PSYC 202

• Social Transitions


  Social events (such as getting your drivers license/turning 21) are not just events, but sources of information
• Social Transformations


  Tell us about person's stage of development
• Social redefinition


  The process through which an individual's position or status is redefined by society
• Social redefinition


  • Changes in way that society defines person and what rights and responsibilities come along with those changes
  • Changes in social roles and social status are another universal feature of development
• The social transition is less explicit in contemporary U.S. society than in traditional cultures
• Puberty is universal (all cultures experience it)
• Abstract thinking and logical reasoning don't differ by culture
• Social transitions are NOT the same everywhere
• Although the existence of a "social passage" is universal, very large differences exist in what this looks like in industrialized society v. developing world
• Identity


  Attainment of adult status causes adolescents to feel more mature and to think more seriously about future work and family roles
• Autonomy


  Adult status leads to shifts in responsibility, independence, and freedom
• Age of Majority


  Legal age for adult status
• Intimacy


  Dating, and marriage
• Intimacy


  Need for new decisions about sexual activity
• Achievement


  Becoming a full-time employee; leave school of their own volition
• Adolescence is longer today than it has ever been!
• Menarche


  Easy indicator of the beginning of puberty
• Menarche is an easy indicator of the beginning of puberty because it is easy to measure, has obvious consequences, and is universal
• It is very difficult to identify the clear end to adolescence and beginning of adulthood
• We tend to mark this transition with social indicators (e.g., getting married, moving out of the home, getting a full time job)
• Adolescence begins in biology and ends in culture
• The average age of marriage has been useful as an indicator of adulthood because of how consistently it has been documented in our society
• Other indicators (e.g., schooling, first job) haven't been as consistently documented
• In the 1800s, adolescence was about 5 years
• In 1900, adolescence lasted about 7 years
• In the 1950s, puberty declined and people started marrying later
• In 2010, there was 15 years from menarche to marriage
• Inventionists


  Adolescence is defined by the way that society recognizes (or does not recognize) the period as distinct
• Adolescents didn't exist until the industrial revolution
• Adulthood was based on whether they owned property or not
• Adolescence during the Industrial Era

  Adolescence became a period of preparation rather than participation
• Adolescence during the Industrial Era

  • More time in school, training
  • Efforts to allow adults to keep their jobs
  • Efforts to protect children from the dangers of the new work environment of the industrial era
• Child Protectionists


  Increases in social organizations aimed to protect youth during this time, such as Boy Scouts
• Late 19th century: adolescence is a lengthy period of preparation for adulthood, where young people need guidance and supervision, remain economically dependent on their elders
• Lengthening of schooling has changed the way we define adolescence
• The technology age led to a need for highly training and educated workers
• Many college students will report that they feel like adults in some respects but not others
• Additional Advancements/Set-backs


  • Developments in medicine
  • Birth control pill
  • Woman's rights movement
  • More woman in the workforce
  • Recession
• Emerging adulthood


  Term for individuals between 18–25, that fall somewhere between adolescence and adulthood
• Emerging adulthood is a result of the "technology era," advancements in medicine and women's rights, economy