Understanding Perceptions of Emerging Adulthood in College and Non-College Youth.

Date
2017-05
Authors
Bellwood, Cara E.
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Psychology
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
A new life stage, called emerging adulthood, has been proposed to exist between the stages of adolescence and young adulthood (Arnett, 2000). The extent to which attending college influences the experience of emerging adulthood was directly tested in the following studies. In Study 1 a sample of 153 college students and 153 non-college youths (NCYs) were compared on existing measures of emerging adulthood. Results revealed age and socioeconomic status (SES) mediated the relationship between educational group and scores on the Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood. Results also showed age mediated the relationship between educational group (college students vs. NCYs) and perceived adult status. Furthermore, analyses revealed college students and NCYs rated similar markers of adulthood as most important for becoming an adult. In Study 2 an implicit measure was developed to assess associations between the categories of self and adult. The implicit associations were then compared between educational groups. NCYs showed stronger implicit associations of the self with adult compared to college students. The implicit measure of association of the self with adult did not replicate results from the explicit measures where participants indicated how far they believed they had progressed into adulthood. Results from these studies provide evidence that many demographic variables, including attending college, impact the experience of emerging adulthood, which raised concerns about the generalizability of the theory.
Description
Keywords
emerging adulthood, adult status, forgotten half, Implicit Association Test, college students, non-college youths
Citation
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Table of Contents
Rights
All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.