How Universal Is Emerging Adulthood

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How universal is emerging adulthood?

An empirical example
a
Leo B. Hendry & Marion Kloep
Department of Psychology, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd,

CF37 1DL, UK
Version of record first published: 25 Feb 2010.
To cite this article: Leo B. Hendry & Marion Kloep (2010): How universal is emerging adulthood? An
empirical example, Journal of Youth Studies, 13:2, 169-179
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Vol. 13, No. 2, April 2010, 169179
How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example

Leo B. Hendry* and Marion Kloep
Downloaded by [USC University of Southern California] at 18:54 08 March 2013
Department of Psychology, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, UK

This paper examined the concept of emerging adulthood as proposed by Arnett, in
a purposive sample of Welsh young people (n 38) aged 1720 years who were
working or unemployed (i.e. not in higher education). In this exploratory study,
young people were questioned about their lifestyles and their perceptions of being
adult in semi-structured interviews lasting about 40 minutes. Results indicated that
Arnetts emerging adulthood stage held good for only one subgroup of those
interviewed. Other developmental trajectories to adulthood were noted. Further,
many claimed to perceive themselves as adult and to be perceived by
others as adult. The value of Arnetts stage theory to young people in a European
society was discussed in the light of present findings, and an alternative approach
was offered.
Keywords: lifestyles; young adulthood; emerging adulthood; transitions; stage
theory
Introduction
In a rapidly changing world, traditional developmental tasks (e.g. Havighurst 1972),
such as gaining independence from parents and making personal living arrangements, orienting to a career, developing new sets of relationships with parents, peers
and the opposite gender, and so on are problematic, differently ordered, and present
todays young people with significant challenges in gaining adult status (e.g. Beck
1992, Castells 1998). The transition to adulthood seems to become increasingly
prolonged as a result of social and economic changes, with a high number of young
people staying in education longer, marrying later and having their first child later
than in the past (Arnett 2004).
Arnetts (2000) conception of emerging adulthood is presented as a stage theory
bounded by chronological age, where there is a distinct age stage between adolescence
and adulthood in response to these recent societal shifts. Mainly, the new life stage is
characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, a feeling of being inbetween, and the perception of a range of possibilities. There is some evidence from
surveys in different countries that, indeed, a large group of young people experience
these (i.e. Arnett 2001, 2003, Facio and Micocci 2003, Mayseless and Scharf 2003).
Thus, Arnett states that the concept is a useful term for 1829-year-olds in industrial
societies, and hence the concept has given an impression of normality to affluent
Western lifestyles. By contrast, we want to maintain that his concept mainly applies
to young adults in higher education, who are still largely recruited from the middle
class, while for others the routes into adulthood are much more diversified. For this
*Corresponding author. Email: lhendry@glam.ac.uk
ISSN 1367-6261 print/ISSN 1469-9680 online
# 2010 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13676260903295067
http://www.informaworld.com
170
L. B. Hendry and M. Kloep
reason, this paper attempts to highlight these possible transitions as seen through the
eyes of adolescents deliberately chosen from a younger age group (to seek signs of
adult maturity before the age of emerging adulthood), and who are not following a
route through the higher education system (to look for evidence of alternative
lifestyles). Thus, the main aim of the paper is to critically examine Arnetts theoretical
constructs that make up his emerging adulthood theory.
Arnett (2004, 2006) describes the period as an optimal opportunity for selfexploration. Relatively unencumbered by parental rules or the responsibilities of full
adulthood, emerging adults are free to explore possibilities in a variety of life
domains, but especially love and work. He claims that the most important factor
delaying the transition to full adulthood is changing attitudes about work and
family life, where these responsibilities represent the end of spontaneity and
possibilities for young people, and future adult life is seen as restrictive to their
optimistic life views.
Recently, researchers have stated that emerging adulthood is dependent on
cultural (e.g. Cheah and Nelson 2004, Nelson et al. 2004, Bynner 2005, Mitchell
2006) and social institutions (Heinz and Marshall 2003, Bynner 2007, Heinz 2007),
and thus is not a universal stage. Cross-cultural studies and studies of ethnic
minority groups suggest that a stage theory of emerging adulthood does not cater
for intraindividual and cross-cultural differences (Lloyd et al. 2005, Mitchell 2006).
Bynner (2005) proposed that there is a need to move away from a blanket
categorization of individuals in terms of stages bounded by chronological
age towards a broader conception based on a range of trajectories or pathways
(p. 378).
In drawing attention to the economic and social factors that keep some
dependent until at least their mid-twenties, Cote (2000) concluded that a significant
number of young adults have transitional difficulties, and greatest problems come to
those with least economic, intellectual and psychological resources. Social class,
ethnicity and gender still appear to have a significant impact on young peoples lives
even in de-standardized and individualized societies (Jones and Wallace 1992,
Hendry et al.1998, Bynner 2005, 2008), as do individual, existential factors like
taking responsibility for oneself and transitional milestones such as cohabitation
and parenthood. For instance, Ferri et al. (2003) have commented that, in 2001, 80
per cent of young people whose fathers were in unskilled occupations left school at
the minimum age of 16, whereas only 10 per cent of those whose fathers were in
professional occupations did so.
So while it may be true that new independence and choices are available for some,
this is dependent upon the young person having an income or, better still, parents
who can provide cash for the young person to delay choices and yet gain access to the
consumer society. In this regard, there may be better options for middle-class youths
following higher educational routes than for ordinary working-class young people
(Furlong and Cartmel 1997).
Since much of Arnetts original findings come from American university student
samples, here we test the hypothesis that not only are there a variety of trajectories to
adulthood (e.g. Heinz and Marshall 2003, Bynner 2005, Cote and Bynner 2008), but
also that those who are not within the higher educational system and who are at the
very beginning of Arnetts so-called stage of emerging adulthood, might have already
attained adult status in their own eyes by their life experiences outside of the higher
171
education system. The approach to this study is theory-driven in that it seeks to

establish or refute the principles around Arnetts claims by drawing on the perceived
experiences and comments of ordinary young people who do not attend university.
Further, it considers the perceived trajectories of these young people, their lifestyles
and levels of maturity.
Method
Sample
We chose an opportunity sample of 38 (22 female and 16 male) participants between
the ages of 17 and 20, with a mean age of 19.03 years. Deliberately, we chose only
participants who were not in any form of higher education. Thirty were in full-time
employment, three had part-time jobs, one was waiting for a training course to
commence, and four were unemployed. Thirty-two lived still at home. One
participant was married, one had a child, and one was pregnant. All participants
were from communities in South Wales.
Procedure
Trained interviewers contacted the participants, obtained informed consent, and
interviewed them at a mutually agreed location. Interviews generally lasted 3040
minutes and were audio-taped. The tapes were later transcribed verbatim, including
non-verbal sounds such as laughter, pauses, etc. The interviews were semi-structured
and based on open-ended questions such as Describe a normal day, Do you consider
yourself as an adult why, why not?, and Where do you see yourself in a few years
time? Questions were aimed at stimulating an open discussion, without directly asking
whether the participants experienced all the features of emerging adulthood as
described by Arnett.
Data analysis
Interview scripts were then subjected to a theory-led thematic analysis (Hayes 1997).
Firstly, emerging themes were grouped as either supporting or contradicting Arnetts
(2004) five characteristics of emerging adulthood; namely, identity exploration,
instability, self-focused time of life, feeling in between, and age of possibilities. As a
second step, the interviews were read again, each treated as an individual case study.
Different narratives about these transitions to adulthood were then grouped together
(rather like a qualitative cluster analysis) according to the degree of similarity in the
emerging themes (see Figures 13).
Findings and discussion

Firstly, we examined what the young people in our sample had to say with regard to
the five principles of emerging adulthood. In particular, we searched for examples of
reported experiences in the young peoples narratives that were different from
Arnetts categories.
172
Identity exploration
Marcia (1980) has proposed four types of identity formation in adolescence moratorium (a time of exploration without commitment), foreclosure (commitment
without exploration), diffusion (neither exploration nor commitment), and achievement (commitment after a time of exploration). In our sample, we could identify
all these types of identity formation, including the expected moratorium-type
narratives that described a continuing search for occupational and social identities.
However, there were also some young people who had the period of exploration
already behind them at a relatively young age. As illustration, one young woman
said:
Cleaner, shop assistant, chip shop I was an assistant manager, I was a waitress, a chef
in a pizza place, I worked behind a bar in the cricket ground, I tried a bit of everything
really. I enjoyed it, but I didnt get the satisfaction out of that, as I do with childcare.
Apart from the money, you dont get back anything else. (female, age 19)
On the other hand, in the same age range we could identify those who had not even
started the process of exploration, and were not particularly enthusiastic about doing so:
Job? I dont know, I dont like working, but Id like to have the money! Id prefer to
play football! At home I dont have to care about anything, I dont have to pay, and my
mother does most of the things. I used to have a few girlfriends, but not for long. I spend
more time with my friends playing football or watching films. I dont care about many
things, I dont have to, and I dont want to. (male, age 18)
Thus, age was not predictive of identity status, and we could find examples of those
who claimed to be more mature, and those who said they were less mature than they
should have been according to rigid stage-theory descriptions.
Instability
Along with the prolonged moratorium process emerging adults presumably find
themselves in, comes an alleged instability of life choices. Romantic commitments are
of short-lasting nature, and career choices are limited to a successive string of
McJobs (Arnett 2004). However, many young people in our sample stated they were
already settled, either in their job or in a relationship, and had gained independence
from their parents at the very beginning of the emerging adult period, as these
quotations show:
I have never regretted not staying on at school or going to university. Im happy with
what Im doing. (female, age 20)
Ive made a couple of important decisions, leaving school, getting a job, settling down in
a relationship. (female, age 17)
I am not dependent on my parents any more. I have moved out, I have a career, and I am
in a stable relationship. (male, age 20)
Of course, some young people mentioned that they were still exploring different
career possibilities (or had not even started to think of a job), but the fact remains,
that not all fitted into the picture of a high instability in life choices during the
transition to adulthood.
173
Self-focused time of life

Arnett further suggests that the years between 18 and 29 are a self-focused time of
life, where young people do not have the time and energy to take other peoples views
into consideration. Again, a number of young people in our study seem not to fit this
description:
My mom does the food shopping and cooks and we share the other housework, like
cleaning, hoovering, washing up. . . . I work so I think its fair to share the expenses.
I give my mother 40 pounds a week for my room, for food. (female, age 18)
After work I tend to cook my dads food, cause my mams in work, then Ill do some
ironing or cleaning just so that the house is tidy when my mam comes in from work.
I mean, I know what its like to work full time so I try to do my bit. (female, age 19)
I look after my mum so Ive got to be there for her for a certain amount, but I get carers
allowance. I cook, clean the house, just make sure that shes all right. When shes ill she
cant really get out of bed, so, just make sure that shes got something to eat, or take her
to the toilet, whatever she needs. (female, age 20)
Several young people admittedly all of them female showed a considerable

amount of empathy and responsible behaviour towards others, and definitively did
not treat their parents home as a cheap and comfortable place to live in while
concentrating on their own needs.
Feeling in-between
Arnett (2004) reports that the vast majority in his studies declare themselves as being
neither fully adults nor adolescents, but as feeling something in-between. Though
we deliberately chose a sample at the lower end of the emerging adulthood period, it
was easy to identify some individuals who clearly perceived themselves as acting and
as being accepted as adult:
Maybe I was adult long before I turned 18. Before that I used to hang out for no
purpose, but now I only do it when I want some good times. I started to look for a job
quite early, I tried to live on my own. Now I am married and feel good about it. (male,
age 20)
Another declared:
Weve been together 7 years in January. We have decided to start saving for a house. Im
20 in January, hes 21 in June, and I think its time that we started thinking about
marriage and kids and that sort of thing. (female, age 19)
While one young woman, who worked as a live-in nanny, indicated clearly:
I consider myself as a young adult. Well, Im old enough to bring up four children, day
in, day out and I have to take on all the responsibilities of an adult so I think I have the
right to call myself an adult. (female, age 18)
Obviously, some young people even in Western societies still follow the traditional
pattern of taking on adult responsibilities early and committing themselves to their
choices a fact that leaves them in no doubt that they have reached adult status even,
in some cases, before the age of 20. Significantly, of the 38 young people we
interviewed, 23 stated that they considered themselves to be definitely adults and
174
only 13 felt in-between or adult in most contexts while two classified themselves as
adolescents. (By contrast, Arnetts 2004 study found 60 per cent feeling in-between.)
Age of possibilities
The literature on emerging adulthood is full of descriptions of the widening range of

choices and possibilities that are open to modern young people, leaving the
impression that their hesitancy in committing to a career choice is due to their
being unable to select from a wide range of attractive alternatives. However, for a
number of the young people in our study, this was not the case:
What career? Working in a factorys not a career, but there are no other jobs about, and
I dont want to go anywhere else, I wont know anyone. (female, age 18)
At the moment Im finding it so hard to get a job, so Id probably have any job going.
Ive applied for factory and secretarial, Ive applied for everything! (female, age 20)
Like Id love to be that, I like caring for people, like social worker. But I had like rubbish
grades, I just thought Im too stupid to do anything proper. (female, age 17)
I did not have enough grades to go to college anyway, so it wasnt really an option.
(male, age 20)
Seventeen young people stated that they worked in a place that they would not have
voluntarily opted for, and only nine said that they worked in their chosen career. The
lack of job opportunities, failure at school, pressure from boyfriends, and lack of
geographical mobility reduced the smorgasbord of life choices for many young
people to very few options, if any at all.
Having demonstrated, via the voice of young people, that Arnetts principles of
emerging adulthood do not fully match the expressed life experiences of these young
people from Wales, we then reanalysed the narratives to investigate how the different
themes coalesce for each individual, to tease out varying lifestyle trajectories. This
resulted in the identification of three broad pathways of transition.
Firstly, as Figure 1 shows, there was clearly a subgroup in extended moratorium,
which matched to some extent Arnetts (2004, 2006) affluent, middle-class students.
With parental support they could afford to have a prolonged moratorium, live at
home, seek new opportunities, delay in choosing a career, have fun, and not be fully
adult. Though some of them complained about too much parental interference, they
were clearly happy to stay at home and enjoy the advantages of dependent living.
A typical statement of this experience was:
Well, I live at home still and my mother does all my washing and stuff, um, like cooking
and tidying up after me, takes me to my mates, and picks me up when I want. I suppose
she does it all [laughs], but I know she likes to do it. Ive chosen to stay at home cause
its cheaper. (male, age 19)
Another subgroup were disadvantaged by their lack of resources, skills and

societal opportunities, though, superficially, they exhibited a somewhat similar
lifestyle to the more affluent subgroup, living with parents, accepting occasional
McJobs, or reluctantly taking on one of the few other jobs available to them
(Figure 2).
The difference here was that rather than being in emerging adulthood, they were
in a state of prevented adulthood. Lack of affordable housing, education, and
175
Emerging
adults
Feeling not
Few or no
Not in a steady
No job or
Largely
adult or in
responsibilities
relationship
temporary job,
dependent on
no clear career
parents, happy
plans
with it
between
Figure 1.
Life experiences of young people classified as emerging adults.
suitable jobs reduced their lifestyle options and prevented them from gaining
experiences and attaining societal markers that indicate adult status. Many noted
that choices and possibilities were available, though they perceived themselves to be
excluded from all this because they lacked certain resources, and they felt bitter
about it. They too still lived at home with their parents, but described their
experiences quite differently from the first group:
Id say yes I am [an adult], but would feel more of an adult if I had my own house, my
own transport, I feel a bit of a kid, um, because I live with my parents and stuff. Its a
hold on me living with my parents. I sorta got, well plans for the future. I wanna work
hard, where I am working now, and, obviously, if anything else comes will take it, if its
better paid. And try move out to another house as soon as I can. Because then I could
afford it. (male, age 20)
Finally, there was a small subgroup who displayed adult maturity at an early
age (Figure 3). They perceived that they had matured through non-normative
shifts such as parental illness or divorce, having to look after younger siblings or
their own children, finding a responsible job, or being forced to become financially
independent because their parents could not afford to support them (e.g. Evans
2007).
Prevented
adults
Feeling in
Some
Some in a
Full-time job
Partly
between or
responsibilities
steady
but not in
dependent on
relationship
chosen career
parents, but
adult
want to move
Figure 2.
Life experiences of young people classified as prevented adults.
176
Adults
Feeling adult
Often in
Full-ime
responsibilities
steady
employed,
partly
relationship
often in a
dependent on
chosen career
parents
in family
and/or job
Figure 3.
Not or only
Range of
Life experiences of young people classified as adults.
Markers of adulthood seemed not to be the consequences but the causes of

becoming adult. As Westberg (2004) has pointed out, various personal or
occupational factors, family responsibilities, and particularly parenthood bring
individuals to full adult status:
Because Ive got a 2-year-old child, so Ive tend to have to grow up a lot quicker than
most teenagers did because I had a child to look after. (female, age 20)
When my parents divorced, I stayed with my mother and thought it is high time to be
independent. I didnt want to be a burden, so I started looking for work. (male, age 20)
I feel like I have been forced into growing up early . . . I have had these responsibilities
from a young age. I feel like I have to take responsibility of my own life now that my dad
is no longer here. (female, age 18)
Everybody I work with is older than me, you know, in their 20s, 30s and 40s, so Ive
gained maturity through them theyve taught me a lot. (female, 19)
Growing up early added to these young peoples psychosocial resources and

influenced their views of adult status. Hence, there may be a plethora of developmental
tasks that contribute to development. For example, the majority of young people
mentioned that leaving school and entering full-time employment was a major turning
point in their transition to adulthood:
I feel that Ive matured a lot since Ive come out of school. I think that was the hardest
thing for me, you know, going from school where you have to do this and that, and
basically Im on my own now. I make my own decisions. Well, if Id gone to university
Id still be the same sort of person, but because Im employed I think Im more
responsible. I suppose I make big decisions in work. Ive got quite a responsible job in
the bank, and its difficult to know what you can and cant say to customers sometimes.
(female, age 19)
Yeah, its made me grow up, because in school its just Monday to Friday with loads of
breaks and stuff, but when youre working properly 95, you only get a couple of
holidays. Makes me feel more of an adult. Working with adults also rubs off on you.
Could call it more mature. (male, age 20)
One of my main problems was that I couldnt really talk to people. I wasnt very good
with communicating with anyone, but working has helped a lot. (female, age 19)
177
When I was in college, wed all just be like hanging out and stuff, and didnt have any
responsibilities, and could just do what we want and didnt go to lectures if we didnt
want to, but you cant do that with work you got to turn up on time and not mess
about. (male, age 20)
In summary, some young people opted for a prolonged moratorium, preferring to

delay the important decisions of their lives, while others had no such choices and
were constrained in their eagerness to attain full adult status, and yet another group
had matured quickly, because they had been forced to take on responsibilities for
themselves or others at a very early age. Within all these groups, some used their
circumstances to expand their knowledge and their skills, while others used this
situation as an excuse for hanging about rather aimlessly.
The focus of future research should be on investigating the interdependent
processes and mechanisms (of which societal transformation is only one) that are
involved in human change in the transitions to adulthood. As one of our young
people told us, summarizing both the views of this Welsh sample and of our own
theoretical position, the transitions to adulthood are so individualistic and varied
that they cannot be encapsulated under a general stage theory. He said:
There are differences. . . . My attitude, the way Ive grown up, things that have happened
to me, maybe difficulties that Ive had in my life that other people havent had or
difficulties I havent had. Everyone has differences, so I cant see how people can say that
youre a typical adolescent. (male, age 19)
Conclusions
The present investigation has uncovered possible flaws in Arnetts claims for a new
stage in the developmental process, by showing, through the views of young people
themselves that there are considerable variations from the standard emerging adult
transition even in modern Western societies. We do not claim that there are not
young people who fit very well into the picture of emerging adults, but we want to
draw attention to the number of others whose pathways deviate remarkably from
Arnetts normative stage. We would argue that these groups should not be treated as
deviant or simply as an error variance of a general trend. As Cote and Bynner
(2008) have said:
Our proposition is that conceptualizing the stage of life described as emerging
adulthood requires greater recognition of population heterogeneity and the structural
components of it, including those leading to traditional, but now marginalized, adult
statuses. (Cote and Bynner 2008, p. 256)
If, as Arnett claims, emergent adulthood should be seen as a normative developmental stage, all those who do not experience it then would have to be classified as
abnormal (not able to pursue a normal emerging adulthood, Arnett and Tanner
forthcoming-a) and potentially developmentally deficient, a term that seems not
justified in describing the well-adapted and mature young people in our sample.
Even the transitions experienced within our three broad groupings are not
completely homogeneous. There are many young people who perceive themselves
as having definitively achieved adult status as well as being accepted as an adult by
others but not in all sectors of their life. They might be thoroughly committed to a
partner and a child, but not completely financially independent, or they might have
178
started a long-term career, but not settled down with a family of their own. This
domain specificity of maturity superficially resembles Arnetts notion that it is a
time of being in between and that there are many different emerging adulthoods
(Arnett and Tanner forthcoming-b). However, we would maintain that this is not
age-specific, but that all individuals at every phase of their life course can experience
such fluctuations, and even occasional regressions, in their feelings of being adult in
one or more of their life domains, depending upon context, level of self-esteem, and
perceived competence in the face of particular life challenges. For example, the five
features with which Arnett characterizes emerging adulthood are by no means
specific for any particular age range, but they accompany periods of change at any
time in the life course. They are not experiences associated with age, but with turning
points in the individuals life that, particularly in modern societies, are not restricted
to any one particular age. As Featherstone and Hepworth (1991) stated:
Adult life, then, is a process a process, we must emphasise, which need not involve a
predetermined series of stages of growth. The stages or hurdles which are placed in front
of people and the barriers through which they have to pass (age-specific transitions) can
be shifted around and even discarded. (Featherstone and Hepworth 1991, p. 375)
In classifying emerging adulthood as a developmental stage, there should be

something that develops during this time, and Arnett never clarifies what exactly
that might be. There might be changes in living conditions, but human development
is not synonymous with simple changes, which occur all the time.
There is no need to invent and even a certain danger in inventing a new age stage
to describe processes and mechanisms surrounding human change. Future research
will show whether or not age has any explanatory value in understanding individual
trajectories at any point across the lifespan. Rather, the findings from our
exploratory investigation suggest the significance and importance of taking into
account the interactions of various elements, such as self-agency, individual life
experiences and health, relationships, economic and social changes, structural forces,
and a problematic labour market, to understand the diversity of human responses to
extended periods of change, including the transitions to adulthood.
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How Universal Is Emerging Adulthood

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