Emerging adulthood and early adulthood

"Early adulthood" redirects here. For other uses, see Early adulthood (disambiguation).
"Emerging adulthood" redirects here. For the album, see Emerging Adulthood.
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Emerging adulthood, early adulthood, or post-adolescence refers to a phase of the life span between late adolescence and early adulthood, as initially proposed by Jeffrey Arnett in a 2000 article from American Psychologist.[1][2] It primarily describes people living in developed countries, but it is also experienced by young adults in wealthy urban families in the Global South.[3] The term describes young adults who do not have children, do not live in their own homes, and/or do not have sufficient income to become fully independent. Arnett suggests emerging adulthood is the distinct period between 20 and 29 years[4] of age where young adults become more independent and explore various life possibilities.

Arnett argues that this developmental period can be isolated from adolescence and young adulthood,[5] although the distinction between adolescence and young adulthood has remained largely unclear over the last several decades.[2]

Emerging adulthood's state as a new demographic is continuously changing, although some[6] believe that twenty-somethings have always struggled with "identity exploration, instability, self-focus, and feeling in-between."[7] Arnett referred to emerging adulthood as a "roleless role" because emerging adults engage in a wide variety of activities without the constraint of any "role requirements".[2] The developmental theory is highly controversial within the developmental field, and developmental psychologists argue over the legitimacy of Arnett's theories and methods.[8][9]

Arnett would go on to serve as the executive director of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, a society dedicated to research on emerging adulthood.[10]

  1. ^ Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen (2000). "Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties". American Psychologist. 55 (5): 469–480. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.462.7685. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469. PMID 10842426.
  2. ^ a b c Arnett 2000, pp. 469–480.
  3. ^ Galambos, Nancy; Martinez, M. Loreto (2007). "Poised for emerging adulthood in Latin America: A pleasure for the privileged". Child Development Perspectives. 1 (2): 109–114. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00024.x.
  4. ^ Arnett, Jeffrey J.; Žukauskienė, Rita; Sugimura, Kazumi (December 2014). "The new life stage of emerging adulthood at ages 18–29 years: Implications for mental health". The Lancet. Psychiatry. 1 (7): 569–576. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00080-7. PMID 26361316.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Ludwig, Devin (August 23, 2010). "Challenges of the Young Adult Generation". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  7. ^ Marantz Henig, Robin (18 August 2010). "What Is It About 20-Somethings?". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Syed, Moin (2017-10-06). "Emerging Adulthood: Developmental Stage, Theory, or Nonsense?". PsyArXiv. doi:10.31234/osf.io/xyztd.
  9. ^ Côté, James E. (2014-10-02). "The Dangerous Myth of Emerging Adulthood: An Evidence-Based Critique of a Flawed Developmental Theory". Applied Developmental Science. 18 (4): 177–188. doi:10.1080/10888691.2014.954451. ISSN 1088-8691. S2CID 42388482.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference teens was invoked but never defined (see the help page).