Young Adulthood Overview

Young adulthood is a span of about 20 years, starting from 20 to 40 years old. Life events for this period of time include marriage, having children and working. A later surge into adulthood can include graduation, not getting jobs and relying on parents.

3 criteria that defines adulthood:

1. Accepting responsibilty for oneself
2. Making independent decisions
3. Becoming financially independent 

                                         Emerging adult - transition between adolescence and adulthood (20's-30's)

      

• Exploring period
• opportunity to try out new and different ways of living
• no longer an adolescent, but have yet to settle into adult roles

Sociological Perspective of Adulthood: An individual that can support themselves and married/in a relationship

 

Psychological Perspective of Adulthood: State of mind rather than event in which an individual has formed an identity and forma relationships are independent from parents and has developed a system of values. Onset of adulthood marked by internal indicators-sense of autonomy, self-control, and personal responsibility

Cognitive

        Though Piaget claimed that cognitive development ended with formal operational thought in adolescence, new theorists believe there is further cognitive development in adulthood and that the pathways the brain forms are not all established.

            Reflective Thinking are complex thoughts of "what if..." and "but..." Dewey established this type of thinking which happens when full mylenation occurs, so around 20 to 25. As the frontal lobe is rapidly developing, this process of reflective thinking consists of thoughts such as: "I really want to do that, but I need to do this." This thinking involved continuous, active evaluation of information and beliefs in the light of evidence and implications. One of reflective thinking's hallmark traits is continually questioning supposed facts, drawing inferences and making connections. Almost all adults develop the capacity for reflective thinking yet few attain optimal proficiency of this skill.

Education/College = #1 predictor of most reflective thinking due to:

1. independence
2. experience
3. exposure to diverse community
4. variety to activities

       Post-Formal Thought is the ability to deal with uncertainty, inconsistency, contradiction, imperfection and compromise. This draws on intuition and emotion, as well as logic. Thoughts are less rigid and more realistic than during adolescence - more thinking outside the box and flexible thinking, as well as being able to discern shades of grey and realizing life is not strictly black and white.

      In order to achieve post-formal thought, one must be able to be able to shift gears between abstract and real world. Classifying, categorizing, setting parameters are all integral features of this thought. Choosing the best solution based on the criteria is also important.

Schaie's Life-Span Model

Developing uses of intellect within a social context

Through 7 stages a person shifts from:

• Acquisition of information and skills
• Practical integration of knowledge and skills
• Search for meaning and purpose

Sternberg - Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

1. Componential Element - analytic ability (used for tests)
2. Experiential Element - insightful, creative thinking
3. Contextual Element - practical intelligence (street smarts)

As one ages, creativity and solving practical problems grows or remains stable until midlife. Analytic (solving academic problems) declines. Tests such as the IQ and SAT are analytical and look at practical things, disregarding tacit knowledge and emotional intelligence. 

Tacit knowledge: Not formally taught of openly expressed, but necessary to function successfully. Often known as "commonsense" and includes self management, when to reward/discipline others and draws on past experiences.

Emotional intelligence: Ability to understand, perceive, use manage and regulate emotions. Recognizing and dealing with ones own feelings and those of others effects the quality of personal relationships. Important component of effective, intelligent behavior. A high emotional intelligence seems to underlie competencies that contribute to work success and may  play a role in acquisition and use of tacit knowledge. 

The following chat is an average of scores on the five tests as a function of age. In early adulthood, up to age 40, there are still improvements and further developments. "There are modest gains on most of the tests ... Whether we measure this in terms of performance on the qualitative reason- ing tasks favoured by investigators in the postformal thought school, or in terms of more traditional psychometric techniques, it appears that intelligence is still increasing well into adulthood" (Durkin)

Summary:

• Adults continue to develop cognitively, but how they use and apply their knowledge changes over time.
• Refinement of cognitive development
• Street smarts, apply/manipulate knowledge, real world application
• Intelligence can include more than just "book smarts"
• Emotions appear to be an important component

Social

Gender Roles:

Women tend to think more about their responsibilities to specific people; a woman's central moral dilemma is the conflict between her needs and those of others. Men on the other hand are less apt to regard feelings and are more likely to think in terms of justice.

Social Integration: Active engagement in a broad range of social relationships, activities and roles. Social networks can influence emotional well-being as well as participation in healthful behaviors (this is also associated with lower mortality rates).

Social Support: Material information and psychological resources derived from the social network on which a person can rely for help in coping with stress. In stressful situations, people in touch with others are more likely to be less distracted, anxious or depressed.

Friendships in young adulthood:

• Tend to center on work and parenting activities
• Share confidences and advice
• Self-disclosure - revealing important information about oneself to another
• Friendships can vary greatly on level of intimacy, shared interests, and length
• People become intimate and retain intimate through these shared disclosures, responsiveness to each others needs, and mutual acceptance and respect
• Number of friends and time spent with friends tends to decline by middle age
• People tend to have more friends and acquaintances during young adulthood than at any subsequent period
• College students who have strong friendships networks adjust better to stressful life events and have better self-esteem

Gender Differences in Friendships:

Men: 

Men tend to share information and activities. Share confidences with each other on a limited basis, competition can play a part but the focus is usually on social interaction and not winning.

Women:

Women tend to have more intimate friendships than men. More likely to discuss relationship problems. Share advice and support - more likely to confide in each other and tend to have more close friends than men.

Relationships

Love, Marriage, and Family

Intimate relationships
-Friendships
-Love
-Sexuality

Marital and Non-marital Lifestyles
-Single Life
-LGBT cohabitation
-Marriage

Parenthood
-Divorce

Love:
Sternberg's Triangular Subtheory of Love is composed of three components: intimacy, passion and commitment. The different types of relationships are on a continuum and change with time. The degree to which each of these components is present determines what kind of love they feel, the triangular theory can be used to view patterns of loving.

• Intimacy: emotional element
• involves self-disclosure
• connection, warmth, trust
• Passion: motivational element
• inner drives
• physiological arousal and sexual desire
• Commitment: cognitive element
• decision to love and stay with the person you love

Patterns of Loving:

Views about sexuality:

30% Reproductive: Sex only for reproductive purposes within a marriage

25% Recreational: Whatever feels good and does not hurt anyone is OK

45% Relational: Sex should be accompanied by love or affection, but not necessarily marriage

Marital and non-Marital Lifestyles:

• Single Life: 
• Proportion of young adults in the US who have not yet married has increased dramatically
• Less opportunity for young adults to explore a variety of relationships before settling on one
• More people are single by choice, especially women who are now self-supporting
• Reasons for staying single
• career opportunities
• travel
• sexual and lifestyle freedom
• desire for self fulfillment and self sufficiency
• Gay and Lesbian Relationships:
• Long term gay and lesbian relationships are more common in societies that tolerate, acceot, or support them
• Same "ingredients" for long-term satisfaction in the relationship are the same as those of heterosexual relationships
• psychological adjustment
• personality traits
• perceptions of equality
• ways of resolving conflict
• satisfaction with social support
• Homosexual relationships are just as healthy as heterosexual ones
• Factors that predicted the quality and stability of the relationship in gay/lesbian relationships fared equal to or better than heterosexual couples in all of the areas except for social support
• Same sex marriage has been legalized in several countries, still a controversial topic in U.S.
• Co-Habitation:
• An unmarried, committed couple involved in a sexual relationship that live together
• Has increased among all racial/ethnic groups and educational levels in the U.S.
• More than half of all U.S. couples who marry have lived together; about half of all cohabiting couples eventually marry
• Lends itself to delay in marriage
• People who cohabitate tend to have unconventional attitudes about family life and are less likely than most other people to select partners like themselves in age, race or ethnicity, and previous marital status
• Marriage:

• Typical "marrying age" has increased in industrial countries
• 26 for women
• 28 for men
• Changes: 
• sexual habits/behaviors
• living arrangements
• rights and responsibilities
• attachments
• loyalties
• Redefines the connection to their own family, balance intimacy with autonomy and establish a fulfilling sexual relationship.
• The benefits of marriage include:
• intimacy, sexual expression and companionship
• economic security, division of labor
• emotional growth, sources of new identities
• many of the important benefits are no longer found only within marriage
• Divorce:

• Increasing divorce statistics
• Average marriage that ends in divorce lasts 7-8 years
• Reasons for marriage failure: incompatibility and lack of emotional support, including lack of career support
• Decline may be due to higher education, therefore later age of getting married
• If the couples economic resources are about equal, the greater the likelihood of discussing divorce
• Less people staying together "for the children"
• Adults with divorced parents are more likely to divorce

Factors in success or failure of marriage:

• Happiness with the relationship
• Emotional support
• Communication and conflict management skills
• Age at marriage
• Spousal abuse
• Expectations from the marriage
• What people feel holds their marriage together (rewards, barriers)

Emotional

Kohlbergs Stages Of Moral Development

Kramer's Three Stages:

Kramer's theory is that young adults progress through three general stages: absolutist, relativist and dialectical.

Absolutist phase: People are able to address many problems, but tend to believe that all problems have a right answer.

Relativist stage: People become conscious of varying approaches on any matter - and the ‘correct’ answer is situational.

Dialectical phase: People comprehend why there are diverse views and appreciate the overall progress and contributions of their chosen discipline.

Erikson's Theory

• 
  
         Erik Erikson believed throughout different stages of life there are different goals assigned to each age group. Erikson believed that those in early adulthood are "struggling with intimacy as opposed to isolation." In short, this alludes to the yearning for a long-term relationship. Positive attributes such as confidence and acceptance are given to those who have achieved intimacy. On the other hand, those in isolation have traits such as fear, loneliness and abandonment (Elliott).

  
  

  

  
  

  

Emotional Regulation:

           Vital to safety, young adults obtain a considerably larger ability for integration of thought and emotion. Having the capability of holding the present and the future on their mental visor at the same time, young adults are able to reflect on immediate rewards against future consequences, putting more effective brakes on the emotional intensity and sensation-seeking heightened since puberty...

• Feeling of invincibility is common during young adulthood

• Leads to dangerous or harmful situations

Physical

Young adulthood is a time when the body is at it's personal best. This period of maximal performance for most young adults includes the peak of health, strength, energy, endurance and sensory functioning. Coordination and dexterity peak, visual acuity is highly functional, the reproductive organs are mature and the rebound recovery rate from injury is still good. As a result from performing at one's physical best, a feeling of invincibility is often common in this age group.

        Following the imbalance of adolescence, during young adulthood body proportions are established and hormones even out. Height is stabilized and the body is mobile, standing is easy even though the body is generally more flexible throughout teen years.

Physical activity is the #1 attribute to a healthy life.


Benefits:

• builds muscle
• strengthens heart
• strengthens lungs
• lowers blood pressure
• protects against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers and osteoporosis
• relieves anxiety and depression; lengthens life

Diet and nutrition also play a role in one's physical development. Metabolism changes as we age and obesity rates have tripled over the past twenty years. Obesity stems from an increased amount of snacking, availability or inexpensive fast food, super sized portions, high fat diets, and sedentary lifestyles. This can lead to a variety of unpleasantries such can depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, gallstones, diabetes, stroke, arthritis and other muscular and skeletal disorders, and even
some cancers.

Inactivity is a global health problem. Sedentary is one of the worlds 10 leading causes of death and disability. About 1/3 of U.S. 18-44 year old's do not engage in any regular leisure time physical activity.

Education/Career

Young adults are putting more time into education and furthering their education. It is more and more common to spend more time at professional school to ensure a job which delays finding a career and puts these students into more debt. There is a secular trend of everything being delayed:


Twixters: Individuals in 20-30s age group  who have pursued some kind of education and realize they can not get into a career,  and as a result they move back home.

Is this Good or Bad? Some of the sociologists, psychologists and demographers who study the twixters actually see this new life stage as a good thing. They're not lazy slackers, the argument goes, they're reaping the fruit of decades of American affluence and social liberation. This new period is a chance for young people to savor the pleasures of irresponsibility, search their souls and choose their life paths. But more historically and economically minded scholars see it differently. They are worried that twixters aren't growing up because they can't. Those researchers fear that whatever cultural machinery used to turn kids into grownups has broken down, that society no longer provides young people with the moral backbone and the financial wherewithal to take their rightful places in the adult world, TIME reports

There is a gender gap in educational attainment for young U.S. adults, according to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• While nearly one in four women had earned a bachelor's degree by their 23rd year, only one in seven men had done the same. 
• Women were also less likely than men at age 23 to be high-school dropouts or high-school graduates not enrolled in college.

      Career development is a long, established process of the work world by having the choice among many different employment opportunities and careers. Each individual person undertaking this process is effected by various elements, including: where they live, personal talents and educational accomplishments (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001).
      A major turning point in ones life, generally occurring in and around high school, involves the career choice made regarding their futures. Many times, it is perceived by family and society as a start to prepare for the workplace. This plays a major role in establishing youth in a career path that presents and ends opportunities. "With the differences in the social and economic context of college-bound versus work-bound adolescents (Bluestein, Phillips, Jobin-Davis, Finkelberg, & Roarke, 1997), a study was designed to explore the factors that influence rural young adults' selection of specific careers"(Ferry).

Refrences

Durkin, Kevin. “Adolescence and Adulthood, Chapter 10.” blackwellpublishing.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/‌intropsych/‌pdf/‌chapter10.pdf>.

Elliot, Steven. “Early Adulthood and Emotional Development. Erikson’s Theroy.” ehow.com. N.p., 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/‌about_5076921_early-adulthood-emotional-development.html>.

facweb.bhc.edu. Schaie’s Stages of Thinking Power Point Presentation, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://facweb.bhc.edu/‌academics/‌sbes/‌mileyk/‌psych200/‌unit3/‌early%20adult%20cognitive/‌sld006.htm >.

Ferry, Natalie M. “Factors Influencing Career Choices of Adolescents and Young Adults in Rural Pennsylvania.” Journal of Extension. www.joe.org, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.joe.org/‌joe/‌2006june/‌rb7.php>.

“Kohlbergs Stages Of Moral Development.” realmagick.com The shrine of knowledge. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://www.realmagick.com/‌kohlbergs-stages-of-moral-development/‌ >.

“A RESOURCE FOR ANY TEACHER OF HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY, WHETHER AP, IB OR INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY.” TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY. Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/‌2012/‌02/‌sternbergs-triangular-theory-of-love.html >.

Trippet, Ty, and Kim Noel. “TIME Cover: Meet the Twixters.” TIME Magazine- U.S. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://www.time.com/‌time/‌press_releases/‌article/‌0,8599,1018035,00.html>.

Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G.V., & Pastorelli, C. (2001). Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of    children's aspirations and career trajectories. Child Development, 72, 187-206.
Blustein, D., Phillips, M., Jobin-Davis, M., Finkelberg, S., & Roarke, A. (1997). A theory-building investigation of the school-to-work transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 25, 364-401.