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Emerging Adults
Michael was down and anxious. He felt like he was doing everything right, yet here
he was at 24 with a college degree, having difficulty finding a “real” job, and living
in his parents’ home. He had moved five times in the last 6 years—and was right
back where he started. His girlfriend of 5 years was also back at her parents’ home,
making it hard to figure out how to have intimate time together as neither set of
parents allowed them to sleep together even though they shared an apartment during
their junior and senior years of college. At times Michael was energized and busy
sending his résumé to companies likely to hire people with his expertise, and at other
times he was just angry. His parents seemed to pick those times to ask how the job
search was going or why he had not looked for his own place to live, and he tended to
lash out in reply. When he was at college, he almost missed them and looked forward
to seeing them, but he now felt under their thumbs again. He rebelled by refusing
to answer questions or tell them what he was doing, and then recognized this was
an immature reaction to the difficult situation of living with them after having been
more independent.
Many of his friends had weathered similar circumstances, finding that once
in a job that paid a living wage with benefits, they could move out and “really start
their lives.” Michael felt like he was marking time until a real job gave him the sign
to propose to his girlfriend and start thinking about an adult life. For now though,
friends at the bar and videogames “called” him at least as much as buckling down
to a job hunt.
Objectives
After reading this chapter the reader will be able to:
■ Describe the changing societal circumstances that led to the creation of
“emerging adulthood” as a distinct developmental life stage, and identify
its main task.
■ Identify how emerging adults are affected differently than younger and
older people by off-time and other losses.
■ Discuss how technology generally and social media more specifically are
involved with loss among emerging adults.
