ADULTHOODwith problems in adolescence can build confi-
dence and resources that promote effective cop-
ing with events later in life, fostering personality
continuity (Elder 1974; Elder et al. 1984). Thus,
early achievements and difficulties can give rise to
‘‘spiralling’’ success and failure. For members of
the Oakland cohort, early economic deprivation
provided opportunity to help the family in a time
of crisis; the consequent increase in self-efficacy,
motivation, and capacity to mobilize effort fos-
tered adult work and family security. Elder and
Caspi (1990) similarly find that adolescents with
more resilient personalities reacted more positive-
ly as young adults to combat in World War II. Such
reciprocities are also evident among women in
the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth; early
self-esteem predicted educational attainment and
more substantively complex employment, which,
in turn, further enhanced their sense of worth
(Menahgan 1997).
In contrast, negative early events may set in
motion processes that accentuate problems. Early
failures can produce psychological reactions and
cognitive attributes that perpetuate poor outcomes.
There is evidence from several studies that early
unemployment fosters distress, self-blame, and
negative orientations toward work in general, en-
gendering continued failure in the labor market
(Mortimer 1994). Traumatic war experiences in
early adulthood can threaten marriage and there-
by reinforce a cycle of irritability (Elder and Caspi
1990, p. 235).
Whereas sociologists emphasize the social de-
termination of early adult outcomes, and social
psychologists have noted enduring personality traits
that influence the process of transition to adult-
hood, changes in both socioeconomic and person-
al trajectories do occur, frequently at times of life-
course transition. Change can occur as a result of
‘‘fortuitous events’’ that intervene in the develop-
mental process rather than reinforcing patterns of
preadult behavior (Elder and Caspi 1988, p. 102).
For example, marriage to a nondeviant spouse, the
quality of a first marriage, or of economic self-
sufficiency from a full-time job may lead to change
in direction of a previously ‘‘disorderly’’ or other-
wise problematic early life course (Rutter and
Quinton 1984; Sampson and Laub 1993; Gore et
al. 1997). ‘‘Identity transformations’’ (Wells and
Stryker 1988) can also result when ‘‘turning points’’
(Strauss 1959) in personal history intersect with a
rapidly changing historical context to alter a previ-
ously held worldview (Aronson forthcoming).FACTORS INFLUENCING SUCCESSFUL
ACQUISITION AND ADAPTATION TO
ADULT ROLESSocial scientists are giving increasing attention to
processes of individual agency, including goal set-
ting, choice among alternative lines of action, and
the mobilization of effort, which influence trajec-
tories of attainment throughout the life course.
Early orientations toward, and expectancies about,
competent action are critical for later adult success
(Mainquist and Eichorn 1989). Jordaan and Super
(1974) report that adolescents’ planfulness, re-
sponsibility, and future orientation predicted their
level of occupational attainment at the age of
twenty-five. The more explorative adolescents, who
were actively engaging of the environment, had
more positive early adult outcomes. ‘‘Planful com-
petence,’’ denoting ambition, productivity, and
dependability in adolescence, has also been linked
to men’s adult occupational status and marital
stability (Clausen 1991, 1993). These attributes
imply planfulness, delayed gratification, an intel-
lectual orientation, and a sense of control over
goal attainment. Planfully competent adolescents
actively explore future options and opportunities,
and select those that match their developing pro-
clivities and potentialities. This process gives rise
to a better fit between the person and the environ-
ment, fostering satisfaction and stability in adult
social roles (see Shanahan and Elder 1999).However, the institutional structure, and the
individual’s place within hierarchies establishing
unequal resources and opportunities, may either
facilitate or limit the effective exercise of agency.
Shanahan (forthcoming) speaks of ‘‘limited strate-
gic action,’’ resulting from ‘‘the dynamic tension
between selection and assignment.’’ Because the
relation between courses of study and higher edu-
cational outcomes is often obscure, students may
have limited ability to alter negative educational
trajectories (Dornbusch 1994). The consequences
of planfulness may also be historically variable,
depending on the degree of opportunity available