Chapter 10: Constructing an Adult Life Flashcards
Emerging into Adulthood
defined by testing out different possibilities and developing self
- begins after high school and tapers off by LATE 20’s
Challenges & Changes
- Considered most challenging and change-inducing because you
- need to recanted life roles
- change to an unconstructed path
Setting the Context: then vs now
- Emerging adults are prolonging life choices
on careers and marriage - Life expectancy gains
- Longer time spent in higher education (now vs then)
- Focusing more on self, making more dramatic changes.
Emerging Adulthood in Southern Europe: Hardships
- Spain, Italy and Greece prioritize hiring men with families due to economic issues > harder for younger
- Strong norms against cohabitating and beginning families before marriage
- Young people continue to live w/ parents
- Reaching adulthood, financial stability occurs in 30’s
Emerging Adulthood in Scandinavian Countries: True Exploration
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark encourage independence
- many costs are govt. covered (edu., health,
- making it possible for young to leave parents home and successfully live independently
- common to cohabitate and have children before marriage
United States: Independence v Dependence
- The US shares many traits with those countries such as leaving home after 18, cohabitation and children before marriage but there is less focus on helping young people emerge into work or work.
Beginning Point for Adulthood
- entry point : nest leaving
- study says leaving home improves parent — child relationship
- leaving home makes people more adult however expected independence does not necessarily develop (could be due to $$)
End Point: The Ticking of Social Clock
- Shared age norms by society acting as a guide to what behaviors are appropriate at particular ages
- On-time: matching normal time
- Off-time: too early or too late of normal time
Impacts of Social Clock
- Off time in the late direction can cause physical and mental stress
- lack of control regarding certain developmental tasks (wanting to marry at a certain age regardless)
Constructing an Identity - Erikson’s Stage: Identity vs. Role Confusion
- Identity: task of deciding who you want to be as a person
- Identity Confusion: a failure to identify formation, marked by the lack of sense of a future adult path
- Moratorium: taking time out to explore different paths; Erikson believed this was crucial to building solid adult identity
James Marcia - 4 Identity Statuses
- Diffusion: young people drifting aimlessly toward adulthood without goals
- Foreclosure: young people who adopt an identity without any self-exploration or thought
- Moratorium: young people who engage in exciting, healthy search for adulthood; can be anxiety-provoking due to exploration
- Achievement: the end result where identity formation is complete
Identity Statuses in Action
- Marcia believed it was a linear transition but life changes are more erratic.
- Constant shifts are appropriate and serve to rethink and review our choices and goals
- Some people do not move thru and feel stuck
- Search for identity isnt a universal development task but is affected by life circumstances
Ethnic Identity
the sense of belonging to a specific ethnic category
* some develop dual minorities or reject one for another
Challenges for biracial or multiracial adults
- May have difficulty connecting with one ethnicity vs. the other
Finding a Career: High expectations
+ // ambition and high expectations can help teens avoid delinquent behaviors, depression and dropping out of school
- // many will not reach ambitions due to barriers such as poverty, economic factors
Predictor of successful transition into Career
Teens interest in…
- work (being productive)
- playing (avoiding work)
Personality Growth during Emerging Adulthood
- Personality changes the most during your 20’s
*Significant maturity develops — more focus on weighing options and healthy decision making - Seeing failures as life lessons not inconsequential events
- Develop Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness
- a term used by developmentalists used to describe the maturing of the frontal lobe, which helps develop self-control
Finding Flow
Flow: feeling of being totally absorbed in an activity
- Time flies by unnoticed
- Marked by extreme intrinsic motivation
- Occurs when there’s appropriate person-environment fit
- Can be a good predictor of potential careers
Emerging adulthood without a College Degree
- Those who do not complete college have difficulty constructing a middle-class life
- Can still have fulfilling careers
- Often have a different kind of intelligence (practical or creative)
Why do emerging adults drop out?
- “not college material” uninterested in academics, poorly prepared in high school
- Low SES young adults are less likely to graduate from college
- Gates Foundation found financial issues is a main reason for dropping out
Interventions Related to College
- Giving economically strapped young people a boost
- Knowing about financial aid
- More weekend/night classes
Recommendations for dealing with college issues
- Have total ballpark costs for attending before enrolling
- Use counselors/advisors assistance for incoming students
- Change emphasis on college being only way to achieve success
- Focus on School to Work transition
Rethinking emphasis on college is only ticket to a decent life
- Issues with US approach is that high schools encourage to identify career path and attend college (potentially setting up to fail)
- Japan: Separation from school/work and home
- German: young people enter apprentice program which guarantees a job after
