Emerging Adulthood Research

The main ideas/themes of emerging adulthood include: career exploration, college vs. no college, postponing marriage, being economically stable without support, addressing emerging adulthood in other cultures, and community engagement. These may be important milestones in the emerging adulthood/adult phase of life that may look different in each culture, and each route that the young adult pursues.
The idea of the phase emerging adulthood evolved from the American psychologist, Jeffrey Arnett (Berk & Meyers, 2013). The five features of his movement include feeling in between, identity exploration, self-focus, instability, and possibilities (Berk & Meyers, 2013). Arnett states that the transition to adult roles has become so delayed that it
Studies show that emerging adults are as likely as senior citizens to work with others on local projects and raise funds for charitable causes (Flanagan & Levine, 2010). This is controversial because emerging adults maintain a lazy and unmotivated reputation due to their lack of advancement into adulthood. Emerging adults are likely to be involved in the community because they are so involved with the social aspects of their lives and they value relationships (Crocetti, Scrignaro, Sica & Magrin, 2012). Since relationships and involvement with others creates the opportunity to have multiple perspectives on challenges emerging adults may face, this is the perfect time to discover their identity (Crocetti, Scrignaro, Sica & Magrin, 2012). One major challenge for emerging adults, and a contribution to the reason why it takes them longer than adults in the past, is their struggle to discover who they are. It’s almost as though emerging adults want to have themselves completely figured out before they experience life, rather than learning along the
Emerging adults cannot struggle to leave home and go to college, so by postponing their education, it often acts as a chain reaction causing them to get married at later times and giving them a longer period of time to explore their inner self. With a longer period for emerging adults to explore their personal qualities, it allows them to recognize all of the talents they do or do not have, which can push them into trouble when deciding what career they are ready to dedicate their life to. In various cultures, adolescents are considered adults once they are financially stable and ready to support a family. However, the economy in some countries does not allow for emerging adults to accomplish both of those challenges within a timely manner. A concept that better illustrates emerging adulthood is Vygotsky’s Cognitive Development theory. In his theory, emerging adults in college might struggle with the transition to being independent at school, which may affect their ability to discover who they are. Overall, emerging adults are taking longer to discover themselves which is causing them to achieve well-known milestones, such as school and marriage, later in life. Although this concept can be viewed negatively, these adults are doing their best adapting to the ever changing economy and the social aspects that are quickly advancing around