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“Lieben und artbeiten.”
~Sigmund Freud
Young Adulthood: Love
and Work
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Transition to Adulthood

Accepting responsibility for oneself

Making independent decisions

Becoming financially independent

Intimacy versus isolation is central conflict according to
Erikson

Cultural variations include:

Israeli’s completing military service

Korean support parents financially

Traditional cultures focus on marriage
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Sternberg’s Triangular Theory
of Love
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Changes in Love

The three components follow a predictable trajectory
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Marriage


Marriage may exist for several reasons:

Uniting people to serve complementary gender roles

Reduces sexual competition

Necessary for the species
Variation between cultures in choice of marriage
partners, economics and number of marriage partners
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Arranged Marriages

Romantic love may not be a basis for marriage for all
cultures

Arranged marriages are an alliance between families
with love developing after marriage


Commitment first and attachment second

Marriage is also seen as an economic institution
Many traditional cultures are shifting from “arranged”
to semi arranged
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Western Marital Roles

Western view of marriage strongly based on intimacy
and sexual relationships

Focus on ideal mate could lead to marital
dissatisfaction

Belief in self-fulfillment in marriage leads to high
divorce rate in the U.S.
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Figure 10.3 Divorce Peaks in
Young Adulthood
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Divorce


Causes of divorce include

Age at marriage—younger than 25

Divorced parents

Socioeconomic status—conflict and stress over finances

Partner behavior—drinking or drug use, infidelity
Adjustments after divorce hardest in first 1–2 years
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Single Adults

Compared to married young adults it was thought
being single led to

Increased mental health problems

Physical health problems

Substance abuse

Thorough analysis has shown all these negative effects
were overblown

Ethnic variations exist in singlehood

African Americans have higher rates of cohabitation than
other groups

In Asian countries (urban) 1/3 of woman 30-34 are single

In Japan, single young adults are the happiest group
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Gay and Lesbian Partnerships



There are similarities between homosexual and
heterosexual partnerships

Seek long term relationship

Seek out similar partners and have similar areas of conflict
Differences include

Gay couples tolerate sexual episodes more than lesbian or
heterosexual couples

Higher sexual activity
Many differences are fading as acceptance increases
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Becoming a Parent


Traditional countries

Becoming a parent is extremely important

Fertility is goal of a woman and men enjoy greater status
Developed countries

Parenting is a choice and may not be extremely important

Parents more likely to be on their own although there are
ethnic group differences

Single motherhood is higher now than 50 years ago

In U.S. there are ethnic and education differences
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The Meaning of Work

Most people work to make a living but also find meaning in
their work

Research has found that people have four common ways in
which personal fulfillment is derived from work

Developing and becoming self

Union with others to pursue a common purpose

Expressing self

Serving others
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Choosing an Occupation

Holland’s Theory of Occupational Choice

People pursue careers that are a good fit between their
abilities and interests

Six personality types that combine these factors:
investigative, social, realistic, artistic, conventional, and
enterprising

Holland’s theory does not tell us much about the
differences among ethnic groups or other cultural groups
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Super’s Theory

People progress along a continuum of vocational maturity
through five stages





Implementation stage
Establishment stage
Maintenance stage
Deceleration stage
Retirement stage

Occupational aspirations at age 16 in the U.K. predicted
occupational attainments at 33

In the U.S., people change occupations several times
during adulthood
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Occupational Development

How we advance within chosen occupations depends on
many factors including

Expectations

Support from coworkers

Priorities

Job satisfaction
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Occupational Expectations

Changing interests and failure can be cause for changing
the dream

Leaving school and learning about the real world is often a
time of reality shock for young adults

Job satisfaction tends to increase with age

Probably because with advancing age, workers tend to select
and stay with jobs that satisfy them and move on from work that
is less satisfying
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The Role of Mentors and Coaches

More experienced workers often communicate the most
critical kinds of information rather than formal training

Mentors help young workers avoid trouble and explain the
unwritten rules of the job

Mentors often guide young workers and help to ensure that
they are noticed and get credit from supervisors
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The Role of Mentors
(Cont)

Kram described four phases of the mentoring relationship:

Initiation

Cultivation

Separation

Redefinition
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Work-Family Conflict

Dual-earner couples have difficulty finding time for each other

The amount of time is not necessarily the most important issue
as long as they enjoy the time together and it is spent in shared
activities

Many mothers have to return to work after the birth of a baby
 Some women struggle with the issue of returning to work, weighing
financial need and the need to care for their children
 Some women feel the need to return to work as a result of
attachment to their work
 Giving up work means a redefinition of one’s identity

Highest level of stress was during the peak parenting years
when there were often at least two preschool children in the
home
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Division of Household Labor

Women spend up to 50% more hours per week than men in
family work

Unequal division of labor is the greatest source of
arguments and unhappiness in two-earner households

While men have increased the amount of time spent on
household chores, the greatest amount of the increase is on
the weekends
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Division of Household Labor

The division of household labor is often the result of
people’s experience with their parents’ assignment of
chores

Men are more satisfied with the division of household labor

Women are not as concerned about the amount of time men
spend on household chores as when there are certain
“women’s chores” that men will not perform

Even when women enjoy doing tasks that are traditionally
considered “women’s work,” they may still experience role
strain when a partner does not also engage in these tasks
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Support in the Home

Women are more satisfied when men take on tasks that are
traditionally women’s chores

African American and Hispanic men spend more time on
household chores than European American men