cCHAP7 HANDOUTS

• Emerging Adulthood


  A period of development spanning from about ages 18 to 29, experienced by people in their twenties in Westernized cultures and perhaps in other parts of the world as well
• Characteristics of Emerging Adulthood


  • Identity exploration
  • Instability
  • Self-focus
  • Feeling in-between
  • Possibilities
• Identity exploration


  Most identity development occurs during the late teens and early twenties rather than adolescence, explores their career choices and ideas about intimate relationships
• Instability


  Exploration generates uncertainty and instability, change of jobs, relationships, and residences more frequently than other age groups
• Self-focus


  Not the same as being "self-centered", adolescents are more self-centered than emerging adults, begin to see their parents as people, not just parents, something most adolescents fail to do
• Feeling in-between


  Early adults feel like adults, more 18 to 25-year-olds answer "yes and no" than do teens or adults over the age of 25, may still be financially dependent on their parents to some degree, and they have not completely attained some of the indicators of adulthood
• Possibilities


  A chance to change directions, for those whose lives up to this point have been difficult, it is easier to believe in finding a soulmate when a person has yet to have had a serious relationship
• Emerging Adulthood is said to be only reflecting upper-middle-class, college-attending young adults in the United States and not those who were working class or poor
• The survey said that lower socioeconomic classes identified with more negativity in their emotional lives, including higher levels of depression
• The lowest socioeconomic group was more likely to agree that they had not been able to find sufficient financial support to obtain the education they believed they needed
• Factors to consider for cultural variations


  • Socioeconomic Status, Factors, and Practices
  • Background / Environment (Religion, Educational System, Language and communication, Norms and Values, Rituals and Traditions, Parenting Styles, Cultural identity and ethnic socialization)
  • Media and Technology Influence
  • Social Network and Support System
  • Acculturation and Biculturalism
• Modern rites of passage


  • Legal Age (18 years old) - Voting Rights, Military Service
  • Graduation
  • Financial Independence
  • Partnership (Personal and professional)
  • Becoming a Parent
• Economic and social changes have resulted in more young adults attending college and a delay in marriage and having children
• Current research has found financial independence and accepting responsibility for oneself to be the most important markers of adulthood in Western culture across age and ethnic groups
• Living arrangement of young adults (18-24) in the West

  • 31.6% lived with a partner/spouse in their own household
  • 32.1% lived with their parent/s
  • 14% lived alone, single parents, or lived with a roommate
• Gender differences in living arrangement

  More young men are living with their parents than young women (young women are more likely to be living with their partners/spouses during this time)
• Factors that help explain changes in living arrangement

  • postponement of marriage or choosing not to marry/cohabitate at all
  • unemployment and lower wages
  • college enrollments
• Early adulthood


  People in their mid-twenties to mid-forties, physical maturation is complete, muscle strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac functioning operate at their best, height and weight may increase slightly, many women have children
• The aging process begins during early adulthood
• Obesity


  Abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health, if a person has 20% fat in their body or more, it means they are considered obese
• Body Mass Index (BMI)


  A person's weight in kilograms or pounds is divided by the square of their height in meters, the purpose is to calculate body fat content and determine dietary changes
• Causes of Obesity


  • Family inheritance and influences (genetics, family and environment)
  • Daily lives and activities (unhealthy diet, liquid calories, inactivity)
  • Pregnancy
  • Lack of sleep
• Rates of violent death are influenced by substance use, which peaks during emerging and early adulthood, but early adulthood has a higher percentage of causes of death for ages 15–24 and 25–34 including unintentional injury, suicide, homicide, cancer and heart disease
• Alcohol abuse


  A person who has a serious problem with drinking alcohol has a pattern of drinking too much alcohol too often, which can lead to alcoholism
• Many college students consider drinking alcohol after a class, exam, or event in school a part of their perception that heavy drinking is a part of their experience as college students, and it's been a ritual ever since
• Effects of alcohol on college students

  • Decreased immunity
  • Poor sleeping habits
  • Physical injury
  • Financial stress
  • Mental health problems
  • Legal stress
• Non-alcohol substance use refers to the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cigarettes, and marijuana, which can have negative consequences like overdosing, heart disease, and problems in the brain
• Signs of substance use


  • Stop taking care of themselves
  • Spending more time alone than before
  • Eat less than normal
  • Have a problem with their family
  • Can't wait to use the substance
  • Sleep at odd hours
  • Lack of interest, particularly in the things that you used to love
• Substance use


  • Cocaine can speed up your whole body
  • Heroine is a man-made drug that gives you a good feeling at first, but when it's gone, everything slows down around you
  • Cigarettes have nicotine, which gives you pleasure and energy
  • Marijuana can make you feel silly and laugh for no reason, or you may feel sleepy and forget things that just happened
• Gender identities


  • cisgender
  • transgender
  • agender
  • genderfluid
  • genderqueer
  • gender nonconforming
  • bigender
  • pangender
  • ambigender
  • non-gendered
  • intergender
  • two-spirit
• In American culture, wearing skirts is associated with femininity, while in Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures, dresses or skirts (often referred to as sarongs, robes, or gowns) can be considered masculine
• Gender Roles


  • Masculine Roles - strength, aggression, and dominance
  • Feminine Roles - passivity, nurturing, and subordination
• Stereotypical American Male and Female Behavior - Men tend to outnumber women in professions such as law enforcement, the military, and politics, while women tend to outnumber men in care-related occupations such as healthcare, childcare, and social work
• Gender Binary


  Categorizing humans as only female and male
• Two-Spirit


  A modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe gender-variant individuals in their communities
• Gender non-conforming people, or people who don't conform to the gender norms that are expected of them, are much more likely to experience harassment, bullying, and violence based on their gender identity
• Transgender individuals of color face additional, financial, social, and interpersonal challenges, in comparison to the transgender community as a whole, as a result of structural racism, and Black transgender people reported the highest level of discrimination among all transgender individuals of color
• Transgender women of color are especially vulnerable to employment discrimination, poor health outcomes, harassment, and violence
• Minority Stress Model


  States that an unaccepting social environment results in both external and internal stress which contributes to poorer mental health
• Not all transgender individuals choose to alter their bodies or physically transition, many will maintain their original anatomy but may present themselves to society as a different gender