The sociological study examines behavior and consciousness of West German youth with emphasis on their political views, voting behavior, leisure activities, and spending patterns. The paper is presented in 14 sections. Section I traces political development of youth from the post World War II skepticism to current political activism. In section II, political youth organizations are broadly characterized, followed by identification of political youth groups in section III. In sections IV and V, performance pressure, unemployment, and the popularity of standard occupations are discussed. Political attitudes are characterized in sections VI-IX as acceptance of political change, faith in democracy, hope for peace, and preference for a capitalist economic system over a socialist one. Section X describes travel as the favorite pastime of German youth. Section XI identifies needed reforms in the educational system, followed by a description of female student and worker problems in section XII and a survey of students from working class families in section XIII. Leisure time activity is discussed in the last section. In summary, young people in West Germany are characterized as personally committed to a society which is seeking new and fairer ways of human coexistence. (Author/DB)