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In the past few decades a quiet revolution has taken place for young people in American society, so quiet that it has been noticed only gradually and incompletely. There has been an increase in the ages of entering marriage and parenthood, a lengthening of time spent in higher education, and a period of prolonged job instability. This trend reflects the development of a new period of life for young people in the United States and other industrialized societies, lasting from the late teens through the mid- to late twenties. This period is much different from adolescence, freer from parental control; a period of independent exploration. It is a new and historically unprecedented period of the life course and it requires a new term and a new way of thinking: emerging adulthood. This chapter provides some historical background on the rise of emerging adulthood and describes the period's distinctive features. The reasons why the term emerging adulthood is preferable to other possible terms are explained.

This chapter considers, through the eyes of another group of emerging adults, the passage from emerging adulthood to young adulthood, focusing on the question of what it means to become an adult. The discussion starts by exploring how adulthood has been defined in traditional cultures and in the past in American history, then at how emerging adults today define adulthood and assess their own progress toward adult status. The subjects in this chapter then reflect on their mixed feelings about leaving adolescence — from the perspective of emerging adulthood. They also describe their mixed feelings about becoming adults — from the perspective of emerging adulthood, reaching adulthood promises stability but evokes fears of stagnation. Finally, their views of the future are examined, and how they foresee a happy and successful life for themselves even as they believe the world in general is fraught with peril, are examined.

This chapter examines the theory of emerging adulthood from the perspective of cultural psychology. First it provides a brief overview of the theory. Then it addresses the ways “one size fits all” with respect to emerging adulthood, that is, the demographic and cultural changes that have taken places in many regions worldwide to lay the groundwork for the emerging adulthood life stage. Next it describes the demographic and cultural variability that exists in emerging adulthood worldwide. Finally, the chapter bridges cultural and developmental psychology by focusing on the cultural beliefs that are at the heart of emerging adulthood, in the West and in other world regions.

This chapter looks at how relationships with parents change in emerging adulthood. The discussion starts looking at the many facets of emerging adults' relationships with their parents, followed by the changes that take place when emerging adults move out of their parents' households, as well as the experiences of emerging adults who move back in again and those who remain at home. The shift that often takes place in emerging adulthood from a parent-child relationship to a new relationship as friends and near-equals is discussed, along with the enduring repercussions of parents' divorces and remarriages — how emerging adults recall these events and how they believe they have been shaped by them.

This chapter highlights emerging adulthood as an age of possibilities by profiling four young people who have overcome difficult experiences to transform their lives. The lives of these adults raise doubts on the theory that our early years permanently decide the path we will follow in the future. All of the emerging adults studied experienced terrible events or circumstances in childhood, all of them had lives that were in disarray by the time they reached adolescence, and all of them transformed themselves in emerging adulthood and turned their lives in a dramatically different direction, toward health and happiness. Their lives suggest that whatever may have happened from infancy through adolescence, emerging adulthood represents an opportunity — maybe a last opportunity — to turn one's life around.

This chapter takes on the critique, made by Kloep and Hendry among others, that the theory of emerging adulthood obscures the variation by social class that exists in the 18-29 age group. First, demographic differences by social class among emerging adults are noted, specifically educational attainment and age at marriage. Views of adulthood are similar across social classes, although persons from lower SES backgrounds tend to be earlier to reach a subjective sense of becoming adult. Views of the future have been found to be similarly optimistic across social classes, although persons with lower educational attainment have less promising actual prospects in the job market. Then four African American emerging adults from Arnett’s research are profiled, to show themes and variations across social classes. The profiles reveal that the influence of social class on pathways through emerging adulthood is profound, but social class is a more complex and unpredictable variable than is often acknowledged.

In this last chapter, all four authors independently comment on how, if at all, it might be possible to reconcile the different standpoints of stage and ecological theory. Arnett argues for “one stage, many paths.” That is, emerging adulthood is experienced by most young people in industrialized countries, but the specific path they take varies widely by country, culture, social class, ethnicity, and gender. Kloep views Arnett’s concept of emerging adulthood not as a theory, but merely an observation that the behavior of young people under certain circumstances has changed compared to earlier generations. However, it might be an important step towards creating a more radical change; namely, abolishing stage theories altogether! Tanner emphasized the value of integrating stage and systems perspectives in understanding development, including emerging adult development. Hendry engages in a fictitious game of tennis in order to demonstrate the weaknesses (and more positive elements) in Arnett and Tanner’s arguments. The pathways to adult status, he argues, are more varied and complex than can be described by an essentially descriptive model. Only by linking with a multi-level, ecological theory could the nuances of different trajectories to adulthood be truly understood.

This chapter examines how emerging adults go about searching for satisfying work. The conclusion is that emerging adults are highly diverse both in the ways they search for satisfying work and in their success in finding it. The discussion starts by emphasizing that the ideal for emerging adults is finding a job that fits with their developing identity, and it describing emerging adults who look for this identity fit in a systematic way. The chapter describes emerging adults whose search for work is less than systematic, who “fall into” various jobs either because they are unsure of their work identity or because they need to find a job in order to pay their bills. Variations in being ready to make a long-term decision about work are explored, with a focus on differences between emerging adults in their early twenties, who often remain uncertain, and those in their late twenties, who typically have made a definite choice. Influences on job choice, especially the complex influences that parents can have, as well as the dreams that some emerging adults have for an alluring and sometimes elusive work ideal are evaluated. The chapter ends with a section on work and identity that attempts to integrate the previous material into a theoretical framework.

This chapter examines some of the religious beliefs and values that are part of the world views of emerging adults. Both the diversity of emerging adults' beliefs and their common determination to think for themselves with regard to religious issues are explored, along with their responses to two questions concerning their values for their own lives and the values they wish to pass on to the next generation. Together, these two questions provide an outline of the extent to which emerging adults' values reflect individualism and collectivism.

In response to the previous chapters by Kloep and Hendry, this chapter acknowledges the overreaching of previous stage theories while defending the value of the theory of emerging adulthood. Stage theories can be valuable as long as they are not presented as uniform and universal. Emerging adulthood theory has shown its value in how quickly it has become widely used across many disciplines. Kloep’s and Hendry’s focus on dynamic processes while rejecting stage theories is criticized as too vague to illuminate developmental changes and distinctions. Then Kloep’s and Hendry’s own case studies from Chapter 5 are used to show how themes of emerging adulthood appear even in those cases intended to refute the theory.

This chapter looks at the lives of four emerging adults in order to see what it is like to be an emerging adult and how it is reflected in individual lives. The persons were chosen so because they represent a broad range of backgrounds and experiences in emerging adulthood. Two are male and two are female; two are white and two are members of ethnic minorities; two are college graduates and two are not; and the four of them grew up in several different parts of the United States. They range in age from twenty-one to twenty-seven. These studies give a taste of the diversity that exists among emerging adults, as well as some of the qualities that are common to hem. None of those studied here are married, and none of them have children. None of them are firmly settled into a career path. Rather, the persons in the profiles were chosen because they exemplify the characteristics that define emerging adulthood as a distinct period of life: the age of explorations, instability, the self-focused, of feeling in-between, and of possibilities.

This chapter focuses on the diverse paths that emerging adults take through college. In particular, the experiences of emerging adults during college are explored. The discussion then shifts to how emerging adults chart their course through college, including choices made on a college major from the many options available to them. This chapter also looks at emerging adults who succeed in college and those who flounder, and reasons for the differences. The American system of allowing such widespread access to higher education is examined and compared to the European system, highlighting the pros and cons of each. Finally, the views of undergraduates about their college experiences, for better and worse, are presented.

This chapter focuses on dating and sexual issues faced by emerging adults. The discussion starts with a look at the ways that emerging adults meet potential love partners, including the role that ethnic background plays in love choices. Sexuality, including emerging adults' reflections on their first episode of intercourse and their views of the circumstances that make premarital sex acceptable, is then explored. Finally, the chapter examines how the fear of AIDS shapes the sexual consciousness of emerging adults, as well as the experiences of emerging adults who have contracted sexually transmitted diseases.

This chapter explores the ideas of marriage in the minds of young adults. The vast majority of them wish to get married, yet the institution itself seems disconnected not only from where they are in their lives, but also where many of them want to go. Marriage becomes a future event that will somehow happen someday in the scripted manner in which they conceive of it. In the present, therefore, they remain cautious about it. Those must wait for the right person — not just any sexual partner — or until they’re ready to “settle down” and marry. Many young adults now perceive their 20s as the time to extend your adolescence, enjoy yourself, and try on different identities and relationships before getting serious. The chapter also explores the prevalence of “early” marriage as well as divorce, and discusses the increasing frequency of cohabitation.

In the course of emerging adulthood, young people change in a number of ways that make them increasingly ready for marriage. Emerging adults become more capable of enduring intimacy. They come to appreciate the rewards of staying with one person for a longer period of time and developing a deeper emotional closeness. They also come to desire more security and commitment in their relationships. Eventually, the lifestyle of moving from one partner to the next every few weeks or months starts to grow old. Most emerging adults come to desire the stability and comfort tha comes from developing a long-term relationship. This chapter looks at the qualities that emerging adults hope to find in a marriage partner and examines how they decide when they would like to marry, including the widespread sense, especially among women, of having an “age thirty deadline” for marriage. Issues of commitment, different motives for cohabitation, and how the fear of divorce shapes marriage expectations are discussed.

This chapter introduces the topic of premarital sex in America and highlights several introductory themes before describing the book’s parameters, data sources, and directions. Its brief discussions include the changing definition of premarital sex, the nature of emerging adulthood, the sexual significance of turning 18, and the scope of heterosexuality among contemporary emerging adults.