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

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.