Emerging Adulthood in Argentina: an age of diversity and possibilities

ALICIA FACIO; SANTIAGO RESETT; FABIANA MICOCCI; CLARA MISTRORIGO

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Blackwell

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2007 vol. 1 p. 115 - 118

0009-3920

Arnett (2000) defines emerging adulthood as the period of development bridging adolescence and young adulthood during which people are no longer adolescents but have not yet attained full adult status. This period ranges from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18 through 25, and is characterized by frequent change as young people explore various possibilities in love, work and worldviews. In American studies (Arnett, 2001), emerging adults do not viewthemselves as adolescents, but many of them do not view themselves entirely as adults either. Emerging adulthood, however, is culturally constructed. It exists only in cultures that postpone the entry into adult roles and responsibilities until well past the late teens. Thus, it would be most likely to occur in highly industrialized or post-industrialized countries -those that require a high level of education for entry into the information-based professions and postpone marriage and parenthood until well after schooling is completed.