Does bullying others at school lead to adult aggression? The roles of drinking and university participation during the transition to adulthood

This study uses a three‐wave longitudinal study of young Australians to identify developmental processes underlying the relationship between school bullying and physical aggression in early adulthood. The central question is whether and how drinking and participation in work or university study disrupt or entrench aggressive pathways from school bullying to adult aggression. Self‐report data were collected from 88 females and 63 males (N = 151) during childhood (age 10), adolescence (age 14), and early adulthood (age 20). Participants who bullied other students during childhood and adolescence, or during adolescence only, reported more physical aggression during early adulthood than those who never bullied. However, those who had bullied during adolescence only reported significantly higher adult aggression if they were also drinking at above‐average frequencies. Conversely, participation in university, compared to being in the workforce, was associated with significantly less adult aggression among the at‐risk groups. Findings suggest that particular contexts during early adulthood can offer youth on aggressive trajectories (as evidenced by bullying at school) unique opportunities to turn their behaviour around. Other contexts, however, may exacerbate aggressive behaviour patterns.     

How Do Australian University Students Understand Adulthood?

The understanding of modern young people's conceptions of adulthood has largely been informed and constructed through the lens of the theory of emerging adulthood. As a consequence, a relatively unquestioned belief is that there has been a trend towards the gradual development of internal, subjective characteristics and away from the attainment of traditional adult roles in emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we surveyed Australian university students about their understanding of what it means to be an adult. Exploratory factor analysis of the Criteria for Adulthood Scale emphasised family capacities, demographic markers, norm compliance, and “novelty of adulthood,” while qualitative themes emphasised both personal and environmental characteristics. We suggest that rather than being independent, individual development and broad social‐environmental trends are likely to be interrelated, and to develop in response to each other over time.     

“Let the heavens be glad,and the earth rejoice”: religion and life satisfaction among emerging adults in the United States

Although previous research suggests that religion contributes to greater life satisfaction, there is still disagreement about what aspects of religion predict greater life satisfaction. Despite a growing body of theory and research on emerging adulthood as a life stage that is distinct from adolescence and young adulthood, there has also been limited research on the relationship between religion and life satisfaction among emerging adults. Based on the third wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion, our results suggest that two measures of private religiosity, private devotion and religious efficacy, are significantly related to greater life satisfaction among emerging adults. In contrast, other dimensions of private and public religiosity, such as participation in organised religion, religious salience, otherworldly beliefs, and number of religious friends, are not related to greater life satisfaction. Finally, among emerging adults, being spiritual but not religious is not significantly related to life satisfaction.     

A Tachistoscopic Device for Work with Subhuman Primates

The present study examined predictors of siblings’ relations in 202 young adults (aged 21–32 years), who completed the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Results indicate that warmth between siblings is explained by gender (with women feeling closer), perceived paternal favoritism, low levels of narcissism, and an interaction suggesting that paternal favoritism moderates the link between narcissism and sibling warmth. Conflict between siblings was explained by gender (sisters), age, parental favoritism, high levels of narcissism, extreme levels of similarity or dissimilarity between siblings, and interactions indicating that older age is a predictor of conflict between siblings among women but not among men. The impact of parental favoritism and narcissism on sibling relationships in young adulthood was discussed.     

Religious Resources or Differential Returns? Early Religious Socialization and Declining Attendance in Emerging Adulthood

The transition from adolescence into emerging adulthood is usually accompanied by a decline in religious participation. This article examines why such decline occurs at different rates across major Christian traditions and whether this variation can be explained by early socialization factors. Using data from waves 1 and 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 1,879), I examine the effects of parental religiosity, church support, religious education, and youth group involvement on the decline in attendance five years later. Results show that these socialization processes adequately explain why attendance declines at different rates across religious traditions. However, these socialization factors do not have the same effect across traditions and often yield differential returns for attendance outcomes. These findings also suggest that comparisons across religious traditions can resolve the “channeling hypothesis” debate about whether parental influence on an offspring's future religiosity is primarily direct or indirect.     

Work and Family Commitment and Decision-Making Status Among Emerging Adults

This study was designed to investigate work–family attitudes among emerging adults. Participants were 46 male and 49 female college juniors and seniors. Men and women had similar levels of work and family commitment. For women there was a negative correlation between work and family commitment. Exploratory analyses indicated different relationships between work decision-making status and commitment and family decision-making status and commitment. In addition, whereas men were more likely than women not yet to have thought about family roles, women were more likely than men to have decided about family roles. Implications of these findings for our understanding of the processes and meanings of emerging adult men's and women's decisions about entry into and commitment toward work and family roles are discussed. Although earlier literature employs the term “young adults” to refer to individuals in the emerging adult stage of development, for the sake of consistency we use the term “emerging adults” throughout this article.