Early Adulthood

18 (ish) to 40 (ish)
Vocational Development
Periods of Development
• Fantasy period
• Tentative period
• Interests and soon- as they become more aware of
personal and educational requirements for different
vocations- in terms of their abilities and values.
• Realistic period
• Exploration- but narrowing to better fit and
crystallization
Vocational Development
Factors Influencing Vocational Choice
• Family influences (gene-environment interactions)
• Teachers and other influential adults
• Stereotypes (slow progress for women in male
dominated fields)
• Education and job opportunities
• Choices are few for many
• Life circumstances
Expertise and Creativity

Expertise and Creativity

• Expertise:
• Acquisition of extensive knowledge in a field
• Takes many years
• Enhances information processing
• Essential for creativity:
• Move from problem solving to problem finding
• 10-year rule
• Rise in creative productivity in early adulthood
• Depends on multiple personal and situational factors
 Figure 14.1
American young people’s responses to the question, “Do you feel you
have reached adulthood?”

Copyright © 2018 Laura E. Berk. All Rights Reserved.

A Gradual Transition: Emerging Adulthood (1 of 7)

Emerging Adulthood
• Distinct period of life between adolescence and
adulthood, defined by:
• Feeling in between
• Identity exploration
• Self-focused, lacking obligations to others
• Instability
• Possibilities
 Is Emerging Adulthood Really a Distinct Stage

of Development?
• Supporters:
− With globalization will become more widespread
• Critics:
− Strongly linked to SES and higher education
− Most of world’s youth (70%) marry and have children early
− Emerging adulthood unlikely for low-income youths and those in
poverty-stricken developing nations
− Extended exploration may reflect lack of job opportunities
− Adulthood not attained at a distinct moment; extended trend
toward blurring of age-related expectations
Erikson’s Theory: Intimacy versus Isolation
Erickson: Intimacy versus
Isolation
• Intimacy:
• Making a permanent commitment to intimate partner
• Giving up some independence, redefining identity
• Secure identity associated with fidelity
• Fosters favorable friendship and work relationships
• Isolation:
• Hesitant to form close ties
• Fear of losing identity: competitive, rejecting of differences,
threatened by closeness
• Successful resolution prepares individual for middle
adulthood and generativity
Other Theories of Adult Psychosocial Development (4 of 4)

Social Clock
• Society’s commonly accepted expectations for the
timing of life events
• Getting married
• Moving away from home
• Culturally dependent!

• Greater deviation than in earlier generations

• Adhering lends confidence, social stability
• Risky to “craft a life of one’s own”
The Family Life Cycle (1 of 10)

The Family Life Cycle

• Early adulthood:
• Leaving home (varies by culture, SES, and historical time)
• Joining families in marriage
• Parenthood
• Middle adulthood:
• Launching children
• Late adulthood:
• Retirement
• Aging
• Death of spouse
• Stress greatest during transitions between phases
Close Relationships (3 of 8)

Triangular Theory of Love

• Values shift in emphasis as
relationships develop:
• Passion gradually fades while
intimacy and commitment
strengthen
• Communicating commitment and
intimacy, including constructive
conflict resolution, predicts
relationship maintenance and
satisfaction
The Family Life Cycle (3 of 10)

Trends in Marriage
• Marrying later
• 70% marry at least
once
• Fewer marriages:
• Staying single,
cohabiting, not
remarrying after
divorce
• Legalization of same-
gender marriages has
opened this
opportunity
The Family Life Cycle (3 of 10)

Why Marriage?
• Marriage valued for its public
legitimacy, show of commitment,
and financial and legal benefits
• Marriage associated with
longevity, but the committed
companion may be most
important
The Family Life Cycle (6 of 10)
Factors Related to Marital
Satisfaction
• Backgrounds
• Age at marriage
• Timing of first pregnancy
• Relationship to extended family
• Marital patterns in extended family
• Financial and employment status
• Family responsibilities
• Personality characteristics and behavior
• Positive biases of partner’s attributes
The Diversity of Adult Lifestyles (4 of 11)

Divorce Rates
• Have declined due to:
• Rising age at marriage
• Increase in cohabitation
• In U.S., approximately 44%
• About 10% higher for
remarriages soon after first
marriage
• Most common times: first seven
years, transition to midlife
• Young children and adolescents
involved
The Diversity of Adult Lifestyles (7 of 11)

Remarriage After Divorce

• Most remarry within four years of divorce, men sooner
• Vulnerable to breakup:
• Often differ in background; emphasize practical matters in
partner choice
• Carry over negative interaction patterns from first marriage
• View divorce as acceptable resolution
• Stepfamily stress
• Takes 3 to 5 years to blend new family:
• Education, couples/family counseling can help
The Family Life Cycle (7 of 10)

Decision to Have Children

• Trend toward delaying parenthood,
smaller families:
• More women dividing time between
family and work
• Reported reasons to have children:
• Personal rewards
• Social returns
• Future continuity
• Concerns: loss of freedom,
role overload, readiness,
financial costs ($300,000 to age 18),
women’s career
The Family Life Cycle (8 of 10)

Transition to Parenthood
• Parental roles:
• In hetero marriage; become more traditional with first birth
• With second birth, less traditional as father helps more
• Single parents have to do it all- support system helps!
• Typically mild decline in relationship satisfaction; sharing
child care predicts happiness
• Later parenthood eases transition:
• Attainment of occupational goals
• More life experience
• Stronger relationship
The Family Life Cycle (9 of 10)

Parenting
• With young children:
• Effective parents work together as coparenting team
• Challenges: few societal supports, hard to find child care
• Benefits: expanded emotional capacities, more meaningful life,
and greater psychological well-being
• With adolescents:
• Brings sharp changes in parental roles
• Challenges: increased bickering over everyday issues; dip in
marital and life satisfaction
The Diversity of Adult Lifestyles (11 of 11)

Lesbian and Gay Parents

• 20–35% of lesbian couples, 5–15% of
gay couples
• Most children from past heterosexual
relationships, some from adoption or
assisted reproduction
• Children do not differ from peers
cognitively or socially
• May build “families of choice” for
social supports
• Stigma a major concern
The Diversity of Adult Lifestyles (3 of 11)

Childlessness
• About 15% of women
• Involuntary:
• No parenthood partner
• Infertile
• May be dissatisfied
• Voluntary:
• Usually college-educated and committed to prestigious jobs
• Most content with their lives
• Negative stereotypes weakening
Close Relationships (6 of 8)

Friendships in Early Adulthood

• Friends:
• Usually similar in age, gender, SES, and
interests
• Enhance self-esteem and offer support
• Make life more interesting
• Value trust, intimacy, and loyalty
• Social media has expanded networks of
friends
• Siblings as friends:
• Become more frequent companions
• Shared background promotes similar values
and views
Early Adulthood Discussion
• Is Emerging Adulthood really a distinct stage
of development?
• How has the Social Clock changed over historical
time and what has lead to these changes?
• Should these changes be viewed as positives or
negatives?
• What factors should be considered in making
decisions regarding career, marriage, & children?
• Who has been left out of the research?