Intimacy, identity and status: Measuring dating goals in late adolescence and emerging adulthood

Individuals?? goals can direct their own social behavior and development. We extended and validated a social dating goals measure (SDGS-R) to assess identity, intimacy and status goals, and compared goals by age, gender, sexual orientation and romantic status. Participants were 121 adolescents and 249 emerging adults (age M?=?20.6). The expected 3-factor structure of the SDGS-R was found and confirmed (18 items). Identity, intimacy and status goals had small correlations with each other and analyses validated the meaning and uniqueness of each goal. Participants reported more identity and intimacy goals than status goals. Intimacy goals were more prominent among older compared to teenage participants and those with a partner rather than without one. Females reported more identity dating goals than males. There was no difference in the goals of same-sex and other-sex attracted youth. The availability of the SDGS-R will allow further study of romantic development and relationship functioning.     

Perceived instability in emerging adulthood: The protective role of identity capital

Developmental instability characterizes the late teens and twenties in today's late-modern society. The present study (a) focused on the link between instability and both general (i.e., self-esteem and depressive symptoms) and work-related outcomes (i.e., work engagement and burnout) and (b) investigated the possible moderating role of identity capital acquisition (as assessed through sense of adulthood and community integration) in a sample of 202 emerging adult employees. Results indicated that instability was negatively related to self-esteem, positively to depressive symptoms, and unrelated to most components of work engagement and burnout. Several of these main effects, however, were moderated by sense of adulthood. Instability substantially impacted on several components of job burnout and work engagement when sense of adulthood was low. When sense of adulthood was high, these detrimental effects were no longer present. Implications and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

Sex-role development in late adolescence and adulthood

The present study investigated associations between age and sex roles in a cross-sectional analysis of people varying in age from late adolescence to middle adulthood. People in the androgynous sex role were older than sex-typed men and women. Cross-sex characteristics tended to be greater among older people, while same-sex characteristics were uncorrelated with age. Sex-role development appears to continue into adulthood, a view more in keeping with a transcendent model than a traditional model of sex-role development.This study was assisted by computer funds from the College of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University. The authors thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Optimal recall in early and late adulthood

Mäntylä & Nilsson (1983) recently presented a striking empirical phenomenon demonstrating a practically perfect recall of verbal materials encountered at one single trial and without specific instructions to learn the items. The purpose of the study to be presented in this article was to investigate whether older adults are capable of performing at the same high level of recall as younger adults did in the Mäntylä & Nilsson study. Type of instructions and number of retrieval cues were included in the experimental design, in addition to the age factor. Although the results indicated a superior memory performance of younger adults as compared to older adults, the latter group of subjects demonstrated an extremely high level of recall as well. Both age groups showed quite similar recall patterns in the sense that no interaction effects between the age factor and the other independent variables were obtained. The data were discussed relative to qualitatively and quantitatively based explanations of age differences in memory.     

Environmental determinants of memory improvement in late adulthood

Two studies were conducted with nursing home residents to determine whether memory could be improved. This was accomplished by increasing the cognitive demand of the environment and then varying the extent to which residents were motivated to attend to and remember these environmental factors. In Study 1, motivation to practice recommended cognitive activities was manipulated by varying the degree of reciprocal self-disclosure offered by interviewers in a series of dyadic interactions. In Study 2, motivation to practice recommended cognitive activities was manipulated by varying whether positive outcomes were contingent on attending to and remembering these activities, which increased in demand over time. Whether as a function of interpersonal (Study 1) or practical (Study 2) incentives, engaging in cognitive activity resulted in improvement on standard short-term memory tests, including probe recall and pattern recall, as well as in improvement on nurses' ratings of alertness, mental activity, and social adjustment for experimental groups relative to controls.     

The implications of adult identity for educational and work attainment in young adulthood

This study investigates the relation of young adult identities (ages 18-22 years), reflecting subjective age and psychosocial maturity, to educational and career attainment in young adulthood (ages 25-29 years). Add Health data show that having an older subjective age alone does not curtail attainment; the critical issue is the level of psychosocial maturity that accompanies subjective age. Those with older subjective ages and low psychosocial maturation have the lowest attainment at ages 25-29 years, while those with older subjective ages and high psychosocial maturation show considerable progress toward work-related attainment. For those with younger subjective ages, a lower level of psychosocial maturity is not as detrimental to attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Brief report: Relativism and identity crisis in young adulthood

This study investigated the relationship between epistemological world views and identity formation. Forty college students, aged 17 to 23 years, were presented with a paradigm belief scale (Social Paradigm Belief Inventory; SPBI), an identity status questionnaire, and an indepth interview about a conflict they had recently experienced. It was hypothesized that a relativistic world view would be related to a moratorium identity status because relativistic thought processes involve a questioning of the objectivity of knowledge and authority structures and hence an awareness of the variety of alternative and potentially conflicting roles and choices. Results indicated that relativism was the most common world view used when responding to questions about a personal conflict and that relativistic scores on the SPBI were predictive of the moratorium status. Relativistic scores on the SPBI were also negatively related to identity achievement, as were mechanistic scores. Females experienced moratorium to a greater extent than males but were not more relativistic. Results are discussed in terms of linkages among cognitive development, psychosocial development, gender, and the type of measures used to assess world view status.     

Determinants of ethnic identity development in adulthood: A longitudinal study

Ethnic identity is defined in terms of the interaction between exploration of and commitment to a given cultural background. The present study investigated the effect of individual background, role transitions, and the social environment on the development of ethnic identity in a sample of German adults aged 21–73 years (N = 2,940). Additionally, identity transitions and the moderating effect of disequilibrating life events on identity over time were examined (N = 827). Overall, results are consistent with findings for other identity domains: Respondents could be assigned to one of four identity stages, ranging from unexamined to achieved identity. Particularly, the individual background and the extent of community involvement affected ethnic identity formation in adulthood. Longitudinal analyses revealed that only one-third of respondents had remained in the same identity stage; most individuals had transitioned forward or backward. Changes in ethnic identity were not moderated by disequilibrating life events.     

Consumer information processing strategies in middle and late adulthood

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which performance of a complex cognitive task of a type resembling that encountered in everyday life is maintained through adulthood. A total of 80 subjects participated; 20 in their thirties, 20 in their fifties, 20 in their sixties, and 20 in their seventies. Subjects were asked to make preference judgments with respect to 32 pocket-size notebooks of a sort they might encounter as consumers in a stationery or variety store. Independently, they were also asked to express their preferences with respect to each of the four dimensions on which the notebooks varied. With only minor differences across age groups, most subjects demonstrated the ability to integrate their individual dimension preferences into a complex preference judgment of an object embodying those dimensions, in a logically consistent manner.     

Linking online self-presentation to identity coherence,identity confusion,and social anxiety in emerging adulthood

The present study examined the role of social media in psychosocial development and adjustment in emerging adulthood. Survey data from a diverse college sample of 220 emerging adults (M age ≈ 23, 175 women) were collected and analysed using a series of multiple regressions. Results revealed that emerging adults high in general identity coherence (indicative of high self-concept clarity) reported presenting the real self and the ideal self on Facebook, suggesting that they were more truthful and positively realistic in their online self-presentation. Emerging adults high in general identity confusion (indicative of less self-concept clarity) reported presenting the ideal self and the false self on Facebook, suggesting that they were less truthful, less realistic, and more socially desirable in their online self-presentation. Moreover, emerging adults who experienced both identity coherence and identity confusion reported presenting the false self on Facebook motivated by self-exploration. Emerging adults experiencing high social anxiety reported presenting the false self on Facebook; they engaged in an extensive self-exploratory and socially desirable online self-presentation. Further, emerging adults experiencing both high identity confusion and high social anxiety reported presenting themselves on Facebook in a less truthful manner. Findings have important implications for identity integration during the emerging adulthood transition in the digital age.     

Family timing in late adolescence and early adulthood: The case of southern males

Social science research and theory about familial orientations and reproductive ideals have largely neglected males' attitudes. Drawing on demographic and status attainment perspectives, this study applies a model of processes underlying marriage and family timing to longitudinal data on 288 young adult males from the Southern Youth Study. Several posited influences of family of origin factors, significant others, and adolescent status and familial aspirations on marital timing and early family growth are assessed.Development of this report was sponsored in part by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and contributes both to TAES Project H-2811 and to USDA (CSRS) Regional Research Project S-81, and in part by the Maxwell Policy Center on Aging and the All-University Gerontology Center, Syracuse University through Title IV-C Grant #90-A-1054101 from the Administration on Aging, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Information for analysis was obtained by pooling data collected under grants provided by the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas. Appreciation is expressed to John Womack, Paul D. Mader, and G. David Curry for their advice at various stages of this research.     

Formal reasoning in late adulthood: The role of semantic content and metacognitive strategy

Two experiments explored the availability of deductive or formal reasoning in late adulthood. In Experiment 1, fifty young (M=19.0 years) and 50 elderly adults (M=81.0 years) were assessed using adaptations of Wason's selection task and rated task content for familiarity, affect, and agreement. In Experiment 2, 100 young (M=21.0 years) and 100 elderly adults (M=81.0 years) were similarly assessed, with half of the subjects in each age group receiving a metacognitive strategy to facilitate reasoning. Results from Experiment 1 indicated equivalent reasoning among the groups on problems employed in earlier developmental research. In contrast, problems constructed to entail affect resulted in poorer performance by older adults. In Experiment 2, both young and older adults who used the metacognitive strategy reasoned equally acrossall problems. In both experiments, familiarity and agreement did not play a role in deductive reasoning performance, but affect seemed to be an interfering factor. Results are discussed in terms of competence-procedure and stability-decrement models of adult cognitive development.     

Female identity development and self-reflection in late adolescence

The primary aim of this study was to assess whether the capacity for self-reflection in late adolescent females is related to their level of identity development. It was hypothesized that females characterized by advanced identity status (either identity achievement or moratorium) would exhibit a greater capacity for self-reflection than those characterized by less advanced identity status (foreclosure or diffusion). Of 85 subjects who met the criteria for this study (female college students in the New York City area), 32 fit purely into one of four identity statuses; among this latter group, a t test revealed a significantly higher degree of self-reflection for the advanced identity status subjects. Implications for the psychology of identity are discussed.     

Parental psychological control and dimensions of identity formation in emerging adulthood.

Longitudinal data were used to evaluate whether parental psychological control would have a negative impact on identity formation. Perceived psychological control and 4 identity dimensions (i.e., commitment making, exploration in breadth, identification with commitment, and exploration in depth) were assessed 5 times in a college sample. Associations between psychological control and identity (i.e., negative associations with both commitment dimensions and a positive association with exploration in breadth) were stable across time. Further, the developmental pathways of these constructs appeared to be correlated: Increases in psychological control were associated with simultaneous decreases in both commitment dimensions. Finally, reciprocal effects were found: Psychological control inhibited progress in both commitment dimensions, whereas exploration in breadth led to increased psychological control. The authors have provided suggestions for helping emerging adults to approach the task of identity formation.     

A narrative approach to ethnic identity in emerging adulthood: bringing life to the identity status model

This study used a narrative approach to understand how emerging adults experience ethnicity in their everyday lives and to link ethnic identity processes with the content of how ethnic identity is experienced. Participants were 191 ethnically diverse emerging adults who completed the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and provided a written narrative about a time at which they became aware of their ethnicity. Participants' narratives differed significantly by ethnic group and by ethnic identity status membership, as indexed by the MEIM. The results underscore the value of adopting a narrative approach to understanding the content of ethnic identity and the links between content and ethnic identity development processes.