Why learn about development changes during emerging adulthood?
Emerging adulthood has been proposed as a new life stage between adolescence and young adulthood, lasting roughly from ages 18 to 25. Five features make emerging adulthood distinctive: identity explorations, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood, and a sense of broad possibilities for the future. Emerging adulthood is found mainly in industrialized countries, where most young people obtain tertiary education and median ages of entering marriage and parenthood are around 30. There are variations in emerging adulthood within industrialized countries. It lasts longest in Europe, and in Asian industrialized countries, the self-focused freedom of emerging adulthood is balanced by obligations to parents and by conservative views of sexuality. In non-industrialized countries, although today emerging adulthood exists only among the middle-class elite, it can be expected to grow in the 21st century as these countries become more affluent.
Many Indigenous Nations are traditionally matrilineal, meaning that people’s identities, including their clans and roles, are passed down through their mothers (FNHA, 2024). While the effects of colonization have been particularly devastating on Indigenous women, these strong matrilineal ties continue to connect with Indigenous women today. Almost 75% of Indigenous women in Canada report that they are regularly involved in cultural events including “leading, preserving, and revitalizing cultural activities and ceremonies, presiding over feasts, and leading ceremonies to mark key life transitions” (FNHA, 2024). Additionally, approximately 80% of Indigenous women identified that traditional First Nations spirituality was important to them (FNHA, 2024).
One of the most significant events within emerging and early adulthood is childrearing. Within many North American Indigenous families, child raising practices continue to differ from non-Indigenous parenting styles and techniques (Muir & Bohr, 2014). Indigenous parents identified the culturally specific areas of child autonomy, respect for elders, the importance of community and spirituality as important foundations in childrearing (Muir & Bohr, 2014).
Indigenous cultures place great value on the importance of extended family and community members in the care and socialization of their children, a perspective that stands in contrast to mainstream Canadian society’s focus on the nuclear family (Muir & Bohr, 2014). Elders, in particular, are valued for the role they play in preserving Indigenous history and culture.
Deep Dive
Role of Aunties in Indigenous Communities
My Indigenous Aunties Taught Me to Champion Our Culture Through Style (Allaire, 2022).
After reading the article, consider the question:
What unique roles do Aunties fulfill, and how do they contribute to cultural continuity, mentorship, and community resilience? Consider the importance of their roles in guiding youth, preserving traditions, and offering support within the broader community.”
What you’ll learn to do: explain developmental tasks during emerging adulthood
Think for a moment about the lives of your grandparents and great-grandparents when they were in their twenties. How do their lives at that age compare to your life? If they were like most other people of their time, their lives were quite different than yours. What happened to change the twenties so much between their time and our own? And how should we understand the 18–25 age period today?
Learning Objectives
- Explain where, when, and why a new life stage of emerging adulthood appeared over the past half-century.
- Identify the five features that distinguish emerging adulthood from other life stages.
- Describe the variations in emerging adulthood in countries around the world.
