The 20s represent a major turning point in everyone’s life—a period in which individuals begin to follow distinct paths. It would not be inaccurate to describe this phase as a transition period. During these years, people’s lives take different directions: some get married, some start graduate studies, some become parents, some enter the workforce, while others continue their university education. The transition period between approximately 18 and 29 years of age, when individuals take their first steps into adulthood, is referred to as emerging adulthood.
“An important demographic characteristic of emerging adulthood is that there is a great deal of demographic variability, reflecting the wide scope of individual volition during these years” (Arnett, 2000, p. 471). This period marks the transition from one life stage to another; it is a time when important decisions are made and internal and external motivations shift in line with these decisions. Individuals enter a phase of major life changes in which identity formation deepens and steps toward the future begin.
Because life takes different directions during this stage, individuals often question themselves by asking, “Am I an adult now?” and “How will I cope with all these responsibilities?” As Arnett notes, “This reflects a subjective sense on the part of most emerging adults that they have left adolescence but have not yet completely entered young adulthood” (Arnett, 1994a, 1997, 1998, as cited in Arnett, 2000, p. 471). During adolescence, questions such as “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” are central; however, in emerging adulthood, these questions evolve and gain new meaning.
Erikson’s psychosocial development theory defines the human life cycle in eight stages and states that each stage introduces a new dimension of social interaction, formed through the individual’s relationship with both the self and the environment. According to Erikson, the fifth stage of psychosocial development involves identity versus identity confusion. “Identity achievement implies that the individual assesses strengths and weaknesses and determines how he or she wants to deal with them” (Erikson, 1959, p. 51).
Erikson emphasizes that identity is acquired through individual effort and involves forming a meaningful sense of self based on past experiences, present circumstances, and future goals. If an individual does not question who they are, what they want, or their role in life, this may lead to role confusion, alienation from society, and loneliness. As Erikson notes, “Keniston (1965) has even suggested that in a rapidly changing society, the search for an identity is replacing the socialization process, since the latter implies that there actually exist stable, uniform, socially defined roles and values into which the adolescent can be guided” (Erikson, 1959, p. 52).
This idea can be directly linked to the instability characteristic described in Arnett’s emerging adulthood theory. “Instability of life choices is one of the main distinguishing characteristics of the emerging adult period (roughly spanning the ages from 18 to 30)” (Luyckx et al., 2011, p. 137).
According to Arnett, individuals in the emerging adulthood phase experience changes in areas such as education, work, living arrangements, and romantic relationships—changes that are highly individualized. “The characteristics that matter most to emerging adults in their subjective sense of attaining adulthood are not demographic transitions but individualistic qualities of character” (Arnett, 1998, as cited in Arnett, 2000, p. 472). Arnett (2000) states that the two most important criteria for the transition to adulthood are accepting responsibility for oneself and the ability to make independent decisions, both of which play a crucial role in becoming self-sufficient. Financial independence, the third criterion, also ranks highly in empirical studies (Arnett, 2000).
Because these criteria are not consistently met, emerging adulthood remains a transitional period strongly associated with instability. “The focus on identity issues in emerging adulthood can be seen in the three main areas of identity exploration: love, work, and worldviews” (Arnett, 2000, p. 473).
In Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, Stage 6—Intimacy versus Isolation—is closely linked to these three areas. “Once a personal identity has been achieved, the need for personal intimacy moves into the foreground of the psychosocial development of the young adult. The conflict at this higher level of development is between finding intimacy or isolation in interpersonal relationships” (Erikson, 1959, p. 55). Individuals who fail to resolve this stage may face the risk of isolation (Erikson, 1959). As Constantinople (1969) notes, “The giving of oneself to another, which is the mark of true intimacy, cannot occur until one has a self to give” (as cited in Erikson, 1959, p. 55).
References
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480.
Erikson, E. (1959). Theory of identity development. In Identity and the life cycle. New York: International Universities Press.
Luyckx, K., De Witte, H., & Goossens, L. (2011). Perceived instability in emerging adulthood: The protective role of identity capital. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(3), 228–238.