Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the TwentiesRecently the lives of people from age 18 to 29 have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed, emerging adulthood, that is distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Rather than marrying and becoming parents in their early twenties, most people in industrialized societies now postpone these transitions until at least their late twenties, and instead spend the time in self-focused exploration as they try out different possibilities in their careers and relationships. In Emerging Adulthood, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett identifies and labels, for the first time, this period exploration, instability, possibility, self-focus, and a sustained sense of being in limbo. An increasing number of emerging adults emphasize having meaningful and satisfying work to a degree not seen in prior generations. Marrying later and exploring more casual sexual relationships have created different hopes and fears concerning long-term commitments and the differences between love and sex. Emerging adults also face the challenge of defending their non-traditional lifestyles to parents and others outside their generation who have made much more traditional choices. In contrast to previous portrayals of emerging adults, Arnett's research shows that they are particularly skilled at maintaining contradictory emotions--they are confident while still being wary, and optimistic in the face of large degrees of uncertainty. As the demographics of American youth, the American workplace, and adulthood continue to evolve, Emerging Adulthood is indispensable reading for anyone wanting to understand the face of modern America. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 43
Page v
... sense of reaching adulthood had been marked by entering full-time work and, if not marriage, at least feeling ready for marriage. I was quite surprised, then, when I began to ask college students about what they believed marked the ...
... sense of reaching adulthood had been marked by entering full-time work and, if not marriage, at least feeling ready for marriage. I was quite surprised, then, when I began to ask college students about what they believed marked the ...
Page 6
... sense of wide-open possibilities. Women's roles have also changed in ways that make an early entry into adult obligations less desirable for them now compared to 50 years ago. The young women of 1950 were under a great deal of social ...
... sense of wide-open possibilities. Women's roles have also changed in ways that make an early entry into adult obligations less desirable for them now compared to 50 years ago. The young women of 1950 were under a great deal of social ...
Page 14
... sense of ambiguity has faded for nearly everyone and the feeling of being adult is well established . The reason that so many emerging adults feel in - between is evident from the criteria they consider to be most important for becoming ...
... sense of ambiguity has faded for nearly everyone and the feeling of being adult is well established . The reason that so many emerging adults feel in - between is evident from the criteria they consider to be most important for becoming ...
Page 18
... sense of where they are—on the way to adulthood, but not there yet. Emerging is also a better descriptive term for the exploratory, unstable, fluid quality of the period. An additional problem with “young adulthood” is that it is ...
... sense of where they are—on the way to adulthood, but not there yet. Emerging is also a better descriptive term for the exploratory, unstable, fluid quality of the period. An additional problem with “young adulthood” is that it is ...
Page 19
... sense to lump the late teens , the twenties , and the thirties together and call the entire 22 - year period “ young adulthood . ” The period I am calling emerging adulthood could hardly be more distinct from the thirties . Most ...
... sense to lump the late teens , the twenties , and the thirties together and call the entire 22 - year period “ young adulthood . ” The period I am calling emerging adulthood could hardly be more distinct from the thirties . Most ...
Contents
3 | |
2 What Is It Like to Be an Emerging Adult? Four Profiles | 27 |
A New Relationship With Parents | 47 |
4 Love and Sex | 73 |
5 Meandering Toward Marriage | 97 |
Twists and Turns | 119 |
More Than a Job | 143 |
Religious Beliefs and Values | 165 |
Four Case Studies | 189 |
What Does It Mean to Become an Adult? | 207 |
Notes | 229 |
References | 247 |
Index of Names | 259 |
General Index | 263 |
Other editions - View all
Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties Jeffrey Jensen Arnett No preview available - 2004 |
Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties Jeffrey Jensen Arnett No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
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