Not A Teenager But Not An Adult
Together with the social, cultural and economical changes a new concept regarding the human development was born. Emerging adulthood - a cultural term used to describe the period of age between 20 and 28, when people are no longer considered teenagers but they still haven't accomplished all the standards that classify them as adults.
So are you a teenager, an adult or a person still in what we call "emerging adulthood"?
In the early '20s, people were already married at 22, having children or being on the way to, having already finished formal education and having complete economical autonomy. By the year 2003, the median age for marriage has increased for women to 26 years and for men to 28 years. By this age, people are still concerned with education or with their carriers, they haven't settled for a particular job, they are still experimenting and they haven't gained complete autonomy from their parents.
Psychologists studied this issue and they found 4 characteristics which best describe this period of life.
Firstly, emerging adulthood is characterized by "identity exploration". Before they settle, people tend to gain as much experience as they can. According to Arnett, the exploration goes in two major directions: love life and the working field. Exploring in both directions, emerging adults seek to clarify their own identity by finding out who they are and which are their expectations in life. This period occurs because of the following reasons: emerging adults receive financial support from their parents, thus they don't need yet a permanent job and they have left the parental home, this way having autonomy and liberty to try diverse life styles. Regarding the love domain, there is an accent to a deeper search of intimacy especially focusing on revealing one's identity. Concerning the working field, emerging adults don't focus so much on obtaining financial resources as much as on finding out what they do best and what will satisfy them for a long term from this point of view.
Secondly, the life of the emerging adult is characterized by "instability". Instability is caused by a series of reasons, one of them being the changing of dwelling places. The first change takes place when they move from their parental home and then, the majority of students change their roommates or the places they live several times. Another reason which causes instability is the changing of the "initial plan". During the teenage years everyone has built a certain self-schema and a certain plan they want to follow in order to reach the purposes they set for themselves. When they realize, as emerging adults, that the plan suffers different changes, instability is settled. The plan can be changed because of the circumstances or because they can realize that what they used to want when they were adolescents does not fit anymore to what they are becoming. Therefore, this stage of numerous changes brings instability which eventually leads to clarifying purposes and to finding new life strategies.
The third defining characteristic is "ego-centrism" which is more obvious in this period of time, more than it is in adolescence and later on, in adulthood. This thing can be due to the fact that in the last two mentioned periods of life the individuals have responsibilities regarding the family members and the decisions taken don't imply only their own persons. What needs to be mentioned is the fact that the ego-centrism from this period has not a negative meaning, but helps the emerging adult to form his personality and to focus on his own decisions, without directly affecting anybody else.
In addition, this age is called the "age of possibilities", because emerging adults are animated by high expectancies, big dreams and great hopes, and this thing motivates them in their searching and offers them psychological energy for engaging in behavior that leads them to reaching their goals. Emerging adulthood is also called the age of possibilities because it is known that those who come from dismembered families try to obtain a different lifestyle from the one they grew up in. Emerging adults try to resemble less to their parents and to develop independent personalities and lifestyles.
In conclusion, the changes in the western-like cultures led to the development of a new life stage, called emerging adulthood. This period is characterized by identity exploration, instability, ego-centrism and the age of possibilities. All these are possible because the culture has changed its "social clock", setting the age for marriage somewhere around early thirties, keeping the students in universities and allowing them to explore before settling to a stable family and lifestyle.
In the early '20s, people were already married at 22, having children or being on the way to, having already finished formal education and having complete economical autonomy. By the year 2003, the median age for marriage has increased for women to 26 years and for men to 28 years. By this age, people are still concerned with education or with their carriers, they haven't settled for a particular job, they are still experimenting and they haven't gained complete autonomy from their parents.
Psychologists studied this issue and they found 4 characteristics which best describe this period of life.
Firstly, emerging adulthood is characterized by "identity exploration". Before they settle, people tend to gain as much experience as they can. According to Arnett, the exploration goes in two major directions: love life and the working field. Exploring in both directions, emerging adults seek to clarify their own identity by finding out who they are and which are their expectations in life. This period occurs because of the following reasons: emerging adults receive financial support from their parents, thus they don't need yet a permanent job and they have left the parental home, this way having autonomy and liberty to try diverse life styles. Regarding the love domain, there is an accent to a deeper search of intimacy especially focusing on revealing one's identity. Concerning the working field, emerging adults don't focus so much on obtaining financial resources as much as on finding out what they do best and what will satisfy them for a long term from this point of view.
Secondly, the life of the emerging adult is characterized by "instability". Instability is caused by a series of reasons, one of them being the changing of dwelling places. The first change takes place when they move from their parental home and then, the majority of students change their roommates or the places they live several times. Another reason which causes instability is the changing of the "initial plan". During the teenage years everyone has built a certain self-schema and a certain plan they want to follow in order to reach the purposes they set for themselves. When they realize, as emerging adults, that the plan suffers different changes, instability is settled. The plan can be changed because of the circumstances or because they can realize that what they used to want when they were adolescents does not fit anymore to what they are becoming. Therefore, this stage of numerous changes brings instability which eventually leads to clarifying purposes and to finding new life strategies.
The third defining characteristic is "ego-centrism" which is more obvious in this period of time, more than it is in adolescence and later on, in adulthood. This thing can be due to the fact that in the last two mentioned periods of life the individuals have responsibilities regarding the family members and the decisions taken don't imply only their own persons. What needs to be mentioned is the fact that the ego-centrism from this period has not a negative meaning, but helps the emerging adult to form his personality and to focus on his own decisions, without directly affecting anybody else.
In addition, this age is called the "age of possibilities", because emerging adults are animated by high expectancies, big dreams and great hopes, and this thing motivates them in their searching and offers them psychological energy for engaging in behavior that leads them to reaching their goals. Emerging adulthood is also called the age of possibilities because it is known that those who come from dismembered families try to obtain a different lifestyle from the one they grew up in. Emerging adults try to resemble less to their parents and to develop independent personalities and lifestyles.
In conclusion, the changes in the western-like cultures led to the development of a new life stage, called emerging adulthood. This period is characterized by identity exploration, instability, ego-centrism and the age of possibilities. All these are possible because the culture has changed its "social clock", setting the age for marriage somewhere around early thirties, keeping the students in universities and allowing them to explore before settling to a stable family and lifestyle.
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