Lifespan Development

Module # 8: Early Adulthood

Module Learning Outcomes

Describe developmental changes during early adulthood

8.1: Explain developmental tasks and physical changes during early adulthood
8.2: Explain cognitive development in early adulthood
8.3: Explain theories and perspectives on psychosocial development
8.4: Examine relationships in early adulthood
Physical Development in Early Adulthood
Learning Outcomes: Physical Development in Early
Adulthood
8.1: Explain developmental tasks and physical changes during early adulthood
8.1.1: Summarize the developmental tasks of early adulthood
8.1.2: Describe physical development and health in early adulthood
8.1.3: Summarize risky behaviors and causes of death in early adulthood
8.1.4: Describe sexuality and fertility issues related to early adulthood
Developmental Tasks of Early Adulthood
• Developmental tasks of young adults include
(Havighurst):
• Achieving autonomy
• Establishing identity
• Developing emotional stability
• Establishing a career
• Finding intimacy
• Becoming part of a group or community
• Establishing a residence and learning how to
manage a household
• Becoming a parent and rearing children
• Making marital or relationship adjustments and
learning to parent
Physical Development in Early Adulthood, cont. I
• The body completes it growth, but the brain continues to develop
• Reproductive system, motor ability, strength, and lung capacity are operating
at their best but will start a slow, gradual decline by the mid to late 30s
• Habits established in our 20s are related to health conditions in middle age,
particularly the risk of heart disease
• American men and women with moderate weight gain from early to middle
adulthood have significantly increased risks of major chronic disease and
mortality
• Early adulthood tends to be a time of relatively good health
Physical Development in Early Adulthood, cont. II
• The leading cause of death for both age groups 15 – 24 years and 25 – 34 in the
United States are unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide (followed by cancer
and heart disease)
• Rates of violent death are influenced by substance abuse
• Youth transitioning into adulthood have some of the highest rates of alcohol and
substance abuse
• Drugs impair judgment, reduce inhibitions, and alter mood, all of which can lead
to dangerous behavior such as reckless driving, violent altercations, and forced
sexual encounters
• Drug and alcohol use also increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections due
to the increase of engagement in risky sexual behavior when under the influence
Sex and Fertility in Early Adulthood
• Men tend to reach their peak of sexual responsiveness in their late teens and early
twenties with a slow decline starting in the late 20s and into the 30s
• Women often find they become more sexually responsive throughout their 20s and 30s
and may peak in their late 30s or early 40s
• While early adulthood is often the time for having children, delaying childbearing
until the late 20s or early 30s is becoming more common in the US as women are
more likely to attend college and being careers before starting families and more
people are delaying marriage
• Infertility affects about 11% of the reproductive age population with both male and
female factors causing one-third of cases
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), or endometriosis can block fallopian tubes and
cause infertility
• Chlamydia and gonorrhea can both cause PID
Sex and Fertility in Early Adulthood, continued
• The majority of infertility cases are treated using fertility drugs to increase ovulation or
surgery to repair reproductive organs or remove scar tissue
• In vitro fertilization (IVF) is used in less than 5% of cases when a woman has blocked or
deformed fallopian tubes or a man has a very low sperm count
• Less common procedures include gamete intrafallopian tube transfer (GIFT) where both
sperm and ova are implanted and zygote intrafallopian tube transfer (ZIFT) where a
fertilized egg/zygote is implanted
• Same-sex couples may use donated sperm or eggs or a surrogate in order to have biological
children
• Reciprocal IVF can be used when both possess female reproductive organs
• Artificial insemination (AI) is most often used by single women, women in a lesbian
relationship, or women with a infertile male partner
Practice Question 1
Your neighbor Niles is an average American male in his early twenties. From
early adulthood research you have been learning about, what accurate information
could you share with him?

A. His eating and exercise habits now can affect his health risks in midlife
B. He will reach his physiological peak in about 15 years.
C. His weight will probably stay exactly the same throughout middle adulthood.
D. As his body starts to slow down, there is nothing he can do about it.
Practice Question 2
We learned about sexual responsiveness and reproduction in early adulthood in the
United States today. It is true that:

A. Infertility is never caused by male factors, only female factors.

B. Many couples seeking infertility treatments pay most of the cost themselves.
C. Males and females tend to peak in sexual responsiveness at the same ages.
D. Males tend to peak in sexual responsiveness around age thirty.
Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood
Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Development in Early
Adulthood
8.2: Explain cognitive development in early adulthood
8.2.1: Distinguish between formal and postformal thought
8.2.2: Describe cognitive development and dialectical thought during early
adulthood
8.2.3: Describe educational trends in early adulthood
8.2.4: Explain the relationship between education and work in early adulthood
Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood
• Thinking abstractly is one characteristic of adult thought
• Postformal thought is practical, realistic, and individualistic but also
characterized by understanding the complexities of various perspectives
• Perry notes that cognition tends to shift from dualism (black and white) to
multiplicity (some problems are solvable and some answers not yet known) to
relativism (the importance of context in knowledge)
• Thinking in early adulthood also becomes more flexible and balances and some
adults may be able to bring together aspects of opposing viewpoints or positions,
synthesize them, and come up with new ideas (dialectical thought)
Education and Work
• About one-third of the American adult population has a bachelor’s degree or higher
today compared to less than 5% in 1940
• Educational attainment rates vary by gender and race but the rising costs of higher
education have raised questions about whether college is worth the cost
• There remains a question about the connection between higher education and the
workplace and whether formal education prepares young adults for work
• Soft skills as well as the particular knowledge and skills in a college major are
important especially because they prepare adults to continually learn new things and
adapt creatively in their careers and lives
• Holland proposed that there are six personality types (realistic, investigative, artistic,
social, enterprising, and conventional) as well as varying types of work environments
Theories of Early Adult Psychosocial Development
Learning Outcomes: Theories of Adult Psychosocial
Development
8.3: Explain theories and perspectives on psychosocial development
8.3.1: Describe Erikson’s stage of intimacy vs. isolation
8.3.2: Summarize Levinson’s theory of early adulthood transitions
8.3.3: Explain Arnett’s concept of emerging adulthood
Understanding Theories of Early Adult Psychosocial
Development
• Intimacy vs. Isolation (Erikson): Intimacy involves caring about another and sharing one’s
self without losing one’s self
• The developmental crisis of intimacy vs. isolation is impacted by how identity vs. role
confusion is resolved with intimate relationships more difficulty if one is still struggling
with identity
• According to Erikson, having some sense of identity is essential for intimate relationships
• In our 20s, intimacy needs may be met in friendships rather than with partners, especially as
many young adults postpone making long-term commitments to partners
• Friendships between men are more likely to involve sharing information, providing
solutions, or a focus on activities while friendships between women are more likely to focus
on sharing weaknesses, emotions, or problems
• Differences in friendship approaches can lead to problems when men and women come
together
Understanding Theories of Early Adult Psychosocial
Development, continued
• Levinson presented a theory of adult development based on in-depth interviews with men
ages 35 to 45
• Young adults have an image of the future that motivates them, called “the dream” which
must be replaced or modified if reality does not measure up
• Levinson’s stages reflect up to midlife with periods of transition that last about 5 years and
stability that last 7 years and include:
• Early adult transition (17-22)
• Entering the adult world (22-28)
• Age 30 transition where choices are reevaluated
• Settling down (33-40)
• Midlife transition (40-45)
• Entering middle adulthood (45-50)
• Levinson found similar patterns with women except they held a “split dream” for work and
family life with concerns about how to coordinate the two
Theories of Early Adult Psychosocial Development, continued
• Adulthood Is a period of building and
rebuilding one’s life
• The age 30 transition may involve
recommitting to the same job or result
in a return to school and career
change
• The midlife transition differs from the
age 30 transition as the person is more
aware of how much time has gone by
and how much time is left, which
brings about a sense of urgency and
impatience about making changes
Emerging Adulthood
• Arnett proposes a theory of emerging adulthood that proposes that a new life
stage has arisen between adolescence and young adulthood over the past half-
century in industrialized countries
• A higher proportion of young people than ever before pursue education and
training beyond secondary school, making the early 20s a time of immense job
instability
• Five features distinguish emerging adulthood: identity exploration, instability,
self-focus, feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood, and a sense of broad
possibilities for the future
• Emerging adults are still in the process of obtaining an education, are unmarried,
and are childless
• These same emerging adulthood features have been seen outside the United
States in other economically developed (OECD) countries
Emerging Adulthood, continued
• Emerging adulthood in Asia reflects the pursuit of
identity exploration and self-development but
within narrower boundaries set by their sense of
obligation to others
• Sexuality is also contrasted between Western and
Asian emerging adults in views of premarital sex,
cohabitation, and even dating
• In developing countries, emerging adulthood exists
only for the wealthier segment of society while the
rural and urban poor have no emerging adulthood
and may not even have adolescence due to the
need to work at an early age and enter into adult
roles
Practice Question 3

Arnett’s “emerging adulthood” stage was proposed to describe

A. the transition to adolescence.

B. the transition from adolescence to early adulthood.
C. the transition from early adulthood to middle adulthood.
D. the reduced number of years it takes many individuals to take on adult roles in
our society today.
Class Activity: Adult Criteria

• At what age would you consider a person to be an adult?

• Explain your reasoning with support from the information in your text.
• Are there specific milestones that need to be accomplished in order to be
considered an adult?
• Are the milestones different based on culture, gender, socioeconomic status,
or any other factors?
• Discuss your answers in groups.
Relationships in Early Adulthood
Learning Outcomes: Relationships in Early Adulthood

8.4: Examine relationships in early adulthood

8.4.1: Describe some of the factors related to attraction in relationships
8.4.2: Apply Sternberg’s theory of love to relationships
8.4.3: Summarize attachment theory in adulthood
8.4.4: Describe trends and norms in dating, cohabitation, and marriage in the
United States
8.4.5: Describe challenges, transitions, and factors associated with parenthood
Attraction and Love
• Psychologists have identified a number of variables, such as similarity, proximity,
familiarity, and reciprocity as influential to developing relationships
• Proximity or physical nearness has been found to be a significant factor in the development
of relationships and allows people the opportunity to get to know one another and discover
similarities
• Familiarity increases the likelihood of attraction as we tend to feel safe with familiar
people
• The mere-exposure effect argues that the more often we are exposed to a stimulus, the more
likely we are to view it positively
• Similarity is key to attraction and couples who marry tend to be very similar when it comes
to age, social class, race, education, physical attractiveness, values, and attitudes, known as
the matching hypothesis
• Reciprocity is based on the notion that we are more likely to like someone if they feel the
same way towards us
Attraction and Love, continued
• Sternberg focused on the notion that all types of love are comprised of three
distinct areas: intimacy, passion, and commitment
• Intimacy includes caring, closeness, and emotional support
• Passion is comprised of physiological and emotional arousal
• Commitment refers to the cognitive process and decision to commit to love
another person and willingness to work to keep that love over the course of your
life
• Anthropologist Helen Fisher scanned the brains of people who had just fallen in
love and observed that their brain chemistry was similar to the brain of an addict
on a drug high
• When a person experiences a breakup, the brain processes it similarly to quitting
a heroin habit
Trends in Dating, Cohabitation, and Marriage
• Traditional dating among teens and those in their early 20s has been replaced with more
varied and flexible ways of getting together
• The Internet has changed the ways people are finding love as sites provide individuals
with access to a database of others who are interested in meeting someone, a method of
communicating, and matching strategies
• Cohabitation is an arrangement where two people who are not married live together and
often involve a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent
basis
• Cohabitation is a common pattern among people in the Western world and there is
speculation as to whether it is now part of a natural developmental progression of
romantic relationships
• Cohabitation tends to last longer in European countries than in the United States with only
10% lasting more than 5 years
• Those who cohabit more than 5 years tend to be older and more committed to the
relationship
Trends in Dating, Cohabitation, and Marriage, continued
• As of 2019, same-sex marriage is legal in 28 countries
• While same sex couple face similar concerns as heterosexual couples, they also live with
the added stress that comes from social disapproval and discrimination
• The number of single adults has increased dramatically in the last 30 years and represent
about 25% of American households
• Voluntary temporary singles have never been married or are divorced and not ready for
a commitment
• Voluntary permanent singles do not want to marry and aren’t intending to marry
• Involuntary temporary are people who are actively seeking mates
• Involuntary permanent are older divorced, widowed, or never married who wanted to
marry
Engagement and Marriage
• Most people will marry in their lifetime though people are tending to get married
later in life, if at all
• Men marry later than women while the average age of marriage has increased for
both women and men
• The courtship process varies globally as does engagement, or the formal agreement
to get married
• Social exchange theory suggests that people try to maximize rewards and minimize
costs in social relationships and will seek a relationship that is mutually beneficial or
equitable
• Societies specify through formal and informal rules who is an appropriate mate with
many cultures specifying to marry within one’s own race, social class, age group, or
religion
• Homogamy refers to marriage between people who share social characteristics (vs.
heterogamy where they do not)
Engagement and Marriage, continued

• Education also appears to be a strong filter

people use to help them select a mate as
well as compatibility, physical
attractiveness, and proximity
• According to the filter theory of mate
selection, the pool of eligible partners
becomes narrower as it passes through
filters used to eliminate members of the
pool
• Some cultures practice arranged marriages
where the families of young people do the
work of finding a mate
Parenting
• Families are increasingly postponing or not having children
• As the age of first marriage has increased, so have the age at which people become
parents
• Many parents report that having children increases their well-being and research
supports that parents are more positive about their lives than non-parents but are also
more likely to be depressed, report lower marital quality, and feel their relationship
with their partner is businesslike
• Authoritative parenting is both demanding and supportive of the child
(demandingness refers to the degree a parent control a child’s behavior)
• Authoritarian parents are low in support and high in demandingness
Parenting, continued
• Permissive parents are high in support and low in demandingness
• Uninvolved parents are low in both support and demandingness
• A great deal of research has focused on the impact parents have on children with
less focusing on the development of parent themselves and the impact of children
on parents
• Parenthood is often considered a normative developmental task of adulthood
• People have children for many reasons including emotional, economic, utilitarian,
and social-normative
• Not only are parents having fewer children, but the context of parenthood has also
changed as parenting outside of marriage has increased dramatically
The Changing Face of Parenthood
Galinsky’s Stage Age of Child Main Tasks and Goals
The Image-Making Planning for a child; Consider what it means to be a parent and plan for changes
Stage pregnancy to accommodate a child
The Nurturing Infancy Develop an attachment relationship with child and adapt to
Stage the new baby
The Authority Toddler and Preschool Parents create rules and figure out how to effectively guide
Stage their children’s behavior
The Interpretative Middle childhood Parents help their children interpret their experiences with
Stage the social world beyond the family

The Interdependent Adolescence Parents renegotiate their relationship with their adolescent
Stage children to allow for shared power in decision-making.

The Departure Early Adulthood Parents evaluate their successes and failures as parents
Stage
The Changing Face of Parenthood, continued
• Parenting is a complex process in which parents and children influence one
another
• Proposed influences on parental behavior include: parent characteristics, child
characteristics, and contextual and sociocultural characteristics
• Parental characteristics include the age of the parent, gender, beliefs, personality,
developmental history, knowledge of parenting and child development, and
mental and physical health
• Child characteristics that affect parenting behaviors and roles include gender,
birth order, temperament, and health status
• Sociocultural characteristics including economic hardship, religion, politics,
neighborhoods, schools, and social support also influence parenting
Practice Question 4
Aniah and Devon are a married couple who live in the United States and they
have just had a baby boy. Based on what you have been learning about parenting:

A. Aniah and Devon should be permissive parents in order to ensure their son’s
healthy development and the most effective outcomes.
B. The parenting styles of Aniah and Devon will not have any effect on their
son’s development.
C. Aniah and Devon are in the nurturing stage of parenthood according to
Galinksy
D. Aniah and Devon are probably in their early twenties.
Class Activity: Love and Intimacy

• Get into groups of four or more and have someone in charge of writing down
main discussion points
• Discuss how important the accomplishment of intimacy vs. isolation is? Are
there other tasks of early adulthood that are more accurate?
• Can a person lead a happy life without finding a significant other?
• Explain using examples from your life supported by information from the
Chapter.
Quick Review

• What are the developmental tasks of early adulthood?

• What are the key characteristics of physical development and health in early
adulthood?
• What are considered risky behaviors and causes of death in early adulthood?
• What are some of the most common sexuality and fertility issues related to early
adulthood?
• How are formal and postformal thought similar and different?
• How does cognitive development and dialectical thought occur during early
adulthood?
• What are some educational trends in early adulthood?
Quick Review, continued

• What is the relationship between education and work in early adulthood?

• What are the key tasks in Erikson’s stage of intimacy vs. isolation?
• What is included in Levinson’s theory of early adulthood transitions?
• What is Arnett’s concept of emerging adulthood?
• What are some of the factors related to attraction in relationships?
• How does Sternberg’s theory of love apply to relationships?
• What are the characteristics of attachment theory in adulthood?
• What are some challenges, transitions, and factors associated with parenthood?