J. J. Arnett argues his theory about a developmental stage individuals go through of 18-25 year olds as a new concept, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 469). He describes emerging adulthood as being a sustained period of time where this age group, as mentioned previously, explores their roles preceding being an adult. These movements can include events similarly by taking longer than previous years to get married and have children, moving back in with their parents at a point during this age span, exploring self-identities, not feeling like an adult and feelings of self-failure. James E. Cote, who is a previous colleague of Arnett argues the opposite about this concept being an unexperienced developmental stage Arnett calls, “Emerging Adulthood”. Cote states …show more content…
Arnett lacks an immense amount of evidence, empirical support for his fresh developmental claim and the theory is a flawed dangerous myth, (Cote, 2014, pp. 177). I tend to agree with Cote’s findings and inconsistencies with Arnett’s theory for young adults, in which it is not a modern concept and also not a developmental stage which is factual. Questions popped up in my mind while I read Arnett’s article on Emerging Adults; for example, I asked myself if this was happening with myself and my peers. Likewise, has this been an ongoing and recurring pathway for myself and my peers, which we are in fact continuing to develop? Although I agree with Arnett for a number of his theories similar to taking longer acquiring marriage and having children, or no children, feeling lost and/or not “adult” enough, and lastly feelings of failure when you observe several peers go through stages of life much quickly than yourself. Are the people who are “fast tracking” in today’s world as a yesterday’s norm or do young adults experience life simply in different ways? Arnett argues his latest theory describes emerging adults as not fitting the categories of adolescence nor are young adults; in which their behavioral actions and responsibilities are empirically distinct as non-normative young adulthood expectations, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 469). Lifespan came to mind when I asked myself why we are experiencing a prolonged independent role. I speculate one reason for prolonging marriage is with reason of which we live longer opposed to previous generations. Various 20-something year olds do not feel rushed by their parents to get married or have children for their elders to develop relationships and help raise. People feel little pressure to settle down; especially with women. Generations ago, women did not seek a professional career or desire to attend college. Perhaps a careful investigation across gender and different ethnic groups challenge Arnett’s theory in a new developmental stage. Specifically now that women are seen equally in the professional world, conceivably an alternative theory could be people are evolving to be industrialized rather than quickly jumping into domestication. Thus, this lost feeling as an individual in society or an exploration of their identity may be a false collective assumption for examples seen above. Cote suggests in order for Emerging Adulthood to be a developmental stage, for starters, there needs to be empirical evidence on how and when the stage starts, finishes and craves in having a universal study across demographics, cultures and countless other reasoning, (Cote, 2014, pp.
184). Other than the occupational identity lasting longer, Arnett has failed to demonstrate his claims of a prolonged identity in the form of empirical evidence. A prolonged professional occupation may be because in the recent decade individuals have opportunity in attaining loans and grants to achieve a formal education by graduating college. Furthermore, decent jobs available today require or suggest a college degree of their applicants and future employees, which lead the positions available to be competitive, thus leaving people to pursue a master’s level or doctoral degree for improved successes in the workforce. Nevertheless, the “emerging adult” age group seems to adjust their focus on their education rather than settling down in marriage and starting a family. Cote expresses Arnett’s focuses on his claims of development on the parameters and timing of their first marriage, (Cote, 2014, pp. 179). Researchers may speculate Arnett comes to his conclusion based on the prolonged time it takes for a person to achieve their professional long term occupation. However, these two entities could be tied together, where one factor impacts the other which prolongs an individual’s professional …show more content…
occupation among numerous other reasons. In addition, a simple answer to Arnett’s question, “do you feel that you have reached adulthood?” may be “no” for the subject had not finished college or “no” since they are yet to have children, plus various other possible reasoning’s, (Arnett, 2000, Figure 2, pp. 472). With the conclusion one does not feel like an adult, does not simply describe they are not one; concluding, further research should have been done to facilitate verification for his point, following up with why are they not feeling like an adult. Providing Arnett’s stance in a prolonged occupation is not necessarily wrong, however the reasoning behind it people today would not consider it as an abnormal or “failing to adult,” if you will, a new developmental concern, let alone a novel phase in life.
Arnett may not be inaccurate as he explains the differences in young adults today as previous generations based on the timing roles take place, nonetheless suggesting it as a novel universal stage causes concern globally. As mentioned in Cote’s 2014, Dangerous Myth of Emerged Adulthood, Arnett’s theory cannot be correct for all 18-29 year olds, nor did Arnett explore other countries across different demographics or non-college students, (L. Drew, Emerging Adulthood lecture, August 26th, 2015). Young adults appear to bounce around the workforce, however it could be because young adults are accepting employment they are not favorable of to aid them through college where at that point they can inevitably find the career they intend on keeping, opposed to Arnett’s reasoning for this to be “identity explorations,” (Cote, 2014, pp. 184). Arnett’s theory may be plausible for a selection of people in industrialized societies where their behavior can be seen as prolonging their “adulthood”. For example, young adults not feeling like an adult and who search for self-exploration, on the other hand perhaps he should consider a innovative term other than a developmental stage in life universally, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 479).
Nevertheless, concluding and declaring Emerging Adulthood as an unfamiliar developmental stage as a fact, cannot be universally accepted at this time.
In today’s culture, the number of issues that the average person has to face on a daily basis, are astronomical. Millennials, in particular, have been greatly affected by this, so much so that a new phase in the human lifespan has been created just for them! Dubbed “emerging adulthood” by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, plopped smack dab in the middle of adolescence, and adulthood, this phase captures any, and all doubts that 20-29 year olds are plagued with. From their economic standing, to racial, ethnic, and identity issues, and to disabilities ranging from both mental, and physical, this phase captures every single uncertainty, fear, and qualm that one person can possibly have in a neat little package.
In the article, “Facing Challenges Is Part of Growing Up,” Taylor Tepper, a reporter at Money, discusses the reasons for why delaying adulthood is not smart. In response, Jessica Grose, a journalist and novelist, explains her reasons for why it is smart to delay adulthood in her article, “For Many Millennials, Children Are Out of Reach”. Both Grose and Tepper wrote their articles for the opinions page in the New York Times. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in Tepper’s article appeals more to the audience than Grose’s article, which focuses mainly on ethos and logos, because he is more likely to be trusted due to his use of personal experiences relevant to the topic of adulthood.
Their premise is that emerging adulthood is a relatively recent phenomenon. According to the respondents of the older focus group, the average age of marriage in the 1950’s was lower by a factor of approximately 7 years (Ansari and Klinenberg 7). Several factors account for this which are part of the lack of an emerging adulthood phase. The world was quite simply a much smaller place. People’s life experiences were often defined in terms of city blocks as opposed to miles or geographic regions. Also, marriage represented type of liberation. Most young people lived at home with their parents until they entered the marriage and job
The predecessors to the current generation often produce comparisons between their adolescent stage and the current one. In Newt Gingrich's article "Let's End Adolescence" Benjamin Franklin is praised for "mov[ing] immediately into adulthood" at the age of thirteen (Gingrich par. 4). What Gingrich did not account for is time. During Franklin's
Adulthood is the time in life when a person has reached maturity and is aware of the responsibilities that they have to take on. People’s lives are centered on their careers and relationships, leaving less time for much of anything else. Adulthood has three different stages; there is young adulthood (18-40), middle adulthood (41-65), and late adulthood (65-to death), according to Levinson’s Seasons of Life (Levinson, 2010). Individuals experience so many changes to their physical body, cognitive abilities and social development throughout different stages of life. Looking at all the differences that are experienced during these stages of development in early, middle and late adulthood. As an individual we may experience many changes in the body and the mind but the changes in
Adulthood is not easily defined when it starts and finishes. If this cycle was based on biology it would be easy to define. Once again social pressures define this stage as well. Americans tend to look at it in three stages; Early adulthood, Middle adulthood, and old age. In early adulthood, we learn to manage the day to day affairs for ourselves, often juggling conflicting priorities such as, job, partner, children, and parents. During this stage, we learn to start putting everything we have learned together and manage ourselves. Early adulthood tends to end around forty years of age and Middle adulthood begins roughly from forty to sixty years of
In each stage a person is faced with decisions which he will unconsciously make with either a positive or negative outcome (Vogel-Scibilia et al, 2009). Success in later stages is partially predetermined by successes or failures in earlier stages (Agronin, 2014). Success in the three stages of adulthood hinges on whether the individual healthily navigated through “identity vs. confusion” in adolescence which in turn is affected by the childhood stages before it (Agronin, 2014). The first stage begins at infancy when the baby will be lead into the first decision of trust vs. mistrust and from then onwards it will be faced with another seven stages (Schoklitsch et al, 2012). The stage being focussed on in this essay occurs in middle adulthood between the ages of 40 – 60, when the key decision being made according to Erikson is generativity vs. stagnation (Vogel-Scibilia et al, 2009). Generativity is defined by Erikson as “the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation” and was cited by him and other academics as a key indicator of successful aging (Schoklitsch et al, 2012). In order to succeed in the generativity vs. stagnation stage, an adult must establish the willingness to pass on their knowledge and values to the younger generation (Busch et al, 2012). Failure to properly achieve generativity can be caused
He dismisses emerging adulthood stage as nothing more than a bogus psychological theory. He examines the delay not from a psychological or neurological perspective but from an economical perspective. Hard argues that the economy destruction brought fought by the baby boomers, and rising student debt has robed younger generation the incentives for hard work and sacrifice. He argues that regardless of psychological and neurological problems; generation Y will continue to delay if they lack the necessary skills and motivation that a strong economy
Adulthood, as a child, was always portrayed as a time of freedom. The short sighted minds of children, as I once also had, only wanted to get away from the parent’s all-seeing eyes. I never thought a job too bad, what my mom did, my dad did, it didn’t seem too bad, but how wrong I was. I thought I could
Emerging adults are always in the search of their own identity while experimenting with their life, love life and career path. Constant changes in emerging adult’s life are common. From changing residential place to love life, work and education, instability often presents during emerging adulthood (Santrock, 2013). In addition, emerging adults tend to place focus on themselves where they have no commitment and responsibilities toward others. This provides them a great chance to exercise their own will and to execute their plans for the future. During emerging adulthood, many feel like as if they do not belong to either adolescents or adult. The transition ends only when they have distinct marks of an adult. According to Arnett (as cited in Santrock, 2014), “emerging adulthood is the age of possibilities” (p. 296). The age of possibilities is when an individual has the opportunity to turn things around in life, especially when they are from a poor family
challenged to transition from childhood to adulthood. As Adler describes it, “For most children, adolescence means one thing above all else: he must prove he is no longer a child” (Fall & Berg, 1996, p.433). Adolescent individuals must understand his or her place within society, family, and community while simultaneously seeking independence in task and identity.
It is the beginning of early adulthood when adolescence ends. Early adulthood is defined as the years from 18 to 40. However, legal boundaries for this stage varies between countries. A 18-year old can go to the military without parental permission in the United Staes while a 15 year-old in Laos can join a majority of military service (Boyd & Bee, 2012, p.5). I have lived with my family for seventeen and half years with my parent in Vietnam. I turned 18 and became an adult officially when I moved to the US. My life was completely different. I also realize that my personality has been changed since then.
Furthermore, Levinson classifies the novice phase into the early adulthood transition stage (17-22 years), entering the adulthood world (22-28 years), and age-30 transition (28-33 years). On the other hand, the culminating phase encompasses the settling down stage (33-40 years) and midlife transition stage (40-45 years of age). Nevertheless, adulthood is composed of middle-aged period (45-65 years) and late adulthood period entailing the age of 65 years and beyond. Some experts in developmental psychology have gone further to classify the late adulthood period into young-old stage (65-85 years) and old-old stage (85 and above years of age) (Newton, 1994; Levinson, 1978). However, it suffices to emphasize that these stages only exist as a guide to showcase normal development occurring in a continuum, since not everyone develops through displayed stages at exactly similar
Childhood and adulthood are two different periods of one’s lifetime but equally important. Childhood is the time in everybody’s life when they are growing up to be an adult. This is when they are being considered babies because of their youthfulness and innocence. Adulthood is the period of time where everybody is considered “grown up,” usually they begin to grow up around the ages of eighteen or twenty-one years old but they do remain to develop during this time. However, in some different backgrounds, not everybody is not fully adults until they become independent with freedom, responsible for their own actions, and able to participate as an adult within society. Although childhood and adulthood are both beneficial to our lives, both periods share some attributes such as independence, responsibility, and innocence that play distinctive roles in our development.
Come hundreds of new responsibilities and duties when you are an adult. I must get up every morning. Assist in my job, be on time. Be responsible for my duties at work. Assume the consequences of my actions, cope with stress. Being adult’s means that you have more involvement with a lot difficult circumstances, but you know your identity, or still working on it, is the time you do not want to become anybody else, just want to be you. No more imitating those peculiar characters in television, and