its use in the films Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis, and Richard Linklater's Slacker.^[1][4]

Some slackers are mentally stable, well adjusted people, and may actually be productive members of society ^[5]. Others may be suffering from Major depressive disorder. The person may have suffered from psychological trauma that has resulted in their lack of motivation. For example, posttraumatic stress disorder commonly causes individuals to behave as slackers. For the depressed individual, correct identification of the reasons behind their behaviour is the first step to them seeking treatment and recovering. It sometimes refers to a person who tries to evade military service in wartime.

[edit] See also

• Refusal of work
• Bludger
• The Idler (1993)
• Generation X
• NEET: "Not currently engaged in Employment, Education or Training".
• Procrastination
• Slack
• Sloth
• Grunge
• Hikikomori

[edit] References

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