Becoming an Adult - NO GPT CHAT OR ANY AI

Learning Resources

Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week’s assignments.

Becoming an Adult

Readings

Course Introduction (located in the left navigation bar)
Course Text: Belsky, J. (2013). Experiencing the lifespan (3rd ed.). New York: Worth Publishing.
- Chapter 10, “Constructing an Adult Life” (pp. 299 – 329)

Article: Badger, S., Nelson, L., & Barry, C. M. (2006). Perceptions of the transition to adulthood among Chinese and American emerging adults. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30(1), 84 – 93. Retrieved August 11, 2008, from http://jbd.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cgi/reprint/30/1/84
Article: Phinney, J. (2000). Identity formation across cultures: The interaction of personal, societal, and historical change. Human Development, 43(1), 27 – 31. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 11375713
Article: Phinney, J., &Ong, A. D. (2007). Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions. Human Development, 54(3), 271 – 281. Use the PsycARTICLES database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: cou-54-3-271. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=mdhnuLN-1mEC&lpg=PA61&ots=ynwkVaKsek&lr&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false

Discussion – Week 1

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Becoming an Adult

At what age does a person become an adult? Here are some possible answers:

16: age at which you may be eligible to obtain a driver’s license
18: age at which you can vote
21: age at which you can legally drink alcohol
22: approximate age at which you graduate from college
Whatever age at which you become financially independent

In non-industrialized countries and in many different cultures, adolescents become adults through a ritual in which the young person performs some feat or exhibits a specific behavior. In industrialized cultures, this process is not as clear.

Think back to the period of your life when you were becoming an adult. At what age did you feel that you truly were an adult? What educational, work, or social experiences promoted the sense of full adulthood?

The transition to adulthood in the United States today is difficult and can last for many years. Young adults have many choices in lifestyle, career, and education. The process can be confusing. Young adults often find themselves on a wrong path. For example, college students in the United States change majors an average of three times before graduation. American adults are expected to change careers at least three times in early adulthood.

Cultural norms play a role in developing a path for the transitional process for young adults. For example, in the United States, if a person has decided to attend college, the expectation is that he or she will begin college shortly after high school graduation. But in many European countries, adolescents are encouraged to travel or work before entering college. Normative pressures also change with generations. What is acceptable today might have been unacceptable 30 years ago.

Socioeconomic circumstances play an important role in any cultural and historical context. In the 1930s in the United States, many adolescents could not go to high school because they were needed to farm or work in order to support their families of origin. The need for dependence on family is related to opportunities for economic independence, as well as the time and cost of education. Likewise, the need for independence is strong in many families and cultures. Community norms and community economic circumstances also contribute to dependence and independence.

This week, you have examined the economic and career opportunities of several cultures. Now you are going to contrast educational and career opportunities for young adults as they relate to two cultural and historical contexts.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Experiencing the Lifespan.

• Review the article “Perceptions of the Transition to Adulthood Among Chinese and American Emerging Adults,” in the Learning Resources.

• Choose two contexts, one cultural and one historical.

• Think about what it means to be an adult in each of these two contexts.

• Contrast the educational and career opportunities in each of these two contexts.

• Think about the socioeconomic status related to the time or culture you selected.

• Consider the concepts of on-time/off-time and the social clock within each context.

• Consider the need for dependence/independence for each context.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a brief description of the cultural or historical context you selected, including the socioeconomic state related to the cultural or historical context. Then describe the expectation of what adult attainment means in each context. Contrast the educational and career opportunities between the two contexts. Finally, contrast the potential attainment of adult status, considering at least one of the following concepts: social clock, on-time/off-time, or independence/dependence.

Note: Put the cultural or historical context you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who selected a different cultural or historical context than you did.

Application: Identity Development

Have you ever played the game “Who Am I?” In the game, you are given that question and asked to quickly write out descriptors that answer it. How would you answer the question today? How might you have answered it in late adolescence?

In Western cultures, young adults spend several years trying to figure out who they want to be, what they want to do in life, and what personal values will direct their behaviors. Psychologists call this process identity development. As described in your course text, James Marcia defines four potential identity statuses: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement.

What happens to people who grow up in communities in which there is a mix of cultural heritages? Is the identity development of people with different cultural heritages similar? In recent years, psychologists have explored this issue and concluded that two types of identity can be described: personal identity, as defined by James Marcia, and cultural identity, as defined by Jean Phinney.

Phinney has found that cultural identity follows a path similar to that of Marcia’s personal identity. The process requires both exploration and commitment, as in Marcia’s process. Phinney has found three potential outcomes that parallel Marcia’s: unexplored (those who focus on personal identity and do not explore their cultural heritage), moratorium (those who explore their culture and try out activities and values of their culture), and achieved (those who commit to activities and values of their cultural group). The outcome of an achieved cultural identity provides the individual with a positive sense of self in relation to the cultural group; this cultural identity remains fairly stable across the life span, as does an achieved identity.

Caucasian Americans often say they have no cultural identity. They are not committed to or identified with any particular group. While young white Americans develop personal identity, they believe they have no cultural or ethnic identity, perhaps because they are more individualistic in their approach to life than others are.

This week, you will apply what you have learned about identity development, personal and cultural, to yourself or to someone you know.

To prepare for this assignment:

Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Experiencing the Lifespan.
Review the article “Identity Formation Across Cultures: The Interaction of Personal, Societal, and Historical Change,” in this week’s Learning Resources.
Think about Marcia’s identity development process of exploration and commitment and the four statuses of achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, and diffusion.
Think about Phinney’s process of cultural identity, which is parallel to Marcia’s process of personal identity but focuses on group commitment as opposed to individual commitment. Think about Phinney’s three statuses: unexplored, moratorium, and achieved.
Think about the development of your identity status. Would you say you have an achieved identity status? What kinds of exploration helped you settle into your chosen roles and values? How committed are you to those roles and values? Do you have a cultural identity? What kinds of exploration helped you settle into your cultural roles and values? How committed are you to those cultural roles and values?
Consider your own personal and cultural identity development (or that of someone you know).
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the most important exploration experiences that you (or the person you know) engaged in as an adolescent or young adult?
- Which of Marcia’s statuses are you (or the person you know) in now, and why?
- Did you (or the person you know) engage in exploration experiences that were culturally related?
- Do you (or the person you know) have a cultural identity that parallels your individual identity (or that of the person you know)?
- What personal or cultural values define you (or the person you know)?

The assignment (1–2 pages):

Describe your identity development process (or that of the person you know), both personal and cultural.
- Include the statuses of James Marcia that apply to you (or the person you know): diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achieved.
- If you (or the person you know) have an achieved identity, describe one exploration experience and one value or belief to which you (or the person you know) are committed.
- Likewise, use Jean Phinney’s parallel model for describing your cultural identity (or that of the person you know).
- If you (or the person you know) have an achieved cultural identity, describe one exploration experience and one value or personal belief.

Note: Be sure to protect the identity of any persons you describe.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.Bottom of Form

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