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
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Page 7
... better—was sharpened. For the young women of the 21st century, all this has changed. At every level of education from grade school through graduate school girls now excel over boys.8 Fifty-six percent of the undergraduates in America's ...
... better—was sharpened. For the young women of the 21st century, all this has changed. At every level of education from grade school through graduate school girls now excel over boys.8 Fifty-six percent of the undergraduates in America's ...
Page 13
... better understanding of who they are and what they want from life, and begin to build a foundation for their adult lives. The goal of their self-focusing is self-sufficiency, learning to stand alone as a self-sufficient person, but. A ...
... better understanding of who they are and what they want from life, and begin to build a foundation for their adult lives. The goal of their self-focusing is self-sufficiency, learning to stand alone as a self-sufficient person, but. A ...
Page 18
... better their 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 ...
... better their 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 ...
Page 19
... better applied to those in their thirties, who are still young but are definitely adult in ways those in the late teens through the mid-twenties are not. Why Emerging Adulthood Is Not the “Transition to Adulthood” Another possibility ...
... better applied to those in their thirties, who are still young but are definitely adult in ways those in the late teens through the mid-twenties are not. Why Emerging Adulthood Is Not the “Transition to Adulthood” Another possibility ...
Page 20
... better referred to as a “transition” than as a period of life in its own right. This may have been the case 30 or 40 years ago, when most people in industrialized societies finished school, married, and had their first child by their ...
... better referred to as a “transition” than as a period of life in its own right. This may have been the case 30 or 40 years ago, when most people in industrialized societies finished school, married, and had their first child by their ...
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 |
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Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties Jeffrey Jensen Arnett No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
able adolescence African Americans American Asian asked attend become believe better career chapter child choices church classes cohabitation commitment course dating decide decisions described divorce don’t early emerging adulthood emerging adults enjoy enter especially ethnic example expect experience exploration father feel friends future going growing happy high school higher hope idea identity important independent interests it’s kind late teens least leave less lives longer look major marriage married mean mother move never once opportunities parents past period person possible problems question reached adulthood reason relationship religious religious beliefs remain responsibility seems sense sexual similar society someone sometimes stressful talk there’s things transition twenties values Whites women young