Which of the following have been identified as features of emerging adulthood?

“Emerging Adulthood” is a term used to describe a period of development spanning from about ages 18 to 29, experienced by most people in their twenties in Westernized cultures and perhaps in other parts of the world as well. It was initially defined by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, PhD from Clark University in 2000.

Arnett has studied this age group of twenty-somethings (a.k.a. “millennials”) extensively since then, focusing on understanding the timing and consequences of transitional events like:

  • Leaving home
  • Finishing education
  • Finding employment
  • Getting married
  • Starting a family
  • Redefining relationships with parents
  • Pursuing love lives
  • Shaping a career path
  • Developing religious beliefs
  • Having hopes for the future

How is this different from being a "full-fledged" adult?

Arnett recognized that traditional, typical markers of entering true adulthood (e.g., leaving home, getting married, having children, etc.) were changing. In his research, Arnett notes that interviewees in various regions of the United States, from a variety of ethnic groups and across social classes, identify the following “Big Three” criteria for adulthood:

  1. Accept responsibility for yourself
  2. Make independent decisions
  3. Become financially independent

Origins and Historical Influences of Emerging Adulthood

According to Arnett, the conceptualization of Emerging Adulthood as a distinctly new developmental stage (between adolescence and adulthood) is a result of four societal changes that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s:

  1. The Technology Revolution
  2. The Sexual Revolution
  3. The Women’s Movement
  4. The Youth Movement

As a result of these radical changes, the arrival of full-fledged adulthood has been delayed. Emerging adults are now pursuing longer and more wide-spread education, entering into marriage and parenthood later, and experiencing a longer transition to stable work. Due to advances in technology, college-aged individuals are more easily in contact with their parents; because of this, parents are increasingly able to engage in parenting practices well after their offspring have already left home. After college, and well into emerging adulthood, individuals are returning home and living with their parents at a higher rate than in the past. With the extension of parenting practices, individuals at this age are not individuating (i.e., accepting responsibility for oneself, making independent decisions, becoming financially independent) in a way that would define them as full-fledged adults.

Experiences Shared by Emerging Adults

According to Arnett, “To be a young American today is to experience both excitement and uneasiness, wide-open possibilities and confusion, new freedoms and new fears.”

Arnett has discovered five characteristics that are common to people between the ages of 18 and 29:

  1. Identity exploration: answering the question “who am I?” and trying out various options, especially in love and work
  2. Instability, in love, work, and place of residence
  3. Self-Focus, as obligations to others reach a lifespan low
  4. Feeling “In-Between”, in transition, neither adolescent nor adult
  5. Possibilities/Optimism, when hopes flourish and people have unparalleled opportunity to transform their lives

Adapted from:

Arnett, J.J. (2014). Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties, Second Edition. Oxford University Press.

 Printable pdf version

Learning Objectives: Emerging Adulthood

  • Explain emerging adulthood
  • Explain how emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and adulthood
  • Describe cultural variations of emerging adulthood
  • Identify the markers of adulthood
  • Identify where emerging and early adults currently live

Emerging adulthood is the period between the late teens and early twenties; ages 18-25, although some researchers have included up to age 29 in the definition (Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, 2016). Jeffrey Arnett (2000) argues that emerging adulthood is neither adolescence nor is it young adulthood. Individuals in this age period have left behind the relative dependency of childhood and adolescence, but have not yet taken on the responsibilities of adulthood. “Emerging adulthood is a time of life when many different directions remain possible, when little about the future is decided for certain, when the scope of independent exploration of life’s possibilities is greater for most people than it will be at any other period of the life course” (Arnett, 2000, p. 469).

Arnett has identified five characteristics of emerging adulthood that distinguishes it from adolescence and young adulthood (Arnett, 2006).

  • It is the age of identity exploration. In 1950, Erik Erikson proposed that it was during adolescence that humans wrestled with the question of identity. Yet, even Erikson (1968) commented on a trend during the 20th century of a “prolonged adolescence” in industrialized societies. Today, most identity development occurs during the late teens and early twenties rather than adolescence. It is during emerging adulthood that people are exploring their career choices and ideas about intimate relationships, setting the foundation for adulthood.
  • Arnett also described this time period as the age of instability (Arnett, 2000; Arnett, 2006). Exploration generates uncertainty and instability. Emerging adults change jobs, relationships, and residences more frequently than other age groups.
  • This is also the age of self-focus. Being self-focused is not the same as being “self- centered.” Adolescents are more self-centered than emerging adults. Arnett reports that in his research, he found emerging adults to be very considerate of the feelings of others, especially their parents. They now begin to see their parents as people not just parents, something most adolescents fail to do (Arnett, 2006). Nonetheless, emerging adults focus more on themselves, as they realize that they have few obligations to others and that this is the time where they can do what they want with their life.
  • This is also the age of feeling in- between. When asked if they feel like adults, more 18 to 25 year-olds answer “yes and no” than do teens or adults over the age of 25 (Arnett, 2001). Most emerging adults have gone through the changes of puberty, are typically no longer in high school, and many have also moved out of their parents’ home. Thus, they no longer feel as dependent as they did as teenagers. Yet, they may still be financially dependent on their parents to some degree, and they have not completely attained some of the indicators of adulthood, such as finishing their education, obtaining a good full-time job, being in a committed relationship, or being responsible for others. It is not surprising that Arnett found that 60% of 18 to 25 year-olds felt that in some ways they were adults, but in some ways they were not (Arnett, 2001).
  • Emerging adulthood is the age of possibilities. It is a time period of optimism as more 18 to 25 year-olds feel that they will someday get to where they want to be in life. Arnett (2000, 2006) suggests that this optimism is because these dreams have yet to be tested.

For example, it is easier to believe that you will eventually find your soul mate when you have yet to have had a serious relationship. It may also be a chance to change directions, for those whose lives up to this point have been difficult. The experiences of children and teens are influenced by the choices and decisions of their parents. If the parents are dysfunctional, there is little a child can do about it. In emerging adulthood, people can move out and move on. They have the chance to transform their lives and move away from unhealthy environments. Even those whose lives were happier and more fulfilling as children, now have the opportunity in emerging adulthood to become independent and make decisions about the direction they would like their life to take.

Which of the following is a feature of emerging adulthood?

Five features make emerging adulthood distinctive: identity explorations, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood, and a sense of broad possibilities for the future.

What are the 5 features of emerging adulthood?

Emerging adults share the five characteristics of self-focus, instability, identity explorations, feeling in-between, and a sense of possibilities. Emerging adulthood takes place across racial, cultural, and socioeconomic groups, although the experience of emerging adulthood varies among groups.

What is an example of emerging adulthood?

Experiences Shared by Emerging Adults Identity exploration: answering the question “who am I?” and trying out various options, especially in love and work. Instability, in love, work, and place of residence. Self-Focus, as obligations to others reach a lifespan low.

What are the features of emerging adulthood quizlet?

Terms in this set (5).
identity explorations. trying out life options..
instability. revisions of one's "plan".
self-focus. less obligations to others, figuring out YOUR life..
feeling in between. transition between adolescence and adulthood..
possibilities/optimism. positively towards future..