Developing Self-Authorship in College to Navigate Emerging Adulthood

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Baxter Magolda ◽  
Kari B. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
College Student ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Student Development ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Young Adult Development ◽  
Self Authorship

Many emerging adults find themselves navigating the complex transition from adolescence to adulthood while enrolled in college. The key to navigating the demands of college (and emerging adulthood) is not simply what decisions one makes but also how one makes them. This chapter foregrounds college student development research regarding the developmental capacities that underlie young adults’ decision-making processes. Drawing upon two longitudinal studies of college student and young adult development, the authors show how young adults move from uncritically following external formulas learned in childhood toward gaining the capacity for self-authorship—a journey that involves developing internal criteria for crafting one’s identities, relationships, and beliefs and yields the ability to navigate external demands. The authors emphasize that diverse combinations of personal characteristics, experiences, and meaning-making capacities yield diverse pathways toward self-authorship. They also highlight how higher education can promote self-authorship and explore further research to better understand self-authorship’s relevance across cultures.

Brief Report

2021 ◽  
pp. 333-346
Author(s):  
Kacie Cassar ◽  
Lance C. Garmon
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
College Student ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Sexual Activity ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Sexual Relationships ◽  
Social Penetration Theory ◽  
Social Penetration ◽  
Social Media Platforms

This study focuses on how social media platforms are being used by emerging adults during the development of romantic and/or sexual relationships, specifically as it relates to initiating private, individualized conversations within the application by “sliding into DMs” (direct message). A majority of the 316 college student participants reported both being familiar with the sliding into DMs (SDM) concept and having either initiated or responded to an SDM. Many also indicated that they were able to successfully achieve the type of relationship they intended when utilizing an SDM. Findings from this study are interpreted in relation to both social penetration theory and attachment theory. Overall, the results support the importance of examining social media interactions when studying the development of both romantic relationships and nonrelational sexual activity in emerging adulthood.

On the Horizon

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Willoughby ◽  
Jason S. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Marital Transitions ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Demographic Shifts ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Age Of Marriage

This chapter overviews marriage formation patterns and beliefs about marriage during emerging adulthood. Although marriage is no longer a transition occurring during emerging adulthood for many individuals, this chapter describes how marriage still has an important impact on emerging adult development and trajectories. The authors first note the major international demographic shifts in marriage that have occurred among emerging adults over the past several decades. They then highlight how research findings on beliefs about marriage have offered evidence that how emerging adults perceive their current or future marital transitions is strongly associated with other decisions during emerging adulthood. The chapter overviews major theoretical advancements in this area including marital paradigm theory and marital horizon theory. Research is summarized focusing on the age of marriage to highlight and discuss how marriage during emerging adulthood may impact well-being. Suggestions are provided for future directions of research in this area of scholarship.

Young Adult Development at the School-to-Work Transition

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
School To Work ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Educational Transitions ◽  
School To Work Transition ◽  
Young Adult Development ◽  
Work Transition

School-to-work (STW) pathways and transitions are key developmental processes in young adulthood. During this time, young adults face multiple choices and challenges. Young Adult Development at the School-to-Work Transition describes pathways for students to successfully transition to the work environment. The book examines social, economic, cultural, familial, contextual, and personal factors that shape the processes involved in the school-to-work transition. Internationally renowned scholars in the fields of developmental psychology, applied psychology, counseling, and sociology have contributed chapters focusing on theory, research, and application related to school-to-work and educational transitions. The book also gives attention to groups who have particular transition needs, including young adults with disabilities and special needs, cultural minorities, international students, and migrants.

scholarly journals Are there similar or divergent transitions to adulthood in a Mediterranean context? A cross-national comparison of Italy and Spain

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugo Pace ◽  
Marco Cacioppo ◽  
Valentina Lo Cascio ◽  
Giovanni Guzzo ◽  
Alessia Passanisi
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Identity Status ◽  
Transitions To Adulthood ◽  
Young Adult Development ◽  
National Comparison

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences and similarities between Italy and Spain in regard to emerging adults’ perceptions of identity status, autonomy, attachment, and life satisfaction. The goal was to verify whether a Mediterranean model of transitions from adolescence to adulthood exists. Three hundred and forty undergraduate students (171 Italians and 169 Spanish) ranging in age from 19 to 22 completed measures of identity status, emotional autonomy, attachment style, and life satisfaction. Multiple correspondence analyses provided a graphic synthesis of results. The results indicate that no common model of young adult development exists in Spain and Italy and that Italian youth have a more complex quality of development compared to their Spanish peers.

Parent alcoholism and the leaving home transition

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREA M. HUSSONG ◽  
LAURIE CHASSIN
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Leaving Home ◽  
Young Adult Development ◽  
Adolescent Risk ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Adult Adjustment

Although they have received little empirical attention, departures from the parental home play a significant role in demarcating the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. The current study examined the extent to which various features of young adults' experiences of leaving home differed for children of alcoholic (COAs) versus nonalcoholic parents, what adolescent precursors might account for noted differences and what indicators of young adult adjustment are related to the leaving home experience. A total of 227 young adults drawn from a high-risk, community sample of COAs and matched controls were interviewed at ages 18–23 years regarding their prior leaving home experiences. COAs showed greater difficulties in negotiating this transition, fewer positive feelings about the transition, and different reasons for leaving home as compared to participants without an alcoholic parent. Moreover, adolescent risk behaviors, family conflict, and family disorganization (assessed prior to this transition) each partly accounted for COAs' risk for difficulty in the leaving home transition. Although certain aspects of the leaving home transition were uniquely related to young adult adjustment, future research is still needed to more comprehensively understand the implications for young adult development associated with such individual differences in the leaving home transition.

scholarly journals The Changing College Student

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Herzog Patricia
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
College Student ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Cultural Changes

Chapter 1 explains how social science can help students navigate college. Beginning with illustrative student case studies, the introductory chapter describes how social, economic, and cultural changes over the last several decades resulted in the new life course stage called “emerging adulthood.” Emerging adults today are different from the entering college students of the past, which means that today’s students’ experiences are markedly distinct from that of their parents and grandparents. Detailing these differences across generations of entering college students, this chapter discusses the implications of these changes for understanding entering college students today. This chapter also introduces and summarizes the content of the subsequent book chapters.

Emerging Adult Development and Substance Use Disorders

2017 ◽  
pp. 16-37
Author(s):  
Douglas C. Smith ◽  
Tara M. Dumas ◽  
Jordan P. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Substance Use Disorders ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Developmental Processes ◽  
Additional Risk

Developmental processes influence emerging adults’ substance use. Such processes may occur both before and during the period of emerging adulthood, which lasts roughly from ages 18 to 29. This chapter begins by reviewing the prevalence of risky substance use and substance use disorders among emerging adults as well as the sequelae of such use. After a brief review of Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood, the chapter provides an updated review of how the dimensions of emerging adulthood (i.e., identity exploration, feeling in between, self-focus, instability, optimism) are associated with substance use. Also reviewed are the additional risk factors for substance use that likely interact with these dimensions.

Flourishing in Emerging Adulthood

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Cultural Immersion ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Face

The goal of this volume is to highlight the third decade of life as one in which individuals have diverse opportunities for positive development that may set the stage for future adult development, as well as to encourage more research on how young people are flourishing during this time period. Despite a preponderance of focus on the negative or dark side of emerging adulthood in research and the media, there is mounting evidence that this time period, at least for a significant majority, is a unique developmental period in which positive development is fostered. The volume consists of chapters written by leading scholars in diverse disciplines who address various aspects of flourishing. It addresses multiple aspects of positive development, including how young people flourish in key areas of emerging adulthood (e.g., identity, love, work, worldviews), the various unique opportunities afforded to young people to flourish (e.g., service experiences, university-based cultural immersion), how flourishing might look different around the world, and how flourishing can occur in the face of challenge (e.g., health issues, disabilities, exposure to violence). In addition, most chapters are accompanied by essays from emerging adults who exemplify the aspect of flourishing denoted in that chapter, and make note of how choices and experiences helped them (or are currently helping them) transition to adulthood. Taken together, the book provides rich evidence and examples of how young people are flourishing as a group and as individuals in a variety of settings and circumstances.

scholarly journals Military Service and Offending Behaviors of Emerging Adults: A Conceptual Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Christopher Salvatore ◽  
Travis Taniguchi
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminological Theory ◽  
Military Life ◽  
The Impact

Focusing on the United States, this paper examines the impact of military service for the cohort of individuals that have experienced the social factors that characterize emerging adulthood as a unique stage in the life course. We argue that military service, as a turning point, may act differently in contemporary times compared to findings from past research. This difference is driven by changes in military service, the draft versus volunteer military service, and the prevalence of emerging adulthood. As a background, we describe emerging adulthood, examine how emerging adulthood relates to crime and deviance, explore the impact of military life on young adults, provide an overview of the demographics of military service, discuss the influence and outcomes of military life on young adults, and explore existing research linking military service and deviant and criminal behavior. We develop a theoretical model of the relationship between military service and emerging adulthood and explore the impact on criminological theory and policy.

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