Conceptual Foundations of Emerging Adulthood

This chapter begins with the historical context of the rise of emerging adulthood as a new life stage. It describes ways that the theory of emerging adulthood (EA) can be fruitfully applied to college students’ development. The theory of EA was proposed in order to recognize that demographic changes had taken place in the age period 18-29 that were so profound that they had changed utterly the normative experience of the age period. Thus, emerging adulthood includes the “college years, " i.e., the years when people are most likely to be students at a residential college or university. The importance of identity explorations as part of the college experience can be seen in students’ accounts of what they learned in college that was most important. As the self-authorship concept indicates, self-focus in emerging adulthood is developmentally appropriate in the modern American context. In between the restrictions of adolescence and the responsibilities of adulthood lie the identity explorations, instability, and self-focus of emerging adulthood.