Emotional and Social Development in Young Adulthood

    Young adults also go through a series of emotional and social changes. 

Theories of Psychosocial Development

    According to Erikson, young adults face the controversy between intimacy and isolation. To solve this conflict, the individual must maintain a sense of independence while still having intimacy.

    Levinson constructed the life structure theory. Young adults usually start out with a dream and work to achieve it. In the thirties, young adults stop to focus on aspects on their lives that have not got as much attention, such as starting a family.
 

Love and Relationships

    A major milestone in young adulthood is finding a partner. They tend to seek for partners that have similar ages, ethnicities, socioeconomic statues, education, and other attributes. The emphasis on relationships move from passionate love to companionate love. Siblings become closer friends, but young adults are basically at risk for loneliness because they do not seek out friendships as much.
 

The Family Life Cycle

    Leaving home is a major milestone of early adulthood. Marriage and bearing children typically follows. Nearly 90 percent of Americans marry at least, but people are waiting longer to get married. The average age for a woman to get married is 24.8 and for a man 27.1. People are also waiting longer to have children.

Single hood has increased over the years. Most Americans will spend a large part of their lives single, and about 10-12 percent will remain that way.

Cohabitation has also increased, especially among the well-educated and financially secure. People that cohabitate before marriage are more likely to get divorced. Rates of cohabitation has raised 700% since 1970,. Cohabiters have more problems in their later marriages and had increased adultery, substance abuse, and violence than marriages that were not preceded by cohabitation.

    Voluntarily childless adults are increasing, and they tend to be just as satisfied with their lives as parents with children. Half of all marriages in the United States are expected to end in divorce. This often results in remarriages, which leads to step-families.

Young Adulthood

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