Characteristics of Emerging Adults

Characteristics of Emerging Adults

  1. Identity Explorations: Trying out various possibilities, especially in love and work.
  2. Instability: Moving frequently, starting and stopping school and jobs. All of this contributes to a lack of stability—a period of "revision" of one's "life plan".
  3. Self-focused: Attention is given to personal needs and aspirations more than any other time in one's life.
  4. Feeling "in-between:" As neither an adolescent nor an adult, this is a transition time.
  5. An Age of Possibilities: This is an age or time period where anything seems possible, hope flourishes, and people have an unparalleled opportunity to transform their lives.

Characteristics of Adulthood:

  1. Accept responsibility for yourself
  2. Make independent choices
  3. Financial independence

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett in Emerging Adulthood

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.

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