The concept of transitioning into adulthood, otherwise known as the period of emerging adulthood, has been heavily debated by academics throughout the twenty first century. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett developed the term emerging adulthood within his article Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development From the Late Teens Through the Twenties and defined it as “a period of development bridging adolescence and young adulthood, during which young people are no longer adolescents but have not yet attained full adult status” (Arnett 2006, 312). Emerging period in which the individual experiencing this transition does not psychologically, emotionally or financially feels as though they fit into the societal concept of adulthood. Many young adults have a …show more content…
This research paper will attempt to understand adulthood not only as a biological process but also as a social construct that has been placed upon young adults and how marriage can be considered an important sociological element that young people place importance upon in their transition to adulthood. It will seek to explain how young people within North America perceive marriage in reference to lifecourse theory and whether or not it is an important life event that allows individuals to transition from a period of emerging adulthood to adulthood, or whether or not there are more important life events that are considered before marriage throughout the …show more content…
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There appears to be widespread agreement that family and home life have been changing dramatically over the last 40 years or so. According to Talcott Parsons, the change in family structure is due to industrialization. The concept that had emerged is a new version of the domestic ideal that encapsulates changed expectations of family relations and housing conditions. The family life in the postwar period was highly affected. The concept of companionate marriage emerged in the post war era just to build a better life and build a future in which marriage would be the foundation of better life. Equality of sexes came into being after...
♂ (Ages: 33 yrs.- 40yrs.) Culminating Life Structure for Early Adulthood ("Settling Down"): Implementing a societal niche;
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
Emerging Adulthood represents the period of development from late teens through their twenties, mainly focusing on the ages 18-25. This is the period which people start exploring and realizing the capabilities of their lives, which then helps them characterize as adults and no longer teenagers. This topic of psychology is compelling to me because it’s a stage that every adult has lived through, it’s interesting that we have all experienced it differently based on our life circumstances and demographics. It’s interesting to see the changes throughout the years and eventually it will be easier for young people to explore these years as more young adults are going to school nowadays. It teaches me to further understand why emerging adults go through
“Though the age boundaries are not set in stone, we will consider middle adulthood as the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). I interviewed two individuals for this paper. Each person was asked the same fifteen questions (Appendix). I interviewed a male and a female who fell in the midrange of middle adulthood.
Works Cited Kunz, Jenifer. Think Marriages & Families. Boston: Pearson, 2011. http://www.prs Print. The. Laquer, Estin, Ann.
Extensive demographic and cultural shifts have taken place over the past few decades that have made late adolescence and early twenties into a new transitional developmental period known as emerging adulthood for young individuals across industrialized societies. Arnett (2000) argues that emerging adulthood is a “distinct period of the life course” that is “characterized by change and exploration of possible life directions” (469). Additionally, a critical area of identity exploration during emerging adulthood is love and romantic relationships. Arnett contends that “demographic changes in the timing of marriage and parenthood in recent decades has led to prolonged periods of adolescence and delayed adulthood transitions” (470). By postponing
Adulthood has often been associated with independence. It serves as a turning point in life where one has to take responsibility for oneself and no longer being dependent on his or her family. Early adulthood, usually begins from late teens or early twenties and will last until the thirties (Santrock, 2013). Early adulthood revolves around changes and exploration while middle and late adulthood are more of stability. The transition from adolescence and adulthood differs among every individual. The onset of the transition is determined by many factors such as culture, family background, and the personality of the individual. Emerging adulthood (as cited in Santrock, 2014) is the term to describe the transition period from adolescence to adulthood.
to see Sadie, Mr Blake sees that Kevin is in need and so takes Sadie
Emerging Adulthood: The Difficult Challenges to Being a Grown-up A human being will evolve through many cycles during their lifetime, beginning at birth with infancy, progressing through early childhood, then middle childhood, adolescence, emerging and early adulthood, middle adulthood, with the last cycle before death being older adulthood (Lesser & Pope, 2011). With each cycle comes benchmarks of learning and growth, as well as having its own set of challenges (Lesser & Pope, 2011). Many would argue that in a person's adult life, entering the older adult cycle is the most challenging, as it brings about a sense of morality, forcing the person to find acceptance that they will ultimately face death.
As human beings we go through many phases in our lives. We are first infants, than children and as time goes by we become adolescents and once we mature and form an identity we are said to be adults. As said in our book “across cultures adulthood is expected to be a stage of maturity, responsibilities and accountability” (Vaughn, 55). But is there something in between adolescence and adulthood?
Marriage is one of the oldest cultural institutions in the world. Its status has changed drastically over the years, and in the last few decades alone has gone from being a social expectation to simply an option for most people. In the 1920s, marriage was generally considered an expectation for all young women, lest they dry up like cacti before they bore children. Today, marriage is generally recognized as a commitment that may satisfy some, though many choose to forgo the process. The differences between the cultural perception of marriage in the “Roaring Twenties” compared to today have manifested themselves in many different ways.
Transitioning into adulthood seems to take on many different forms in many different cultures. However, in the Unites States the argument of whether a new stage of life called emerging adulthood should be considered as a new phase in human development is still being disputed. Some claim that by establishing a new stage of psychological development 20-somethings will be more inclined to draw away from taking up adult responsibilities, but what they fail realize is that by not tending to their needs we are jeopardizing young adults’ ability to take care of the generation ahead of them. In “What Is It about 20-Somethings?”, Robin Marantz Henig claims 20-somethings are avoiding adulthood and by creating a new stage of development they will only
As my peers and I enter the stage of emerging adulthood, we have to begin thinking about what each of us needs to do as individuals to remain healthy and happy in our days on Earth. As of now many of us are in school; pursuing the degree that will be used as a tool to get the job we want. Regardless of the path in life we choose, however; there are a few general categories that we need to work on fulfilling in order to (in theory) lead healthy lives. Throughout this paper I will be using information from the MSU Dept of Health and Human Development well-being model, as well as information form the chapters about adulthood in the textbook “Experiencing the Lifespan”, and seeing how my life matches up with the ideas presented in these sources.