Jeffrey Arnett Emerging Adulthood Summary

“Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire other,” says Virginia Woolf, an English writer. Growing up is preordained. Everyone grows up. When do we grow up? Perhaps, after we graduate school, maybe after our first love, or maybe after our marriage or maybe after the birth of our first kid. It primarily depends on how one looks at it, but irrespective of what we consider the right time or the right situation to be “grown-ups”, we cannot help but admit that it is that moment in time where innocence vanishes. As children, we dream of growing up, getting a job, getting married, living happily but on the contrary it is quite different, we find that reality is completely opposite. More often than we wish, we were still children,

The article "Betwixt and Bewildered: Scholars are Intrigued by the Angst of "Emerging Adults" by Lynn Smith discusses a societal trend towards young adults (18-25) who are struggling to achieve the traditional markers of adulthood. The article covers some of the scholarly debate of the subject, wherein some researchers accept the phenomenon, others reject it, and between them they find little in the way of clear definition of the problem and its ramifications.

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.

However, few young adults are out there in society developing healthy life style decisions which they begin a foundation how life works and accept reality. Not every young adult stays in their shell and parents are willing to accept and know their child’s status. Based on “What Is It About 20-Somethings” by Robin Marantz Henig, it has defined the “transition to adulthood” by five milestones: graduating, leaving home, becoming financially stable, marrying, and having kids. From my personal perspective, I disagree due to the fact between rural and urban countries.

There are many developmental milestone events and transition points that help form the identity of an individual. As one transitions from milestone to another, they are not necessarily losing or gaining anything, but are adapting to their new stage in life (Bjorklund, 2011). These transitions can affect other domains of human development including: physical changes, cognitive changes, personality or identity, social relationships and mental health. The transition into adulthood is a transition that varies widely between each individual (Bjorklund, 2011). Some young adults may enter military service, go into the workforce, get married, or go to college. This indicates that young adults do not have to go into a role they do not wish to enter and they have the freedom to make their own decisions (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition into adulthood varies in length for all young adults, and this time is spent solving issues that affected them in childhood, and will help them to become successful adults (Bjorklund, 2011). Emerging adulthood is the transition that takes place between the ages of 18 and 25 (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition gives young adults the time to explore and experience new things that eventually lead them to commitments of work and love (Bjorklund, 2011). According to Erik Erikson, one’s personality will continue to develop throughout their entire life, and, in order to have

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.

My mother became depressed, my father became disabled, and my brother was skipping school. I continued going to school from eight until four, which was a big relief in my life because it made me forget the hard times. My grades slowly began to decline, as well as my motivation. I gave up many opportunities such as attending New York’s number one specialized high school. I recognized my mistakes and was able to identify my failure. School was not the only place where I lacked interest in because I also slowly started to push my friends away. As a young teenager, I did not think I would ever make it to college. I became frustrated at my parents because my life was ruined and it was all their fault.

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

As a sophomore in highschool, I began to realize that some grave changes at the present time caused my life, emotions, and beliefs to shift to an oppressive level. Everything didn’t go as planned after this specific point of my life and the results afterward gave the impression of wanting to receive a mercy killing or run away when the opportunity came to present itself. My past life experiences could be compared to the famous book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe due to the intense family disputes and relatable family relationships in the story. Things seemed to reach a breaking point when my mother began to use all her money at casinos in or out of state and left either me or my grandmother at the house to babysit my two siblings. Her actions induced homelessness, gambling addiction, constant family disputes, and sheer depression.

Adolescent is a disconcerting time when there are many life changes emotionally, physically, socially and psychologically. There are unrealistic expectations which lead to disappointment and rejection. The maturity level of adolescents makes them feeling life is not fair and things will never change to benefit them. Erikson’s identity vs. role confusion is an example of how developing into owns identity can be challenging, especially when learning how to transition into adulthood. Adolescence is one of the most importance stages in life where the mind and body goes through varies changes. When changes cause impairment or interfere with activities of daily living it results in

coming of age and moving into adulthood, and a study conducted by the Pew Research

In sociology, emerging adulthood is the period in time of an person’s life where they are between adolescence and adulthood. This term was proposed by Jeffrey Arnett, a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University, in an article called American Psychologist. In the article he describes emerging adults as young individuals who do not have their own children, don’t own a home, or do not have a sufficient source of income to become completely independent (Arnett, 2000). There is another article that also describes these young individuals who are living in developed countries, however it is also experienced by young people who are in wealthy families in other areas of the world like Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East (Galambos, 2007). Arnett suggests that emerging adults are between the ages of 18 and 25 years of age. Emerging adults are a step up from childhood but are not in a position to take on adulthood responsibilities. During this time in life many are open to new experiences which can be a positive to the morality of this upcoming generation of adults. Some people find themselves deciding to switch majors in college or even enrolling into different types of classes to explore their own interests in search for the best fit for their future careers. In many situations emerging adults take on a lower standard of living in order to leave home earlier, which allows that person independence and sense of self reliability they have yet to

Social changes and emotional changes show that adolescent is forming an independent identity and learning to be an adult. It may lead to ambivalence and conflict. They struggle to develop their own identity, dependence upon parents which may give new way to dependent upon peers and