Theories Of Emerging Adulthood

Erick Erickson’s theory on psychosocial development places me in the adolescence stage. The adolescence stage puts me at a point in where I am still making important life decisions. Reading about all these modules this year, has really taught me to choose my life decisions very wisely. The fifth stage is identity vs. role confusion, which is technically what I am in per Erickson’s theory on psychosocial development. During this stage, I have learned that I will develop an identity and will make important life choices that I will base my future on. What Erickson has taught me is that this stage is one of the most crucial stages of your life, considering that you will be basing your future off your choices in this stage. The impact of learning about Erickson’s theory has taught me how important my life decisions are now, and how much these decisions will affect my future life. Learning this has helped me also understand how to cope when I go into Erickson’s next psychosocial stage, which is young adult

Adolescence describes the transitional stage in a teenager’s life, from childhood to adulthood, where an individual evolves physically, psychologically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. It is a defined social category that is expressed through immaturity and unpredictability and allows an individual to learn and discover their sense of self and identity. The idea of adolescence came into perspective after children were expected to take on adult roles as soon as they were mature enough to, going straight from puberty to adulthood. As society changed and moulded, so did the ideas about life stages, which is evident in Erikson’s theory.

This article was on a study that compared developmental trajectories of non-students, versus college-educated young adults, on the aspects of Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood (Mitchell & Syed, 2015). However, there is a large group that literature has not been explored, and that category is on the young teen/adults who choose to not attend college, or are unable to because of socio economic status (Mitchell & Syed, 2015). The emerging adulthood theory has been controversial. The controversial topic has been brought up by researchers questioning how non-students may not experience the development of other emerging adults based on their interests to pursue adulthood without attending postsecondary education. The aim of the study was intended to compare emerging adulthood among individuals with college degrees, some college, and no college (Mitchell & Syed, 2015). Arnett’s development tasks for emerging adulthood include: finding a reliable and satisfying career, choosing a partner and starting a family, and establishing financial independence (Mitchell & Syed, 2015).

A human’s development is a lifelong process beginning before birth and extending until the moment of death. In every moment of life, every human being is constantly evolving in their own person way. Some evolve mostly with physical changes while other evolve based more solely on mental evolution. However, as humans grow their cognitive abilities advance and decline in response to the brain’s growth from childhood and reduced function in their old age. Psychosocial development is also significantly influenced by physical growth, as our changing body and brain, together with our environment, shape our identity and our relationships with other people.

Emerging Adulthood is a fascinating period of development with the shifting of life choices thanks to people living longer in countries such as the US. The 18 to mid 20-year-old person has a different outlook on life with the competitive job market, and the decision to try to attend college at the risk of not being able to find the job they need. The days of getting married before adulthood are long gone as people try to have a social life before settling down with a single individual. Trying new things and meeting new people is exciting and has taken a stronger meeting than to buy a home and start a family. With the healthier trends, people are living longer, and the age bracket has expanded and shifted for when settling down begins. Many

Later adulthood is the time in life when changes in marriage, families, and peer relationships are affected the most by the loss of someone close to that person. “Most people 70 years of age or older are widowed, divorced, or single” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.619). Losing a spouse or close friend can create a sense of loneliness, which causes depression, anxiety and the emptiness feeling can become overwhelming. Depression also leads to psychological effects that will deteriorate a person’s health causing the chance for a terminal disease to become much higher. The weaker appearance of older adults causes family and remaining peers to step up in the role of making sure the person’s wellbeing is being met. (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Living accommodations and healthcare needs

The transition to adulthood always seemed to be some momentous or celebratory event; something which everyone should be able to look forward to. While that's what is brought to mind when the transition is brought up, that isn't always the reality. I became an adult more than ever as a 15-year-old in the second semester of my freshman year.

Emerging Adulthood is a phase of a human’s lifetime between adolescence and full-fledged adulthood. The age range for this group is approximately 18-25 years old. Emerging adults are not fully ready to take on adult responsibilities, but are expected to step up from childhood. This allows for new experiences, enrolling into college, understanding one’s own sexual identity, and to seek out what future they want for themself. Most emerging adults will move out from their parents home to get their own apartment, dorm, or house and will usually have roommates to help pay for their rent. Jeffery Arnett suggests, “that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations” (Arnett, 2000, pg. 469). This allows the individual to get independence and self-reliability within themselves to get an idea of what it will be like to be living as an adult in the later years to come. After living on their own, many young adults will move back in with their parents after college or if they were not successful living on their own.

In the article, Arnett proposes a new theory of development called emerging adulthood, existing between ages 18-25, and explains why this new theory should be recognized as an independently distinct period, separated from adolescence and young adulthood. Arnett heavily relies on survey data to strengthen and establish his statements. Although emerging adulthood may seem like a new theory, Erik Erikson had also briefly mentioned this period as psychosocial moratorium, describing as “young adult through free role experimentation may find a niche in society”. Arnett emphasizes that “emerging adulthood is a period characterized by change and exploration” and it is shown through demographic, subjective ideas, and identity exploration. Arnett includes,

1) I would consider myself to be in the emerging adulthood because I had many decisions that will possibly benefit my future. For example , I decided I would go out of state for college and be away from my parents . I picked the major that best fit my interest and I had made the decision to get a job to earn a s source of income. Emerging adulthood refers to a period where an individual transits from adolescence to adulthood . This is a period where the individual begins to establish independences from parents and take on adult roles (Steinberg, Bornstein, Vandell & Rook ,2011) .

The definition of postformal thought is a type of thinking that is flexible, logical and allows young adults to think in way that can prepare them to solve their problems (Steinberg, Bornstein, Vandell, & Rook, 2011). I am in postformal thought stage of development because I have demonstrated acts of flexible, relativistic thinking when it comes to thinking of ways to pay for my college. For example, someone demonstrating postformal thought might way their options of staying with their current job or applying for a better paying job.

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

Jeffery Jenson Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood states that once emerging adults leave the dependency of their childhood, they have not endured the responsibilities that are normal in adulthood which leads them to explore possible life directions within love, work, and even worldviews. This part of one’s life is when a multitude of directions are possible as it is when the future of the individual’s life is undecided leading to the person to explore their possibilities independently. Personally, I believe that this theory is to be agreed with. Once an individual is beginning to enter adulthood, they begin looking for different life experiences that have a possibility to change them on a great scale as they learn about the different aspects

Transitioning into adulthood by coming out isn’t the easiest way to do things. It wasn’t the chosen path, of course, but it happens to be my story.

We all love it when we see a teen going out of there way to help someone,we love it because this teen just has something about themselves that stands out from other teens. It almost seems like this kid is an adult, but that's not right it's just that this kid is very mature. We all love it when someone is mature especially when this someone is a teen because it always seems like teens are lacking in all common sense. As teens are struggling to figure out who they are, they are learning about maturity, and how it affects them. Parents are watching their teens struggle to discover their path, they are wondering why this generation is so behind and lacks the early signs of maturity.