Early Adulthood
Developmental Factors in Early Adulthood
For many early adulthood is a time of continued uncertainty as people begin to make essential commitments to work, relationships, and ideologies that express the content of their personal identities. The nature of early adulthood is now a time of many transitions and temporary commitments. The five criteria for the transition into adulthood are: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, and having a child. For most people these criteria capture the essence of a cultural definition of adult status, and as such, provide a framework for the psychological sense of maturity. During middle adulthood, most people are striving to enact the key life roles of a worker, intimate partner, community member and parent that will reflect their ability to take responsibility for themselves, make important decisions about their lives, and begin to care for others (Newman, Newman 2012). By and large, the developmental tasks of this period have a lot to do with the person’s ability to form effective relationships. The establishment of a sense of intimacy with a marital partner or cohabiting adult requires movement toward a greater sharing of personal feelings, secrets and ways of looking at the world. In addition, one is often called upon to hear and respond to these highly personal expressions from another person. Sometimes the demand is to listen; sometimes to listen and offer advice; sometimes to be understanding and helpful. Another set of behaviors that develop during this period involve establishing effective relationships in the world. Getting along with associates, responding to authority figures, are the keys to success. These characteristics have psychosocial influences that would be important for a counselor to analyze to understand how an individual feels about their place in the world. A counselor may help an individual realize that their relationships do not offer the level of commitment and intimacy that would be
For many early adulthood is a time of continued uncertainty as people begin to make essential commitments to work, relationships, and ideologies that express the content of their personal identities. The nature of early adulthood is now a time of many transitions and temporary commitments. The five criteria for the transition into adulthood are: leaving home, finishing school, getting married, and having a child. For most people these criteria capture the essence of a cultural definition of adult status, and as such, provide a framework for the psychological sense of maturity. During middle adulthood, most people are striving to enact the key life roles of a worker, intimate partner, community member and parent that will reflect their ability to take responsibility for themselves, make important decisions about their lives, and begin to care for others (Newman, Newman 2012). By and large, the developmental tasks of this period have a lot to do with the person’s ability to form effective relationships. The establishment of a sense of intimacy with a marital partner or cohabiting adult requires movement toward a greater sharing of personal feelings, secrets and ways of looking at the world. In addition, one is often called upon to hear and respond to these highly personal expressions from another person. Sometimes the demand is to listen; sometimes to listen and offer advice; sometimes to be understanding and helpful. Another set of behaviors that develop during this period involve establishing effective relationships in the world. Getting along with associates, responding to authority figures, are the keys to success. These characteristics have psychosocial influences that would be important for a counselor to analyze to understand how an individual feels about their place in the world. A counselor may help an individual realize that their relationships do not offer the level of commitment and intimacy that would be