Chapter 19– Emerging Adulthood: Psychosocial Development
Continuity and Change
Identity Achieved
The search for identity begins at puberty and continues much longer.
Most emerging adults are still seeking to determine who they are.
Erikson believed that, at each stage, the outcome of earlier crises provides the
foundation of each new stage.
Ethnic Identity
Most emerging adults identify with very specific ethnic groups.
More than any other age group, emerging adults have friends with diverse
backgrounds.
Vocational Identity
Establishing a vocational identity is part of growing up
Many go to college, as moratorium, and to prepare for a job
Temporary jobs are part of preparation
Personality in Emerging Adulthood
Rising Self-Esteem
continuity and improvement in attitudes of young adults
Plasticity
open to new experiences which allows personality shifts and eagerness for more
education
Intimacy
Intimacy versus isolation
Erikson’s sixth psychosocial stage emphasizes that humans are social creatures.
Intimacy progresses from attraction to close connection to ongoing commitment.
Marriage and parenthood, as emerging adults are discovering, are only two of several
paths to intimacy.
Friendship
Throughout life, friends defend against stress and provide joy.
Friends, new and old, are particularly crucial during emerging adulthood.
Most single young adults have larger and more supportive friendship networks than
newly married young adults once did.
Gender and Friendship
Men tend to share activities and interests and talk about external matters
But do not talk of failures or emotional problems
Demand less of their friends so they have more of them
Women tend to share secrets, reveal their weaknesses and problems and expect
sympathy
Romantic Partners
Relationship between love and marriage depends on era and culture.
3 patterns occurring roughly in thirds:
−Arranged marriages
−Adolescents meet a select group and man ask woman’s parents for permission
−People socialize with many and then fall in love and marry when they are able, the most
common in Western cultures
The Dimensions of Love
Robert Sternberg (1988) described three distinct aspects of love:
Passion- an intense physical, cognitive and emotional onslaught characterized
by excitement, ecstasy, and euphoria.
Intimacy- knowing someone well, sharing secrets as well as sex.
Commitment- grows gradually through decisions to be together, mutual care
giving, kept secrets, shared possessions, and forgiveness.
Types of Love (Sternberg)
Hookups
A sexual encounter with neither intimacy nor commitment
Social networks
A Web site that allows users to publically share their lives and connect with large
numbers of people
Choice overload
Having so many possibilities that a thoughtful choice becomes difficult
Finding Each Other and Living Together
Cohabitation
Living with an unrelated person—typically a romantic partner—to whom one is not
married
Most young adults in the U.S., England, and northern Europe cohabit rather than
marry before age 25.
Half of all cohabitating couples in the U.S. plan on marrying eventually.
Changes in Marriage Patterns
In the U.S.
Most adults aged 20-30 are not married
Compared to any year in the past, fewer adults are married and more are divorced.
Similarities and Differences
Homogamy
Marriage between people who tend to be similar (SES, goals, religion, attitudes, local
origin, etc.)
Conflict
Learning to listen
Emerging Adults and Their Parents
Linked Lives
Where the success, health, and well-being of each family member are connected to
those of other members.
Financial Support
Parents of all income levels in the U.S. help their adult children.
A Global Perspective
– Parental support and linked lives are typical everywhere. In some countries, it is
valued more than in others (i.e. Italy vs. Great Britain).