Emerging/Early Adulthood

• Emerging adulthood


  A time of life when many different directions remain possible, when little about the future is decided for certain when the scope of independent exploration of life's possibilities is greater for most people than it will be at any other period of the life course
• Characteristics of emerging adulthood that distinguish it from adolescence and young adulthood

  • Age of identity exploration
  • Age of instability
  • Age of self-focus
  • Age of feeling in-between
  • Age of possibilities
• Identity exploration


  Occurs during the late teens and early twenties rather than adolescence, as people explore their career choices and ideas about intimate relationships, setting the foundation for adulthood
• Instability


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


  Emerging adults focus more on themselves, as they realize that they have few obligations to others and that this is the time when they can do what they want with their life
• Feeling in-between


  Emerging adults no longer feel as dependent as they did as teenagers, but may still be financially dependent on their parents to some degree, and have not completely attained some of the indicators of adulthood
• Age of possibilities


  A time period of optimism as more 18 to 25-year-olds feel that they will someday get to where they want to be in life, as their dreams have yet to be tested
• The experiences of children and teens are influenced by the choices and decisions of their parents, but in emerging adulthood, people can move out and move on, having the chance to transform their lives and move away from unhealthy environments
• Physical development in early adulthood

  • People in their mid-twenties to mid-forties are at the peak of their physiological development, including muscle strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac functioning
  • The aging process begins during early adulthood, with changes like vision, hearing, and skin starting around age 30
• Gender identity


  A person's sense of self as a member of a particular gender, which is considered a social construct that varies across cultures
• Gender identities


  • Cisgender
  • Transgender
  • Agender
  • Genderfluid
  • Genderqueer
  • Gender nonconforming
  • Bigender
  • Pangender
  • Ambigender
  • Non-gendered
  • Intergender
  • Two-spirit
• Sexuality


  People's sexual interest in and attraction to others, as well as their capacity to have erotic experiences and responses, which may be expressed biologically, physically, emotionally, socially, or spiritually
• Sexual response cycle


  Excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution
• Hypothalamus


  The most important part of the brain for sexual functioning, controlling the pituitary gland and secreting hormones
• Sexual orientations


  • Heterosexuality
  • Homosexuality
  • Bisexuality
  • Pansexuality
  • Polysexuality
  • Asexuality
• Postformal thought


  The advanced type of thinking in adulthood, where adults base decisions on what is realistic and practical, not idealistic, and are less influenced by what others think
• Dialectical thought


  The ability to bring together salient aspects of two opposing viewpoints or positions, recognizing that there is some right and some wrong in each position
• Personality integrates one's temperament, character, and identity
• Dialectical thought


  The ability to bring together salient aspects of two opposing viewpoints or positions, considered one of the most advanced aspects of postformal thinking
• Very few positions, ideas, situations, or people are completely right or wrong
• Personality


  Integrates one's temperament with cultural and environmental influences
• Personality traits are integral to each person's sense of self, as they involve what people value, how they think and feel about things, what they like to do, and, basically, what they are like most every day throughout much of their lives
• Five-Factor Model of personality

  • Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
• Openness to experience


  A general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience
• Conscientiousness


  A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement
• Extraversion


  The tendency to experience positive emotions and to seek out stimulation and the company of others
• Agreeableness


  A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic toward others
• Neuroticism


  The tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression
• Attachment styles in young adulthood

  • Secure
  • Avoidant
  • Anxious/Ambivalent
• Attachment-related anxiety


  The extent to which an adult worries about whether their partner really loves them
• Attachment-related avoidance


  Whether an adult can open to others, and whether they trust and feel they can depend on others
• Erikson's stage of intimacy vs. isolation

  • Establishing intimate relationships or risking social isolation
• Factors influencing attraction


  • Similarity, Self-disclosure, Proximity
• Triarchic theory of love

  Passion, Intimacy, Commitment
• Liking


  Intimacy or knowledge of the other and a sense of closeness is present, but passion and commitment are not
• Infatuation


  Immediate, intense physical attraction to someone
• Fatuous love


  Strong physical attraction and premature commitment, but no intimacy
• Empty love


  Commitment is present, but no intimacy or passion
• Romantic love


  Intimacy and passion are present, but no commitment
• Companionate love


  Intimacy and commitment are present, but passion may have died out