Emerging adulthood and early adulthood

 ( Human Development ) 

Friendships seem to broaden as one enters into emerging adulthood. They tend to become more diverse if put in the position to become so, as well as more willing to have friends of the opposite-sex. Romantic relationships in emerging adulthood tend to affect the necessity and importance of friendships. Those who are single or dating tend to hold their friends to a higher importance while those in relationships have an increase in time spent with their friends at the beginning of a relationship but then gradually decrease the amount of time spent with their friends as the relationship continues. Although those in emerging adulthood use their friends as a safe haven, the presence of a romantic partner will decrease this use of friendship while the use of the significant other as a safe haven is more likely.

The theory of emerging adulthood is specifically applicable to cultures within these OECD nations, and as a stage of development has only emerged over the past half-century. It is specific to "certain cultural-demographic conditions, specifically widespread education, and training beyond secondary school and entry into marriage and parenthood in the early or late thirties or beyond."

Furthermore, emerging adulthood occurs only within societies that allow for occupational shifts, with emerging adults often experiencing frequent job changes before settling on a particular job by the age of 30. Arnett also argues that emerging adulthood happens in cultures that allow for a period of time between adolescence and marriage, the marker of adulthood. Such marital and occupational instability found among emerging adults can be attributed to the strong sense of individualization found in cultures that allow for this stage of development; in individualized cultures, traditional familial and institutional constraints have become less pronounced than in previous times or in non-industrialized or developing cultures, allowing for more personal freedom in life decisions. However, emerging adulthood even occurs in industrialized nations that do not value individualization, as is the case in some Asian countries discussed below.

Up until the latter portion of the 20th century in OECD countries, and contemporarily in developing countries around the world, young people made the transition from adolescence to young adulthood around or by the age of 22, when they settled into long-lasting, obligation-filled familial and occupational roles. Therefore, in societies where this trend still prevails, emerging adulthood does not exist as a widespread stage of development.

Among OECD countries, there is a general "one size fits all" model in regard to emerging adulthood, having all undergone the same demographic changes that resulted in this new stage of development between adolescence and young adulthood. However, the shape emerging adulthood takes can even vary between different OECD countries, and researchers have only recently begun exploring such cross-national differences. For instance, researchers have determined that Europe is the area where emerging adulthood lasts the longest, with high levels of government assistance and median marriage ages nearing 30, compared to the U.S. where the median marriage age is 27.United States Census Bureau (2009). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Emerging adult communities in East Asia may be most dissimilar from their European and American counterparts, for while they share the benefits of affluent societies with strong education and welfare systems, they do not share as strong a sense of individualization. Historically and currently, East Asian cultures have emphasized collectivism more so than those in the West. For instance, while Asian emerging adults similarly engage in individualistic identity exploration and personal development, they do so within more restrictive boundaries set by familial obligation. For example, European and American emerging adults consistently list financial independence as a key marker of adulthood, while Asian emerging adults consistently list capable of supporting parents financially as a marker with equal weight. Some Asian emerging adults feel that getting married is a step only after school is finished and parents are cared for. Furthermore, while casual dating and premarital sex has become normative in the West, in Asia parents still discourage such practices, where they remain "rare and forbidden." In fact, about 75% of emerging adults in the U.S. and Europe report having had premarital sexual relations by the age of 20, whereas less than 20% in Japan and South Korea reported the same.Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. L. (2006). Love and sex: Cross-cultural perspectives. New York: University Press of America.

While emerging adulthood exemplars are found mainly within the middle and upper classes of OECD countries, the stage of development still seems to occur across classes, with the main difference between different ones being length—on average, young people in lower social classes tend to enter adulthood two years before those in upper classes.

While emerging adulthood occurs on a wide scale only in OECD countries, developing countries may also exhibit similar phenomena in certain population subgroups. In contrast to those in poor or rural parts of developing nations, who have no emerging adulthood and sometimes no adolescence due to comparatively early entry into marriage and adult-like work, young people in wealthier urban classes have begun to enter stages of development that resemble emerging adulthood, and the amount to do so is rising. Such individuals may develop a bicultural or hybrid identity, with part of themselves identifying with local culture and another part participating in the professional culture of the global economy. One finds examples of such a situation among the middle-class young people in India, who lead the globalized economic sector while still, for the most part, preferring to have arranged marriages and take care of their parents in old age.Chaudhary, N., & Sharma, N. (2007). India. In J.J. Arnett (Ed.) International encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 4420459). New York: Routledge. While it is more common for emerging adulthood to occur in OECD countries, it is not always true that all young people in those societies have the opportunity to experience these years of change and exploration.

A study done by Shulman et al. (2009), followed students in two preparatory academies in Israel and examined personality and support. They found that family support was a strong contributing factor to a successful adulthood adjustment. Emerging adults that were self-critical had more difficulty in academic success, had an increase in negative life struggles, and were less motivated to achieve their goals. An Eastern culture that focuses more, on the whole, is more likely to put pressure on emerging adults.

However, it is not just on television that society sees the world becoming aware of this trend. In spring 2010, The New Yorker magazine showcased a picture of a post-grad hanging his PhD on the wall of his bedroom as his parents stood in the doorway. People do not have to seek out these media sources to find documentation of the emerging adulthood phenomenon. News sources about the topic are abundant. Nationwide, it is being found that people entering their 20s are faced with multitudes of living problems for which this age group has become noteworthy. The Occupy movement is an example of what has happened to the youth of today and exhibits the frustration of today's emerging adults. Other television shows and films showcasing emerging/early adulthood are Girls, How I Met Your Mother, and Less than Zero.

First, sociologists have pinpointed that emerging adulthood neglects to address class differences. While it can be generalized that middle-class children in Western societies can afford to postpone life decisions; young adults within a lower class may have no choice at all, and stay in the parental home not because they want to, but because they cannot afford a life of their own: They experience a period of "arrested adulthood."

Second, emerging adulthood appears to only apply to specific people in specific cultures. Western cultures are more likely to focus on stages such as emerging adulthood because of their focus on individuality. Eastern cultures are more focused on the whole and are taught to have less individual exploration and expression. Therefore, the theory has no bearing if it is specific to a single demographic.