Psyc290

• Young adulthood


  18-25 years old
• Life events associated with young adulthood


  • Job experience
  • Further pursuit of education
  • Career training
• There is a connection between one's health in emerging adulthood and one's health in old age
• Activities young adults typically engage in

  • Negative habits
  • Poor dietary choices
  • Substance abuse
• Emerging adulthood


  Crossover stage between adolescence and young adulthood, focus on future pursuits involving further education, career training and job experience
• How parents can assist an adolescent in moving toward independence


  • Contributing to the household and the community through responsibilities such as completion of chores or volunteering
  • Providing feedback that is honest and constructive rather than praise and encouragement
  • Providing opportunities to connect with other adults
  • Offering challenges that provide opportunities to learn mastery and competency in specific skills
• Qualities that characterize young adulthood

  • Possibilities
  • Self involvement
  • Instability
  • Experimentation
• Mortality rate is higher in males than females in young adulthood due to compromising behaviors like aggressive driving and chronic disorders like obesity and mental health issues
• Exercise is an important task in adulthood
• Substance use in young adulthood

  • More common in young adulthood
  • Higher in males than in females
  • Tends to peak in the early 20's and decrease by end of 20's
• Alcohol consumption in college students


  • Nearly all college students engage in alcohol consumption
  • Only 20% of college students abstaining from alcohol during college years
• Risks of alcohol consumption in young adulthood

  • Dangers associated with binge drinking
  • Development of alcohol addiction and alcoholism
• Binge drinking


  • Consuming 5 or more alcoholic drinks in a row in one time period
  • A level above binge drinking = high intensity drinking or extreme binge drinking = 10-15 drinks in a row
• Risks of binge drinking

  • Physical injuries
  • Increased sexual risk-taking behavior
  • Legal difficulties - driving
  • Missed time in classroom
  • Reduced engagement in academic activities
• Alcoholism


  • Stems from chronic alcohol use to the extent that physical and psychological dependence on alcohol is developed with a pattern of repeated, excessive and uncontrolled use of alcohol
  • An extreme risk for those who choose to drink regularly
  • 1 in 9 people who drink has been found to develop alcoholism
  • Increases risk if there are relatives who have alcoholism
  • There is a strong genetic component to the development of alcoholism
  • About 33% recovery → "one-third rule"
• Sexual scripts


  Stereotypes regarding how individuals engage in sexual activity
• Casual sex


  Hooking up, friends with benefits = no agreement of exclusivity
• Sexual exploration in young adulthood

  • Having sex a few times a year or none
  • Sex a handful of times a month
  • Having sex twice a week
• Married and cohabitating couples tend to have more frequent sex
• Males tend to think of sex more often
• Sexual orientation


  • Existing on a continuum with the majority of individuals falling in the middle
  • The acceptance of same-sex attractions and sexual involvement
  • Cognitive, genetic, environmental, and hormonal variables that combine to inform an individual's sexual orientation
• Post-formal thought


  Characterized by flexibility and the ability to think more abstractly
• Formal operational thought


  The ability to think abstractly and also to consider alternatives and possibilities, even if these possibilities have not been personally experienced
• The development of formal operational thought and post-formal thought are very dependent on life experiences and advanced education
• Dialectical thinking


  Where absolute truths are questioned and a more balanced and relative view of truth is found
• Socioemotional development in young adulthood

  • Establishing own sense of morality and values
  • Attitudes are more concrete
  • Better sense of identity
• Social learning theory


  • We learn through the observation and modeling of others
  • Social learning provides us with important info about the norms of our society and how we fit into that larger network
  • We often look to those around us to see what is approved and what is scorned
  • Social learning is the interaction between biological development and our own culture
• Vaillant's theory of adult development

  • Identity
  • Intimacy
  • Career Consolidation
  • Generativity
  • Keeper of the meaning
  • Integrity
• Levinson's theory of stage crisis

  • People go through periods of transition followed by a period of stability
  • Transitional periods last around 5 years
  • Period of stability = early adulthood stage, with optimism, many plans for the future, career and relationship goals actively pursued, establishing a family and a solid foundation for life ahead
• Middle adulthood


  Early 40's to mid 60's, marked by a time when we begin to consider how much time we may have left to live, refocusing on what goals remain to be accomplished
• Jung's thoughts on middle adulthood

  Referred to it as the "afternoon of life", an important stage in the preparation for the next stage of the "Evening life" (old age)
• Physical changes in middle and late adulthood

  • Loss of collagen and fat in skin, small intensified pigmentation, graying and thinning of hair
  • Loss of height and escalation of weight, increase in obesity
  • Loss of strength and muscle mass, increase in joint stiffness
  • Sharp decline in eyesight between 40-59 years old, decrease in hearing by 40 years old
  • Rapid increase in cardiovascular diseases, decline in respiratory health, changes in sleep
• Age identity


  The answer to the question: "how do you feel?"
• There is a decline in hearing, beginning at age of 40 years old
• Testosterone replacement therapy


  Provided to men in middle adulthood
• Different types of intelligence

  • Crystallized intelligence (verbal skills, knowledge)
  • Fluid intelligence (abstract reasoning, ability to manipulate information)
• Crystallized intelligence increases through middle adulthood as fluid intelligence begins to decline
• Victor Frankl's views on the human condition

  • It is important for humans to engage in questions regarding the meaning of life, what one wants to get from life, and the essential reason that one exists
  • The distinct qualities are spirituality, freedom, and responsibility
• Intellectual abilities that peak in middle adulthood

  • Spatial orientation
  • Verbal comprehension
• Factors that influence middle-aged workers' ability to reach peak performance


  • Increased expertise
  • Elevated motivation to achieve
  • More effective strategic thinking