Emerging Adulthood in a European Context

Emerging adulthood has been identified as an important developmental stage, characterised by identity exploration, instability and open possibilities, in which young people are no longer adolescents but have not yet attained full adult status. This ground-breaking edited collection is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of emerging adulthood in a European context, which includes a comparison of findings in 9 different European countries and the USA. Each chapter, written by a leading European researcher, describes the socio-demographic characteristics of emerging adults, reviews the state of the field, synthesises new findings, and provides suggestions for how to move forward in research, interventions, and policy. The book examines how the traditional domain markers of adulthood, such as finishing education and caring for children, have changed. It also highlights how different factors such as gender, working status, living arrangements, romantic status and parental educational background affect the importance assigned to each set of adulthood criteria. The theory of emerging adulthood is further developed by considering how Arnett’s emerging adulthood, Erikson’s early adulthood, and Robinson’s theory of early adult crisis fit together, and data is provided to support the new framework given. The book will be of great interest to researchers interested in these developmental transitions, and to advanced students of Emerging Adulthood on developmental psychology and lifespan courses, and related disciplines.

Table of Contents:
PART I: INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS 1. The experience of Being an Emerging Adult in Europe, R. Žukauskienė 2. Emerging Adulthood, Early Adulthood and Quarter-Life Crisis: Updating Erikson for the 21st Century, O. Robinson PART II: EXPERIENCING THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD 3. What Does it Mean to be an Adult? Importance Assigned to Criteria for Adulthood in Italian Emerging Adults, Crocetti, E. & Tagliabue, S. 4. What Does It Mean to Be an Adult? Perceptions of adulthood among Lithuanian Emerging Adults, Vosylis, R. Kaniušonytė, G., Raižienė, S. 5. Experiencing the Transition to Adulthood in Germany: Including Emerging Adults of the "Forgotten Half", Seiffge-Krenke, I. 6. The Transition to Adulthood in Turkey: Views from College Students and Working Individuals, Doğan, A.,Vural Yüzbaşı, D. & Demir, M. PART III: TRAJECTORIES AND DIVERSE PATTERNS IN THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD 7. Becoming an Adult in Portugal: Negotiating Pathways between Opportunities and Constraints, Saraiva, L.M. & Matos, P. M. 8. Emerging Adulthood in Finland, Katariina Salmela-Aro, K., Sortheix, F., Ranta, M. 9. Swedish Emerging Adults’ Sense of Identity and Perceptions of Adulthood, Wängqvist, M. & Frisén, A. 10. Emerging Adults in the Czech Republic: Views Into and Across Different Domains of Life, Macek, P., Ježek,S., Lacinová, L., Bouša, O., Kvitkovičová, L., Neužilová Michalčáková, R., & Širůček, J. PART IV: CLOSING SUMMARY 11. Emerging Adults in Europe: Common Themes, Diverse Paths, and Future Directions, J.J. Arnett