Chapters 9 & 10

Question 1

What is emerging adulthood?

Answer 1

18-29 years?
Emerging adulthood: lengthy transition – individuals
exploring their identities, career paths, romantic
relationships

Question 2

What are the key features?

Answer 2

Identity exploration: development task of emerging adulthood
who am I? what do I want out of life?
 Instability: dorms – parents’ house – apartment….changing
jobs
 Self-focus: few social obligations
- Can set own agenda
Parents setting fewer rules
 Feeling in between: not full-fledged adults
Adult: accepting responsibility, independent decisions,
financially independent
 Age of possibilities: period of optimism!
view as an oppurunity to reorient their lives

Question 3

What is established adulthood?

Answer 3

30-45 years old
2020: Established adulthood is a new age stage
 Prior: 30 – 65
 Demands, goals, aspirations – attempt to progress at work,
achieve deep level of intimacy in long-term relationship,
demands of caring for child(ren)
 “Career-and-care crunch”

Question 4

What are Canada’s 5 markers?

Answer 4

1. Education completed
2. Independent residence of parents
3. A year of full-time work experience
4. Participation in a conjugal relationship
5. Parenting

Question 5

What is health?

Answer 5

Emerging – 2x mortality rate > adolescents
 Accidents, suicides: 2 leading causes of death in emerging
 Established: cancer, heart disease > younger adults
 Death, poor health linked to lifestyle!
 Poor eating habits? Breakfast? Smoking? Drinking?
 Exercise?
 Sleep?
 Risky behaviours?
Bad health habits ↑ in emerging adulthood
 Poor health, ↓ life satisfaction
 Long term – 40 years later!
 Life satisfaction – improves with holistic balance of work,
family, friends, leisure, sense of purpose, sense of belonging
in community
 Education, SES, physical safety…

Question 6

What about sleep?

Answer 6

7-9 hrs
 1/4 aged 18 – 34 don’t
 Sleep deprivation – lower marks, delayed graduation
 Sleep enhances precision of memories, ability to retrieve
info
 Lack of sleep: distort memory, think less clearly, impair
concentration
 Long term: cardiovascular disease, shortened lifespan,
cognitive, motor impairment, auto- and work-related
accidents

Question 7

Sleep not why?

Answer 7

Smartphone dependence
 Consumption of energy drinks
 Practice relaxation techniques, maintain
regular sleep pattern, avoid alcohol,
caffeine, nicotine before bed

Question 8

What about Exercise?

Answer 8

 Benefits both physical, mental health
 Key factor in dying earlier
 Linked with higher self-concept, lower rates
of depression, anxiety
 Also linked to academic achievement!

Question 9

What is substance abuse?

Answer 9

Alcohol use
 Reduce acute risk, no more than 3 drinks on single
occasion for women, 4 for men
 No more than 10/week for women, 15 for men
 Set limits!
 Recommended – no more than 2/week

Question 10

What is sexuality?

Answer 10

Hooking up: sexual activity (kissing – intercourse) in
absence of any obligation to a relationship
 20% First-year women, 1 hook-up in last year
 Impulsivity, sensation seeking, alcohol use – predictors of
greater likelihood
 Friends with benefits
 Casual sex OK?
 Negatively linked to sense of well-being, ↑ psychological
distress

Question 11

What is cognitive development?

Answer 11

Piaget – no discussion on cognition during
adulthood
 One more stage after formal operations -
Postformal thought
 More realistic, pragmatic thinking
 It is reflective, relativistic, and contextual: best
solution for home, not for work; need to think
(reflect) on various situations
 It is provisional: more skeptical, not as willing
to accept answer as “truth”
It is realistic: Thinking can’t always be abstract
 It is recognized as being influenced by emotion: greater
understanding that thinking is influenced by emotion
 Negative emotions can produce distorted thinking, self-
serving

Question 12

What is creativity?

Answer 12

Try to be surprised by something every day
 Be open to the world
 Try to be surprised by someone every day
 Ask a question, do something different
 Write down each day what surprised you and how you
surprised others
 Journal everyday…..after few weeks, re-read
 Pattern emerge? Explore!
 When something sparks your interest, follow it

Question 13

What is creativity part 2?

Answer 13

Wake up in the morning with a specific goal to look forward
to
 Something meaningful to accomplish that day
 Spending time in settings that stimulate your creativity
 Highest levels of creativity when they were walking,
driving, swimming = semiautomatic – take certain amount
of attention while leaving you free time to make
connections among ideas
 Half-asleep, half-awake: deeply relaxed, or barely awake

Question 14

What is cognition?

Answer 14

Self-efficacy: belief that one can master a situation and
produce favourable outcomes
 Mindset: cognitive view that individuals develop for
themselves
 Growth mindset: belief that their qualities can change and
improve via effort
 Linked to success, achievement
 Fixed mindset: belief that their qualities are set and can’t
change
 Linked to lower achievement, success

Question 15

What is motivation?

Answer 15

Expectancy value theory: 4 factors that influence
motivation:
 Utility value – seeing task as useful
 Attainment value – task has personal importance
 Intrinsic value – task is interesting in and of itself
 Cost – energy required for task is worthwhile
 Intrinsic motivation: internal motivation to do something
for its own sake

Question 16

What is the self-determination theory?

Answer 16

Intrinsic motivation based on 3 factors:
 Sense of competence
 Autonomy – self-direction, choice
-Relatedness and connection
 Extrinsic motivation: doing something to obtain something
else (means to an end)

Question 17

What is grit?

Answer 17

Passion and persistence in achieving long-term goals
 Linked to academic engagement, achieving success
 Do you have grit?
 Do you push yourself to do your best?
 Do you work hard to reach goals, no matter how long it
takes to reach them?
 Once you set goal, do you strive to overcome any
challenges that you may encounter?
 How passionate are you about the work you’re doing?

Question 18

What are the foundations of attachment moving forward?

Answer 18

Recall: securely attached infants – parent who is the secure
base from which to explore environment
 Adults may count on romantic partner as secure base to
they can return and obtain comfort and security during
stressful times
 Romantic partners may fulfill some of the same needs for
adults as parents do for their children
 Early attachment DOES impact future relationships

Question 19

What are the outcomes of attachment?

Answer 19

Infants insecure at 12-18 mon: ↓ balanced regulation (less
open, not approach-oriented, less willing to engage in
collaborative problem-solving)
 ↑ hypo-regulation strategies = suppressing their emotions,
more disengaged, more likely to engage in superficial
problem solving

Question 20

What is attachment and romantic relationships?

Answer 20

Secure
 Positive views of relationships
 Find it easy to get close to others
 Not overly concerned with or stressed
about their romantic relationships
 Tend to enjoy their sexuality in context
of committed relationships
 ↓ to have one-night stands
Insecure Avoidant
 Hesitant about getting involved in romantic relationships
 Once in, tend to distance themselves from partners
 Insecure Anxious
 Demand closeness
 Less trusting
 More emotional, jealous, possessive

Question 21

What is attachment?

Answer 21

Anxious emerging adults: difficulty in developing greater
autonomy as they transition to emerging adulthood
 Become preoccupied with their interpersonal
relationships
 Balancing between personal, interpersonal role
commitments may lead to ↑ depressive symptoms
 Greater desire for social belongingness, feedback,
comfort
 Secure attachment: protective factor from suicidal ideation

Question 22

What are the big 5 factors of personality?

Answer 22

Openness to experience- Imaginative or practical
interested in variety of routine
-independant or conforming
 Conscientiousness- organized or disorganized
-careful/careless
-disiplined or impulsive
 Extroversion
-sociable, fun loving, affectionate (or the opposite)
 Agreeableness
-softhearted, trusting, suspicious or the opposite
 Neuroticism
-calm, secure, self-satsified
or the opposite
(OCEAN)

Question 23

What are the expressions of OCEAN- O, C?

Answer 23

O: superior cognitive functioning, achievement, activity
engagement, IQ across lifespan
 ↑ creative and experience more active imagination
 ↓ negative affect to stressors
 Linked to cannabis use
 C: better health, longevity
 Better duration and quality of sleep 5 years later
 Engage in superior problem-focused coping
 More successful at accomplishing goals

Question 24

What are the expressions of OCEAN- E?

Answer 24

E: more likely to be satisfied in relationships
 Show less affect to stressors
 ↑ positive sense of well-being in future
 ↑ divergent thinking (which is important part of creativity)
 ↑ engage in alcohol consumption, primarily for excitement
seeking, use cocaine/crack, stimulants
 ↑ experience loneliness
 Greater risk for problematic Internet behaviours

Question 25

What are the expressions of OCEAN- A?

Answer 25

A: Host of positive outcomes
 Self-transcendence: showing benevolence to others,
selfless
 Contentment: quality of life, acceptance, happiness
 Relational investment: maintaining positive relationships,
mutual satisfaction and social support
 Teamworking: empathic ability, motivation to cooperate
with others
 Work investment – willingness to work

Question 26

What are the expressions of OCEAN- N?

Answer 26

N: ↑ Experience loneliness
 ↑ Prescription drug misuse
 ↑ Negative drinking-related activities
 ↑ Stress due to perceiving greater threats
 Linked to majority of health-related and mental traits
(depression, anxiety, alcohol dependence, bipolar…)

Question 27

What are love and relationships?

Answer 27

 Intimacy: self-disclosure, sharing of private thoughts
 Openness of communicating, sharing thoughts, interests,
concerns enhances intimate relationships
 Erikson: Intimacy v. Isolation
-finding yourself and losing yourself in another person

Question 28

What are friendships?

Answer 28

 Plays important role in achieving long-term romantic life
satisfaction into adulthood
 Women > men: closer to their friends, have more close
friends, involves more self-disclosure and mutual support
 Barriers for men: competition – tend to be more overtly
competitive
 Women resort to more subtle tactics (mean faces, gestures)

Question 29

What is romantic love?

Answer 29

Passionate love, obsessive low, infatuation,
lovesickness, eros
 Also includes: passion, fear, anger, sexual
desire, joy, jealousy
 Sexual desire is the most important ingredient
 Heightened state of romantic love in young
adults can lead to feelings of rejection,
depression, anxiety

Question 30

What is affectionate love?

Answer 30

 Love is more than passion – companionate love
 Occurs when someone desires to have other person near,
has deep, caring affection for other person
 Early stages – more romantic love ingredients but as love
matures, passion gives way to affection

Question 31

What is consummate love?

Answer 31

Fullest form of love – consummate – includes passion,
intimacy, and commitment

Question 32

What are lifestyles- single?

Answer 32

Living alone doubled over 25 years in Canada
 Most percentage of adults living alone: Sweden, UK, Japan,
Italy, US, Canada, Russia, South Africa, Kenya, Brazil
 Challenges: forming intimate relationships with other adults,
confronting loneliness, finding niche in society that focuses
on marriage
 Positives: having time to make decisions about one’s life
course, time to develop personal resources, freedom to
make autonomous decisions, pursue interests, try new
experiences

Question 33

What are lifestyles- cohabiting?

Answer 33

 Living together in sexual relationship, not married
 Canada, 2016: 1/5 living common law, highest in Quebec
 NOT a precursor to marriage
 Regardless of gender, cohabiting were more committed and
satisfied than non-cohabiting couples
 Challenges:
 Face disapproval by parents and other
 Difficulty in owning property jointly
 Legal rights on dissolution less certain than divorce

Question 34

What are lifestyles-married?

Answer 34

 Marital satisfaction – strongest predictor of divorce
 Linked to: age, religiosity, economic status, level of
education, culture, gender
 Men > women on MS
 Maybe due to inequality in distribution of household
responsibilities, roles, childcare
 Risk or protective factor?
 Communication between partner? Support,
responsiveness?
 How do they deal with stress? Impact on other
 During COVID: Married less likely
to report mental health issues
(depression, anxiety), lived longer,
healthier

Question 35

What are lifestyles-remarried adults?

Answer 35

 50% remarrying within 3 years of divorce!
 Men marry sooner, esp, higher incomes
 Sooner if they initiated the divorce
 Men more likely to remarry by 2x (US data)
 Remarried find it difficult to stay remarried
 Some remarry for financial reasons (help with caring for
children)
 Reduce loneliness
 Carry negative patterns that caused the first divorce
 More positive attitudes about divorce, low marital quality,
divorce proneness than first marriage couples

Question 36

What is the roadmap to a working marriage?

Answer 36

 Establishing love maps: personal insights into each other’s
life and world, not psychological strangers, share feelings
 Nurture fondness and admiration: sing each other’s praises,
positive spin on their marriage’s history
 Turning toward each other, not away
 Letting your partner influence you: open to each other’s
ideas, choices, respect, achieve cohesive union
 Creating shared meaning: sharing goals, working together
to achieve each other’s goals, speaking candidly,
respectfully

Question 37

What is Intimate partner violence (IPV)?

Answer 37

 Abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, social, and
financial
 Stats Can (2018): 44% women, 36% men experienced IPV
 Psychological abuse was most common
 Gender differences:
 Women > men: physical, sexual assault, greater violence
(being forced to have sex, being choked)
* IPV for women > men, moderately more injuries
 Bilateral (both) abuse most common
 Sexual minority women 67% v. 44% at least 1 form of IPV
from age 15
 Bisexual (68%), lesbian (61%): survivors of IPV at some
point

Question 38

What is dealing with divorce/union breakdown?

Answer 38

 High conflict situation: No consensus on definition –
acrimonious, toxic, domestic warfare, family violence
 Risk factors
 Personality disorders (pathological narcissism, envy,
entrenched hatred)
 Bad actors: extended family, professionals (child
protection social workers) taking sides
 Police, lawyers
 Law, legislation, parents’ religion, cultural norms and
beliefs

Question 39

What is maternal/parental gatekeeping?

Answer 39

 Attitudes and actions of parents that can affect the
involvement and quality of the other parent-child
relationships, either positively, negatively
 Facilitative: support and promote other parent’s relationship
 Restrictive: proverbial gate that one parent closes to other
parent to prevent relationship from further developing
 Parental alienation: No apparent reason, child no longer
wants a relationship with the other parent

Question 40

What are false allegations?

Answer 40

 Used purposefully to manipulate the legal system or to seek
revenge against an estranged partner, or result of the
reporters’ emotional disturbance
 Intentional fabrications have been termed the “ultimate
weapon” or the “silver bullet” in cases of false allegations of
child sexual abuse
 Repeated false allegations of child abuse, repeated
investigations may create false memories in children
 Canadian family law judgements, 10 year span: 196 cases,
46 cases judge found evidence of abuse
 45 cases of no abuse found (30 were sexual abuse
allegations), judge stated intentionally false
 71% were by mothers
 Canadian National study: child welfare workers reporting on
2,447 children
 Half of non-custodial fathers were viewed unfounded
 Rarely did workers view mothers’ claims as intentionally
false but 1/5 for fathers
 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Abuse and Neglect:
41% child abuse allegations by parents in child custody
disputes v. 8% of parents in non-custody disputes
 45% were substantiated
 13% deemed malicious

Question 41

What is divorce with children?

Answer 41

 Parental custody = decision-making responsibilities
 Access = parenting time
 Increasing trend for both shared physical parenting time and
joint decision-making
 Shared, equal parenting: at least 40% of time with one parent
 1/5 children rarely (less than 1 week/year) to never saw their
father 2 years since divorce
 4/10 children by 10 years since divorce!