Early Adulthood Flashcards
What is adulthood?
●Theorists provide no clear answer or boundaries
●Arnett (2000) calls ages 18 to 25 “emerging adulthood”- greater exploration of work, love, worldviews
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES:
Generations
Gen Xers: born between 1964 and 1981
●GI generation: born between 1900 and 1925
(now over age 87)
#Silent generation: born between 1925 and 1945
(now between 67 and 87)
#Baby Boomers: born between 1946 and 1964
#Millennials: born between 1982 and early 2000’s
(now young children-30 years)
GI generation:
born between 1900 and 1925
(now over age 87)
- Experienced (maybe WWI) and WWII
-Prohibition
-19th Amendment Women’s Right to Vote
-Great depressionSilent generation:
born between 1925 and 1945
(now between 67 and 87)
- Great depression, fought in WWII
- After WWII future was bright, moved to suburbs,
gave birth to Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers:
born between 1946 and 1964
- huge population!
- presidential assassination, civil rights movement, Vietnam, sexual revolution
- women entered workforce, dual income families- gave birth to Gen Xers
Gen Xers:
born between 1964 and 1981
- “slackers”
- less parental supervision, 40% grew up in single parent homes,
- hit hard by parents’ divorce
- Creating and working in web and computer industries
- Hopping from job to job
- Criticized in mass media: dumb, irresponsible
Millennials:
born between 1982 and early 2000’s
(now young children-30 years)
- they were delayed, planned pregnancies
- children were nurtured and sheltered, raised in wholesome environment
- optimistic, conservative, ambitious; told how
smart and wonderful they are!
- advocates for global, social, environmental concerns
- pressured to achieve, trust their parents, little “teenage angst”
More than half of young adults are
remaining at home with parents while going to college or establishing a career.
●Marrying later. College educated young adults are delaying the birth of children.
Conceptions of Age Periods
●We view age groups differently as we age (ex: many of the elderly think retirement years were their best, not youth)
●Young people perceive themselves as older (more mature), older adults perceive themselves as younger
●The thirties have “eternal appeal”!
Adulthood is commonly associated with
aging- both biological aging and social
aging.
Social norms-
especially age norms-
define what is appropriate for people to be
and do at various ages.
Transition points:
“relinquishment of
familiar roles and the assumption of new
ones”
Age Grading:
The arranging of people in social layers that are based on periods in the life cycle”
Social Clock:
“Internalized concepts that regulate our progression through the adult years.”
Life Events
●Normative or nonnormative
●Become reference points or time markers
●Examples: 9/11, the day you left for college, the day of a heart attack
●Causes one to ask questions about self or society
●Questions: Will it happen to me? If so, when will it happen? Will others experience it too?
●Consider the Just World Theory
Physical Performance
●Physical Changes only minimally affect daily lives
●18 to 30 tend to be the peak for speed and agility
●Between 30-45 we lose power and elasticity in eye lens
●Nearsightedness increases
●Farsightedness increases
Lack of Health Insurance
●Alarming percentage of adults
●Most likely to be 18-24, minority, part-time worker, unemployed, immigrants
●Medicaid- for poor; those who live just above can’t receive
●Use ER for healthcare
●Full time work is no guarantee
●Medical bills often the reason for bankruptcy
Effect of Lifestyle
●Adolescents are resilient
●Poor diet, lack of exercise begins to show in adulthood
●Metabolism slows, being overweight take toll on body
●Hypertension, high cholesterol, gallstones, diabetes, stroke, heart disease
Health Disparities
Poverty, low education have….
Poverty, low education have higher death rates ●Poor nutrition ●Poor housing ●Lack of prenatal care ●Lack of health insurance ●Less health knowledge ●Habits such as smoking, drinking, etc.
Mental Illness
●20% of adults have diagnosable mental disorder
●Two aspects:
●Ability to carry out social requirements of daily life
●Subjective sense of wellbeing
●Common disorders: ●Depression ●Alcoholism/substance addiction ●Phobias ●Anxiety
●Need to develop functional coping strategies
Stress
iEffect of lack of sleep
iWomen admit to feeling more stress than men.
iGender-role perspective for women: roles of nurturers and caretakers more stress in contrast to male roles.
iOR women may dwell more on their stress (Rumination Theory) while men try to distract themselves with activity.
Social support also buffers against many
of the adverse consequences of stress.
●Stress makes life interesting!
●Stress resides in perception of any event.
●Hardiness:
●openness to change
●feeling of involvement in what one is doing
●sense of control over events
●immerse themselves in meaningful activity
Chronic stress linked to
heart disease, hypertension, ulcers, asthma, migraines.
Hardiness:
●openness to change
●feeling of involvement in what one is doing
●sense of control over events
●immerse themselves in meaningful activity
Stages of Stress:
- Alarm reaction (system pumps up- fight/flight)
- Stage of resistance (system tries to settle)
- Stage of exhaustion (body breaks
down)
