EARLY ADULTHOOD

PERIOD
ADULTHOOD
Adult – “adultus” – grown to full size and strength
- matured
Subdivisions:
1. Early Adulthood (21 – 40)
2. Middle Adulthood/Middle Age (40 – 60)
3. Late Adulthood/Old Age (60 - onwards)

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CHARACTERISTICS
◦ Period of adjustments to new patterns
of life and new social expectations
◦ New roles: spouse, parent,
breadwinner
◦ Develop new attitudes, interests and
values.

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1. EA is the “Settling-Down” Age
◦ Man – career
◦ Woman – homemaker, mother
◦ Trying-out period: jobs, marriage or
combination
◦ Dating, going steady (with one or different
men/women)

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Determinants
◦ How soon they ◦ Responsibilities
are able to find a they must assume
lifestyle that before doing so
meets their
needs

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2. EA is the Reproductive Age
◦ Parenthood – most important role
◦ Early or Late

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3. EA is a Problem Age
◦ Able to vote
◦ Own a property
◦ Marry without parental consent
◦ Adjustments: marriage, parenthood, jobs,
family relationships

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4. EA is a Period of Emotional Tension
◦ Upset
◦ Student activism

5. EA is a Time of Commitments
- PTA, work

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6. EA is a Period of Social Isolation
◦ Responsibilities at home
◦ Loneliness
◦ Competitiveness in career
◦ Self-centered

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7. EA is often a Period of Dependency
◦ Parents
◦ Educational institutions
◦ Perpetual students

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 8. EA is a Time of Value Change
- Value of education

9. EA is a Time of Adjustments to New

Lifestyles

10. EA is a Creative Age

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CHANGES IN INTERESTS
APPEARANCE Waning – Aging
- beauty aids ◦ Gain in weight
- Dieting ◦ Sagging chin
- Exercise ◦ Gray hair
- Attractiveness in ◦ Protruding abdomens
business and marriage

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CHANGES IN INTERESTS
CLOTHES AND SYMBOLS OF
PERSONAL MATURITY
ADORNMENT - Adult styles in
grooming and dress
- Patterns of speech and
behavior
- Autonomy in all areas
- Names that suggest
adult status
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CHANGES IN INTERESTS
STATUS SYMBOLS MONEY
- Cars - What it can do for them
- Homes in prestigious now
neighborhood
- Club membership RELIGION
- Travel - Philosophy of life
- Material possessions

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RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Talking Dancing
- Men –work, meeting Sports and Games –
places, bars or watching TV, sports,
recreational centers, games of chance, bingo,
jokes, politics poker
- Women - gossiping
Amusements
- reading, music, movies,
TV
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RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Entertaining Hobbies
- friends, neighbors - painting, sewing,
- Picnics, barbecue knitting, crocheting,
making or repairing
- Small refreshments
furnitures, taking pictures,
- Cocktails playing an instrument,
- Card parties collecting things

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