Early adulthood

Adithya.p

Department of social work Don Bosco college Kottiyam

Psychology for social work

Arya s Kumar

April 6 ,2022
Introduction
The term adult comes from the same Latin verb as the term
adolescence_adolescers_which means “to grow to maturity”. However, the word adult is
derived from the past participles of that verb_adultus which means “grown to full size and
strength” or “matured”. Adult are therefore, individuals who have completed their growth and
ready to assume their status in society along with other adults.
Different cultures have different ages at which children reach the
adult status or the age of legal maturity. In most of the older culture they reached this status
when their puberty growth was complete or nearly complete and when their sex organs had
developed to the point where they were capable of procreation. Until recently children’s in
American culture were not considered legally adults until they reached the age of twenty one
years. Today adulthood is legally reached the age of eighteen. With a gradual increase in
longevity, adulthood is now by far the longest period in the total life span. During the long
period of adulthood certain physical and psychological changes occur at predictable times. At
predictable times of adulthood is customarily subdivided on the basis of the times at which
these changes take place together with the adjustment problems and cultural pressures and
expectancies stemming from them.
It is important to note that these subdivisions are not fixed and rigid.
Instead they indicate only the ages at which the average man or women can be expected to
begin to show some changes in appearance, bodily functions, interests, attitudes, or behavior
and at which certain environmental pressures in our culture give rise to adjustment problems
which few men or women escape.
Characteristics of early adulthood

Early adulthood is a period of adjustment to new patterns of life and new social
expectations. The young adult is expected to play new roles such as that of spouse, parent, and
bread winner, and to develop new attitudes, interests and values in keeping with these new
roles. These adjustments make early adulthood a distinctive period in the life span and also a
difficult one. Most boys and girls have had someone parents, teachers, friends, or others to
help them to make the adjustments they are faced with. Now as adults they are expected to
make these adjustments to themselves.
A brief description of some of the outstanding characteristics of the years of early adulthood
are given below.

• Early adulthood is the “setting-down age”.

It has been said that childhood and adolescence are the period of “growing up”
and that adulthood is the time for “setting down”. In past generations it was assumed
that when boys and girls reached the age of legal maturity, their days of carefree
freedom were over and the time had come to settle down and assume the
responsibilities of adult life. That meant settling into a line of work that would be the
man’s career for the rest of his life while the young women was excepted to assume the
responsibilities that would be hers for the remainder of her life.
Today it is recognized “settling down” too early is often laying the foundations for
discontent because of too early choices of careers of life-mates. Consequently many
young men try out different lines of work to see which meets their needs best and
which will bring them life long satisfaction. While trying out different lines of work many
 young men also try out different women to find out if they have the qualities they want
for a lifelong spouse.
In the same way, young women of today go through the trying out process before they
are willing to consider settling down. They take job to see if they prefer working to
marriage or if they want to combine work with marriage. They date and or go steady
with different men before they decide on the one they believe will make a satisfactory
life-mates.

• Early adulthood is the “Reproductive Age”

Parent good is one of the most important roles in the lives of most young adults.
Those who were married during the latter years of adolescence concentrate on the role
of parenthood during their twenties and early thirties some become grandparents
before early adulthood ends. Those who do not marry until they have completed their
education or have started their life careers do not become parents until they feel they
can afford to have a family. This is often not until the early thirties. Also if women want
to pursue careers after marriage they may put off having children until the thirties for
them then only the last decide of early adulthood is the “reproductive age”.

• Early adulthood is a “problem age”

The early adulthood period present many problems different in their major
aspects from the problems experienced in the earlier year of life. With the lowering of
the age of legal maturity to eighteen years in 1970 young adults have been confronted
with many problems they are totally unprepared to cope with. While they are now able
to vote , to own property , to marry without parental consent , and to do many things
young people could not do when the age of legal maturity of twenty one years there is
no question about the fact that “this new found freedom is creating unforeseen
problem for the youthful adults and often for their parents too”. The adjustments to the
problems of adulthood have been intensified by the shortening of adolescence, which
has given individuals less time to make the transition from childhood to adulthood.
The problem related to adjustments in the different areas of adults life. In the years
from the beginning of legal adulthood thirty most men and women are adjusting to
marriage , parenthood, and jobs. In the decade from thirty to forty years adjustments
focus more on family relationships because it is an accepted fact that changing jobs or
selecting a new vacation after the mid-thirties is difficult if not impossible.
Consequently most men have made their adjustments to their work earlier and are now
concentrating on adjustment related to problems of parenthood. There are many
reasons why adjustment to the problems of adulthood is so difficult. Three are
especially common. First very few young people have had any preparation for meeting
the types of problems they are expected to cope with as adults.
Second, just as trying to learn two or more skills simultaneously usually results in not
learning any one of them well so trying to adjust to two or more new roles
simultaneously usually result in poor adjustment to all of them.
Third, and perhaps most serious of all young adult do not have the help in meeting and
solving their problems that they had when they were younger.

• Yearly adulthood is a period of emotional tension

When people are trying to get the lay of a new land in which they find
themselves, they are likely to be emotionally upset. This, unquestionably, was in
part at the basis of the student riot of the 1960’s. As near adults or young adults
they were still college students on the verge of entering the adult world of work.
As they looked out from their ivy-covered towers, they did not like what they
saw and wanted to change it.
When emotional tension persists into the thirties it is generally expressed
in worries. What young adults worry about will depend on what adjustment
problems they are facing at the time and how much success or failure they are
experiencing in meeting these problems.

• Early adulthood is a period of social isolation

With the end of formal education and the entrance into the adult life
pattern of work and marriage, association with the peer groups of adolescence
wane and with them, opportunities for social contacts outside the home. As a
result for the first time since babyhood even the most popular individual is likely
to experience social isolation or what Erikson has referred to as an “isolation
crisis”.
Isolation is intensified by a competitive spirit and a strong desire to rise on the
vocational ladder. To achieve success, they must compete With others thus
replacing the friendliness of adolescence with the competitiveness of successful
adult and they must also devote most of their energies to their work which
leaves them little time for the socialization that leads to close relationships. As a
result they become self-centered which contribute to loneliness.

• Early adulthood is a time of commitments

As a young adults change their role from that of student and dependent,
characteristics of adolescence, that of independent adult, they establish new
patterns of living, assume new responsibilities, and make new commitments.
While these new patterns of living, new responsibilities, new commitments may
change later, they form the foundations on which later patterns of living ,
responsibilities, and commitments will be established.
• Early adulthood is often a period of Dependency
In spite of achieving the status of legal adulthood at age eighteen, with the
independence this status carries, many young adults are partially or totally
dependent on others for varying length of time. This dependency may be on
parent, on the educational institution they attend on part or total scholarship, or
on the federal government for loans to finance their education.
Some young adults resent this dependency, through they realize it is
essential if they are to get the training needed for their chosen careers. Many,
however, take the financial support of their parents educational institutions, or
of the government granted, but feel no obligation to be dominated in way by
those who have financed their training to their future careers. They expect and
demand the same autonomy that their self-supporting age-mates have.
• Early adulthood is a time of value change
Many of the values developed during childhood and adolescence change as
experience and social contact with people of different ages broaden and as
values are considered from a more matured stand point. Adult who used to
consider school a necessary evil may now recognize the value of education as a
stepping-stone to social and vocational success and to personal fulfillment. As a
result of such changed values many adults who dropped out of school or college
decide to finish their education some find studying so stimulating that they
continue to take courses even after receiving high school or college diplomas.
There are many reasons for value changes in early adulthood, three of which are
very common. First if young adults want to be accepted by members of the adult
groups, they must accept the values of the adult group just as, during the
childhood and adolescence, they had to accept the values of their peer group to
win acceptance. Many young adults discover that the “sloppy Joe” appearance of
their school and college days and rebellious attacks on the establishment must
give way to adult-approved appearance and behavior if they want to be
accepted in adult economic and social group.
Second young adults soon discover that most social groups hold conventional
values about beliefs and behavior, just as they do about appearance.
Third young adults who become parents not only tend to change their values
earlier and more radically than those who unmarried or childless, but they also
shift to more conservative and traditional values.

• Early adulthood is the time of adjustment to new lifestyles

While lifestyles in American culture have been in a state of flux since turn
of the present century, at no period in the life span is this more true than in early
adulthood. And in no area of early adult life are new lifestyles more prevalent
than in the areas of marriage and parenthood. Instead of the traditional
 courtship of the past, many young adults regard premarital sex as an accepted
part of the courtship pattern. Similarly use the contraceptives and resort to
abortion when contraception fails are so widespread among young adults,
especially those who are in colleges or training schools, that they also are
regarded as part of the courtship pattern.

• Early adulthood is a creative age

Unlike older children and adolescents who want to confirm to the
appearance, behavior, and speech of their age-mates for fear of being regarded
as “inferior”, many young adults pride themselves on being different and do not
regard this as an indication of inferiority. Because they are no longer shackled by
the restrictions placed on their behavior by parents and teachers, young adults
are free to be themselves and to do what they want to do.

Developmental tasks of early adulthood

Social expectations for young adults are clearly defined and familiar to them
even before they reach legal maturity. Perhaps at no other age in life do they
know as clearly and distinctly what society expects of them.
The developmental tasks of early adulthood center around social expectations
and include getting started in an occupation, selecting a mate, learning to live
with a marriage partner, starting a family, rearing children, managing a home,
taking on civic responsibilities, and finding a congenial social group.
How well these tasks are mastered In the early years of adulthood will
influence the degree of success people will experience when they reach the peak
during middle age-whether the peak relates work, social recognition, or family
living- and will determine how happy they will be then as well as during the
closing years of their lives.
Success in mastering the developmental tasks of early adulthood is greatly
influenced by the kind of foundations laid earlier. However certain conditions in
adult life facilitate the mastery of these tasks.

Changes in interest in early adulthood

Typically adolescents carry over into the adult years many of their
interest s. Interest changes during the adult years, however. Some of these
carry-over interest are no longer appropriate to the adult role while other do not
provide the satisfaction they did earlier.
 Changes in interests occur most rapidly during adolescence, which is also a
period of rapid physical and psychological changes. As these physical and
psychological changes slow down, so do interest changes. As strong point out
many years ago, at “twenty- give years the adult is largely what he is doing to be
and even at twenty years he has acquired pretty much the interests he will have
throughout life.
Although the range of interests among young adults is extremely wide, certain
interest may be regarded as typical for young adults in the American culture
today. These are divided into three categories personal interests, recreational
interests, and social interests.

Personal interests
Personal interests are those related to the individual. Most young adults
Carry over from their adolescent years a strong interest in self which results in
Egocentrism. As work, home, and partial responsibilities increase, egocentric
Interests gradually give way to more socialized interest
Appearance – By the time they reach adulthood, most men and women have learned to
accept their physiques and to make the most of them. Although their physical
appearance may not be to their liking, they have learned that little can be done to alter
in but that much can be done to improve it.

Clothes and personal adornment- interest in clothing and personal adornment remains
strong in early adulthood. Because they know that appearance is that much important
to success every area of their lives, young adults frequently spend more time and money
on clothing and grooming than they can afford.

Recreational interest
The term recreation means an activity that renews strength and refreshes spirits
after toil or anxiety. Like play in childhood, it is activity engaged in for employment ,with
who no ulterior purpose to be achieved. It serves the same purpose as play in does in
the childhood years.
Talking
Talking especially with those whose interests are similar is a popular pastime of both
young men and young women. It is especially popular among married women whose
parental responsibilities keep them in the home for the major part of the day.
Dancing
Dancing which is one of the most popular for recreation in adolescence is engaged is
only infrequently during early adulthood. When home and business responsibilities are
assumed, young adults have fewer opportunities to dance than they did during their
high school and college days.
Sports and games
 Active participation in sports athletic events of all sorts decreases during the adult years,
not because adults are in poorer health or interested in sports, but because they have
less time and money to invest in these activities than they did when they are in school
or college. Participation reaches a low in adult approaches middle age.
Entertaining
Limited budget and parental responsibilities restrict the amount of entertaining by
young adults. Entertaining relatives far more common than entertaining friends and
neighbors. Even unmarried adults do relatively little entertaining and what little they do
is more often done out side the home.
Hobbies
Many adults do not pursue hobbies until their financial position is such that they have
the necessary leisure time.
Amusements
While amusement activities in which the individuals is a passive participant are enjoyed
by people of all ages, they grow in popularity insuring adulthood.

Social Interest
Early adulthood as Erikson has emphasized when he referred to it’s as the time of “isolation
crisis” is frequently a lonely time for both men and women. Young unmarried men often find
themselves at loose ends during their leisure time. As is true of unmarried women their friends
of earlier years and their business associates are occupied with family activities or with
courtship. As a result young men miss the kind of social life they enjoyed during adolescence
when there was usually a congenial group to talk to or do things with.
Change in social participation.

Participation in social activities so important to adolescents because of its prestige value, must,
of necessity be limited during early adulthood. The social life of young adults is for the most
part centered in the home, with members of the family replacing friends as companions.
Changes in friendships

The craving for popularity and for a large number of friends, which started to wane during the
latter part of adolescence, wanes still further doing early adulthood. This is especially true of
married men and women, who have each other for companionship and whose lives center
around home and family responsibilities. Even unmarried adults, however, are more selective in
their choice of friends than they were earlier. As a result young adults have fewer but more
intimate friends than they did when they were younger.
Changes in social groupings
In same degrees of friendship that existed in adolescence continue into adulthood . Young
adults usually have a small group of intimate friends or confidants. Frequently, these are old
friends unless young adults have changed so much that they no longer find their old friends
congenial.
Changes in value placed on popularity

Popularity becomes increasingly less important as adults approach middle age. A few congenial
friends means more than a large group with whom they have less In common and field less
congenial. Social acceptance or the lack of it affects it adults much as it does adolescents, but to
a lesser extent.

Changes in leadership status

Adults achieve leadership status in different ways. Some are elected to an office in a business or
community organization while others are appointed. Some are informal leaders in the
community but are influential in that others look up to them and try to follow their patterns of
behavior. Some who are elected or appointed to an office to an office in the community
organizations are not perceived as influential and thus may have less influence in community
life than the informal leaders.

Sex-role Adjustments in Early Adulthood

Sex-role Adjustments during early adulthood are extremely difficult. Long before adolescence is
over, boys and girls are well aware of the approved adults sex roles but this not necessarily lead
to acceptance. Many adolescence girls want to play the role of wife and mother when they
reach to adulthood, but they do not want to be wives and mother’s in the traditional sense ring
subordinate to their husbands devoting most of their time to their time to their homes and
children, and having few or no outside interests. In fact the traditional concepts are gradually
being modified or even replaced by new more egalitarian ones concepts that stress similar
behavior patterns for members of the two sexes. These egalitarian concepts have found
acceptance among all social groups, even those which formerly held firmly to traditional
concepts of the male and female roles.
Many young women recognize the low prestige associated with the traditional role of wife’s
and mother and consequently they have little motivation to learn this role.

Hazards in early adulthood

Personal and social hazards of early adulthood
The major personal and social hazards of early adulthood stem from a failure to master some or
most of the important developmental tasks for that age, making the individual seem immature
as compared with other young adults. Up to age thirty, it is quite common for both men and
women to be immature in certain areas of their behavior while at the same time showing
marked maturity in others. Mastering developmental tasks is difficult at any age and this
difficulty is increased when stumbling blocks impede the individuals progress. The most
common stumbling blocks to the mastery of the developmental tasks of early adulthood.

Failure to master the developmental tasks of early adulthood resulting in a failure to

come up to social expectations in different areas of behavior affects the individuals personal
and social adjustments for example, the young adult who clings to youthful interests and fails to
develop more mature ones is judged by others as immature, leading to feeling of unhappiness.
Similarly, much of the discontent experienced by young adults is due to the fact that they have
fewer material possessions than their friends and neighbors have- an attitude that is a carry-
over from adolescence.
Physical hazards

Poor health or physical defects that cannot be corrected or camouflaged are just as
hazardous to personal and social adjustments in adulthood as they are in childhood and
adolescence. Adults who are handicapped by poor health cannot achieve what they are capable
of in their vocational or social lives. As a result, they constantly suffer from frustrations. The
more they see those potentially less capable than they achieving successes above theirs the
more frustrated they become. When their frustrations lead to overstrain to compete with their
peers who are not physically handicapped, it is likely to lead to stress which in time, may and
often does bring on heart attacks.
Physical defects and poor health are often not as serious hazards to good personality and
social adjustments as physical unattractiveness. Adults with sex inappropriate body builds, or
with unattractive physical features that they have been unable to camouflage with beauty aids,
or the inability to afford clothes that would compensate to some extend for an unpleasing
appearance, face many problems which few can cope with successfully.

Religious Hazards
There are two hazards in the area of religion that cause emotional disturbances for many
young adults. The first relates to adjusting to a new religious faith accepted in place of the
family faith of childhood. Some young adults accept a new faith because it seems to have more
in common with their personal interests and beliefs than their family religion had. Others
accept a new faith when they marry to please their spouses families.
The second and more difficult problem related to religion in early adulthood occurs in mixed
marriage when in-laws pressure the couple to adopt one or the other faith. Further more when
faced with this problem young adults have to contend with the pressures from their own
parents to whom adherence to the family faith many also be important. Marital adjustment
and are often at the basis of “in-law” problems one of the most difficult problems in the area of
marital adjustments.
Social Hazards
Many young adults find hazards in their adjustments to the social groups with which they are
now identified. Three of these hazards are especially common and difficult to overcome
successfully. First young adults find difficult to become associated with a congenial social group
one of the important developmental task of early adulthood.
The second hazard to good adjustments and satisfaction with social life is dissatisfaction with
the role the social group expects the individual to play. The third hazard to social adjustments
is social mobility. Socially mobile people face far more dilemmas than the relatively immobile
because they must adjust to new social groups with new values an I standards of behavior.
Individuals who are forced to move downward in the social hierarchy find that they have little
in common with the members of the social class with which they are now identified. As a result
they tend to isolate themselves. Also their friends and neighbors are likely to drop them
because they no longer live in the same neighborhood or cannot afford the social activities they
formerly engaged in.
Sex-role hazards
Because of the conflict concerning approved sex roles today adherence to either traditional or
egalitarian concepts presents hazards. Adherence to traditional concepts of sex roles has a
marked influence on a young adults personal adjustments. Women as a result of being looked
down upon and treated as inferior to men often develop a typical “minority-group complex” an
emotionally toned belief in their inferiority not unlike that experienced by members of
minority, religious, or ethnic groups. Married women often feel “ trapped” in a situation they
had not anticipated and from which they see little hope of escape. When married women work
outside the home they not only experience a work overload but they usually find that their
husbands careers take precedence over theirs if any occupational demands in the husbands
careers that might interfere with the wife’s career such as moving to other community. Even
unmarried women who do not have to divide their time and energies between family and
career and who do not suffer from the feeling of being trapped, often find barriers to
advancement in their chosen fields of work. It is obvious that the most important hazard to
good personal and social adjustments comes from the effects of sex role stereotypes that
influence the attitudes and behavior of both men and women.
Bibliography

Elizabeth B Hurlock – Developmental psychology