Emerging Adult Development

As the mother of seven grown children, I agree with most of Jeffrey Arnett’s, author of Emerging Adulthood, theories. It is a time of change, with a developmental connection between adolescence and adulthood. During this phase of development, children experience periods of self-discovery transformation. There are favorable outcomes as well as adverse effects during this developmental stage. Furthermore, this successive stage encourages and promotes the change from the dependency of their parents to the independence that is distinctive for adults. This autonomy is beneficial because it prepares the emerging adult for their future independently from their parents. Arnett believes there are five characteristics of emerging adulthood that make it distinguishable from other time periods: the age of identity explorations, the age of instability, the self-focused age, the age of feeling in-between, and the age of possibilities.

In the magazine article "What Is It About 20-Somethings," Robin Marantz Henig discussed the stagnant transcendence of adolescents into adulthood with society and economy evolve to accomodate people's needs. Most make it into the realm of adulthood once they surpass these milestones: "completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child". However, some linger in a new stage called the "emerging adulthood," where they spend more time than others to explore their identity and to develop "sense of possibilities". Causes for the delay include cultural expectation, dependence on parents, change in hierarchy of needs, and adolescent brain development. And as a result, society become uncertain whether to extend

There are five key features that characterize emerging adulthood. The first s identity exploration. The second is “Instability.” For many the instability is a result of residential changes such as living in a dorm. There is also instability in friendships, romantic relationships, academia, and work. Emerging adults have few obligations, responsibilities, and commitments. Because they have so much autonomy in controlling their own lives the third key feature is “Self-Focused.” One of the most difficult

There is a moment in every child’s life where he or she realizes that growing up is not as desirable as they once thought. Before this moment they fantasize about not having a bedtime or driving or finally being able to drink. But then they feel the weight of the adult world with its responsibilities and restrictions of a society that doesn’t value the individual and expects its citizens to morph into mature, controllable adults. This is the time parents hate, the time when their children try to rebel or run away to escape their future as adults, but time, alas, cannot be outrun. The adult world expects many things of its inhabitants—a job, a family, taxes, sex, and much more. Unfortunately, most young adults feel as though they will be

In his essay from The Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Arnett discusses various myths attributed to young adulthood while providing evidence to refute them. Three primary myths appearing throughout literature on emerging adults include a lower mental well-being, overall selfishness and a refusal to grow up. Several parallels exist between Arnett’s observations and my own experiences in emerging adulthood, providing further proof of the falsehood of such myths. Common myths claim emerging adults experience detriment in their overall well-being.

F. (2013). Transitions to adulthood: What we can learn from the West. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 646(1), 28-41. Goldscheider, F., Bernhardt, E., & Lappegård, T. (2015).

Throughout life, humans are constantly aspiring to live a successful life. A successful life has countless meanings, but it is evident that happiness and the achievement of predetermined goals is a general theme. Also, success can be realized by just taking a step back to analyze all that has led you to where you’re today. The Portrait of an Adult assignment is unique because it allows us students to discover how successful an individual adult believes they’re through an interview process. It dives deeply into the adults biological, psychological, and social aspects while being intertwined with various course content. The questions have been generated from a pool of general questions that led to a more in-depth conversation. In addition, I

Being an adult is the number one thing that children want to be: The desire to get older to do things that you want when you want and having no one say otherwise. However, what is an adult? An ambiguous term that really falls into the hands of the individual, where at Sixteen you can drive, eighteen you can vote, and twenty-one you can drink, for those in the USA, all varying ages that individuals could use as indications of adulthood. Robin Heinig wrote and article “What is it about 20- somethings?” where she discusses Arnett’s proposal about a new developmental stage, “Emerging Adulthood”. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, an American professor in psychology, believes that we aren 't entering adulthood till the later portions of our twenties. For some, this may be true but for the general population including myself I find this hard to believe. Leo Hendry’s article, “How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example”, on emerging adulthood gives a deeper understanding to what this generation 's kids are going through. The late teens are a crucial part to the lives of a young adult. It 's the time that we spend trying to identify ourselves, escape the circumstance that we are put into at a younger age, or just had a better family income. Arnett is not wrong, but all other external factors need to be accounted for before we know, or even consider if emerging adulthood is a new developmental stage.

Adulthood is a generation when modifications appear in social connections and situations. These transformations do not appear in efficient, foreseeable stages but as an alternative resulting in different courses, depending on personality

This research article was an analysis run by Pashak, Handal, and Scales (2016) to evaluate the developmental assets model that has been effectively used on children to create a new survey to test on emerging adults. The researchers named their creation the Young Adult Developmental Assets Survey (YADAS). The Search Institute had already developed the 40 assets that were evaluated within YADAS, and as a nonprofit for advancement of health the institute has conducted research over the last 50 years on young people and their success or failure. Their model is one of the most widely cited youth development approaches. It is divided into categories of external assets or internal assets, both which aid in the formation of young people. Their model is known as the PSL-AB. Other researchers have studied what makes emerging adults (18-29) thrive in emerging adulthood, and those findings were also included in the introduction. For this study, researchers aimed to test the efficacy of the PSL-AB, and also to test if the program could act a support and intervention tool for universities to promote young adults’ mental and physical health.

I am in the emerging adulthood phase because I am in that age group. At first I thought emerging adulthood was the start of paying bills, and having all kinds of new responsibilities that adults usually do like car payments, applying for insurance, finding a new doctor, maybe starting a family, etc. Pretty much not being under your parents financial support is what I’m trying to say. Recently my thoughts on emerging adulthood changed. Emerging adulthood is the time to prepare and ‘evolve’ one’s self into becoming a young adult. Right after I graduated high school I wanted to have a source of income so I do not have to rely on my parents too much. I wanted to prove to them I can attend school and have a job simultaneously. I was surprised I

I am interviewing Kyle Huynh, my 74 year old grandfather on my father’s side. He raised me during my childhood. I chose him as an example of successful aging because he is physically, emotionally, and socially healthy. He is strong, where he does not need to use instruments to assist him in anyway. He is physically fit because he works out, maintains a healthy diet, and is disease-free.

All students deserve and need a positive, dependable support system as well as a strong education in order to transition successfully into adulthood. A school’s primary objective should go beyond simply producing students. Rather, the goal should be to produce qualified and confident young men and women ready to take their next step, regardless of what that may be. In order to do so, it is of the utmost importance that parents, families, teachers, and counselors work together to engage a child in not only the learning process, but the maturing process as well. Through best counseling practices , I will strive to develop the next generation by acting as a youth advocate who empowers all students to overcome challenges and meet their fullest potential. Widener University’s master of education in counselor education program will allow me to do that.

Elderly people physically slow down and have lower energy levels. There are changes in the body systems and organs that can usually result in all types of

Throughout the Human Behavior and the Social Environment course, we have encompassed the many stages of the life cycle process. Now that I am twenty two years old, I found the early adulthood stage to be the most influential, and the most sensible one to relate to given the point that I am at in my life. More importantly, I decided to research and apply this life cycle stage to a variety of milestones, experienced by my interviewee, Chelsie. Living just houses apart, being raised by single fathers, Chelsie and I found that we had many things in common. We have remained friends since we were children, and have only grown to be closer into our early adulthood years.