Arnett (2000 defines emerging adulthood as a “stage of the lifespan between adolescence and full-fledged adulthood encompassing the late teens and mid to late 20s. This is a period majorly in the people between ages 18-25, an age bracket where adolescents tend to acquire independence and begin to explore various life possibilities. Arnett (2000) notes that because emerging adulthood can be isolated between adolescents and young adulthood, the individuals in this group struggle with “identity formation, instability, self-focused behaviors and thoughts,” which makes them unable to identify their roles in the community. At this stage of development, individuals have a variety of activities and roles, but they are not limited by any role requirements. Arnett further notes that emerging adulthood varies demographically and by social class. This group describes individuals who are not yet married and lives with their parents, where residential status and school attendance are viewed as the major reasons for the differences in experience for emerging adulthood demographically.
While most developmental studies show that physical and cognitive developments majorly take place in adulthood, it has emerged that emerging adults experience cognitive development even as they approach adulthood. Even though the brain has attained much of the development at this stage, the brain is still undergoing some developments as one approaches adulthood. Brain structures continue to develop, which increases an individual’s ability to process emotions and feelings (Tanner & Arnett, 2014). Emerging adults seek to identify their true role amid a variety of activities that are at their disposal, and as a result, they undergo series of identity seeking, and they still rely partially on their parents and partly on themselves.
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Changes in sexual relationships, as one gets through emerging adulthood, is also a major area that has been studied. A variety of factors influence sexual relationships and behaviors, and these factors keep on changing as an individual gets into emerging adulthood. At this stage, people are still seeking their identity and thus do not have clear sense of sexual relationships.
The theory of adulthood has been criticized by many researchers based on various elements that it alleges. One of the criticisms of the theory is that it neglects class differences and only seem to focus on youth living in developed countries where most families are middle to high-income individuals. Even though it is true that children from the middle-class families in the United States have a variety of choices available to them and can, therefore, make decisions to postpone life choices, many other young people are limited of choices and stays with their parents because they are unable to afford life for themselves (Côté, 2014). The theory is criticized only in some parts of the world, especially the industrialized societies where emerging adulthood is argued to be a luxury that is only experienced by young people from affluent families.
Critics of emerging theory also argue that the development process is interactive and that every individual has a different development process due to different experiences. The critics argue that this theory unscientific because it only describes, without explaining, “the specific period in the life of certain individuals, majorly the middle-class young people” in the western countries and ignores people living in other regions (Waters & Fivush, 2015). They argue that Arnett (2000) does not provide any explanation for her theory, but rather generalizes her assumptions from a collection of people from middle-class families in the United States, but ignores much other youth with different life experiences and social class.
` Emerging adulthood theory accurately reflects the individuals aged 18-25. At this age group, people are always exploring their sense of identity as well as seeking their place in love, worldviews, and work. While the process of identity formation begins at adolescence, it continues at emerging adulthood as individuals seek their real place and role at the time when they are faced with a lot of choices to make. As a result, people at this age group tend be in a state of instability, more optimistic about the future, and self-focused behaviors and thoughts as they remain undecided about what option to take concerning their lives moving into the future. Due to too many expectations for this age group about the future, they are more likely to develop various mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety (Tanner & Arnett, 214). The instability arises when one is unable to find his/her self-identity and finds difficulty making various life choices amongst the many options they have.
The differences exist in the emerging adult's behaviors and experience between the college and non-students. The instances of delayed marriages amongst the young people in emerging adulthood have resulted from mainly the people who pursue their college education and are more likely to be partly dependent on their parents. Many people pursue higher education non-continuously, and others even attend school while working and take breaks in between the studies. However, non-students tend to make life decisions and choices faster because either they do not have many options available to them, or they need to settle and become more independent. This is contrary to the students who could remain undecided on their life choices until into their late 20s and continue to partly depend on their parents. Students are therefore more likely to experience risky behaviors at emerging adulthood stage than non-students because they struggle to explore their identity amid high expectations and optimism.
Arnett (2000) argues that children from middle-class US families can be spoilt of choices and postpone their life decisions. However, Arnett’s theory only applies to middle-class families in developed nations such as the United States and other western nations. The theory may not apply to countries outside US, and especially in the developing nations where children are limited to choices and may stay with parents not because they like, but due to inability to afford a life for themselves. At this stage, these youth could make early life choices such as early marriages and early identification of their identity (Waters & Fivush, 2015). They become more stable with their emotions and understand what they want in life and recognizes that their choices are limited. Emerging adulthood theory is, therefore, only applicable in the United States and other developed nations where young people can have many life choices and therefore decides to postpone certain life decisions.
In conclusion, emerging adulthood theory has become one of the most studied and also most controversial topics amongst psychologists. It is a stage between 18 and 25 years when one is in between late adolescence and early adulthood. It is accompanied by exploration of identity as one seeks to make life choices and identify their place in the society. Due to a lot of expectations and optimism, it can lead to anxiety and stress which can then develop risky behaviors. However, many scientists continue to criticize this theory, arguing that it only focuses on middle class Americans and ignores other people living in other parts of the world.
References
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American psychologist , 55 (5), 469.
Côté, J. E. (2014). The dangerous myth of emerging adulthood: An evidence-based critique of a flawed developmental theory. Applied Developmental Science , 18 (4), 177-188.
Tanner, J. L., & Arnett, J. J. (2016). The emergence of emerging adulthood: The new life stage between adolescence and young adulthood. In Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood (pp. 50-56). Routledge.
Waters, T. E., & Fivush, R. (2015). Relations between narrative coherence, identity, and psychological well ‐ being in emerging adulthood. Journal of Personality , 83 (4), 441-451.
