Jeffrey Jensen ArnettClark University · Department of Psychology
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Ph.D.
About
174
Publications
414,630
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
35,173
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is a Senior Research Scholar at the Department of Psychology, Clark University. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Bordeaux, and the University of Baroda. He is the Founding President and Executive Director of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA), which focuses on theory and research pertaining to ages 18-29.
Publications
Publications (174)
Background/Objective
Emerging adulthood (EA, age range between 18 to 29 years) is an important developmental stage that is characterized by marked social and psychological changes. Currently, its developmental features are quantified by the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) but a validated Chinese version of this questionnair...
Imaginary worlds are not a consequence of humans' exploratory tendencies as argued in the target article but a recent spinoff of a strong human tendency to create imaginary realities , that is, versions of how the world works that are fabricated (although we believe they are real) in order to allow us to believe we understand it and can control it.
With the influence of globalization, Chinese young adults transitioning to adulthood today are cultivated by both traditional Chinese values (e.g., collectivism, Confucian philosophy), as well as Western values (e.g., individualism, independence). The present study aimed to characterize emerging adults’ perception of adulthood in China today in ter...
Developmental crisis is a construct that is central to many theories of psychosocial adult development, yet there is currently no validated psychometric measure of adult developmental crisis that can be used across adult age groups. To address this gap in the literature, we developed and validated an age-independent measure of adult developmental c...
This paper proposes a new theory of joy as defined by the elation of right relation, i.e., an intense and temporary feeling of heightened positive emotion as a consequence of a just right fit between our identity and the moment we are experiencing. Diverse domains of joy are explored: emotional, social, cognitive, physical, communal, and ideologica...
A Special Issue of the Journal of Media Psychology: https://www.hogrefe.com/us/journal/journal-of-media-psychology
Webster and team's (2021) extension of our analysis to look at more journals over a longer time period suggests a slightly quicker trend away from Americanness in psychological journals than we found. However, they make a purely binary distinction between American and not American and do not address whether the change they document includes the mos...
Parent involvement is an integral, but potentially problematic, aspect of the transition to intercollegiate athletics. In building on past research that targeted administrator and coach perceptions of parent involvement, the present research was designed to address parents' perceptions of their own involvement across NCAA divisions. Thirty-two pare...
The field of psychology prides itself on being a data-driven science. In 2008, however, Arnett brought to light a major weakness in the evidence on which models, measures, and theories in psychology rest. He demonstrated that the most prominent journals in six subdisciplines of psychology focused almost exclusively (over 70% of samples and authors)...
The full paper and questionnaire available via SSRN pre-print service:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3886295
Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disori- enting fragmentation rather than coherent scien- tific advances. What directions should developmen- tal science pursue to meaningfully address real- world problems that impact human development through...
In developed countries, the years from Age 30 to 45 are, for many, the most intense, demanding, and rewarding years of adult life. During this period of the life span most adults must negotiate the intersecting demands of progressing in a chosen career, maintaining an intimate partnership, and caring for children. Successes or difficulties in meeti...
This is the introduction for the special issue of American Psychologist titled "Rethinking Adult Development: New Ideas for New Times." It highlights the main themes of the special issue and discusses the implications of current trends for future directions. Entry to adult family and work roles now comes later than ever before. More adults than in...
The field of psychology prides itself on being a data-driven science. In 2008, however, Arnett brought to light a major weakness in the evidence on which models, measures, and theories in psychology rest. He demonstrated that the most prominent journals in six subdisciplines of psychology focused almost exclusively (over 70% of samples and authors)...
Although parental psychological control has been consistently linked with negative outcomes in the child and adolescent literatures, little is known about how it functions during the developmental time frame of emerging adulthood, which is characterized by increased freedom and instability. Consequently, this study examined the extent to which pate...
This chronologically-organized text offers a contemporary approach to child development in four ways: 1) An emphasis on teaching students to think culturally about development; 2) A broadened and updated scope of child development, ranging from conception through emerging adulthood; 3) An unprecedented inclusion of diverse contexts of child develop...
Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of emerging adulthood and intergenerational ambivalence, parental concerns about their child’s attainment of adulthood was investigated as the focal predictor of the likelihood of monetary conflict between American parents and emerging adults. A national sample of 791 parents (51% female; 73% White) of emergin...
Emerging adulthood is marked by important decisions about life choices. These life choices have their roots in sociocultural and historical contexts. The present study used a mixed methodology, concept mapping, to understand the tasks that are deemed as important by emerging adults in India. Study 1 comprised five focus group discussions with indiv...
Since 1960, the lives of young people in their late teens and twenties have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed. In his provocative work, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett has identified the period of emerging adulthood as distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Arnett's new...
This chronologically-organized lifespan text presents a portrayal of development that covers the whole amazing range of cultural diversity, within and across countries. Thoroughly up-to-date information prepares students for a diverse and global world, whether they travel the globe or remain in their hometown. The text is available in print and dig...
A large national sample of adults ages 18–60 was surveyed on features proposed in the theory of emerging adulthood, including identity explorations, self-focus, feeling in-between, instability, and possibilities/optimism. Additional items were included on feeling that this time of life is a time of freedom and a time that is fun and exciting and on...
Previous studies provided mixed findings of well-being in midlife, so the present study sought to add new dimensions to this area of research by investigating diverse aspects of midlife well-being, including sources of enjoyment and stress. In a national sample of 834 Americans ages 40–60, overall well-being was high, and most participants agreed t...
Heavy metal is a violent, head-banging music complete, in its live performances, with its own arena of rage and celebration, the slamdancing pit. It is a music in the red corner of society, loud, angry, and, to most adult ears, practically intolerable. And yet, the art form radiates a message about American adolescents well worth examining and comp...
The aim of the present study was to validate the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) questionnaire in Spain. The IDEA questionnaire is the only validated measure for assessing the characteristics of the emerging adulthood period. A Spanish translation of the IDEA was administered to a sample of 1,435 Spanish undergraduate stude...
This text provides a broad cultural perspective on both adolescence (ages 10-17) and emerging adulthood (ages 18-25). It contains 13 chapters, encompassing topics from biological changes of puberty to media uses to risk and resilience. Suitable for college courses.
SCIENTIFIC Contrary to the negative narrative in psychology and in the American public, many trends in the risk behaviors of American adolescents have been positive in recent decades. Evidence is presented for positive trends in four areas: substance use, unprotected sex, crime, and hazardous automobile driving. A comparison of American adolescents...
This study examined how migration decisions are made in the context of development during emerging adulthood. Thirty-two Chinese migrant women workers aged 18–29 years were individually interviewed on their decision-making process when they migrated for the first time. Their main reasons for “going out” were family poverty, dislike of the hard work...
This topically-organized text offers a new approach to child development in four ways:
1) An emphasis on teaching students to think culturally about development;
2) A broadened and updated scope of child development, ranging from conception through emerging adulthood;
3) An unprecedented inclusion of diverse contexts of child development; and
4) A...
Since 1988, persecuted people primarily from the Chin state in Burma have fled into India due to large-scale human rights violations. A qualitative study was conducted to understand the narratives of 5 Burmese Chin refugee women retrospectively. Using their drawings as a stimulus, an unstructured interview was employed to help participants recall t...
Here I reply to the commentaries by Furstenberg, Silva, and du Bois-Reymond on my essay concerning emerging adulthood (EA) and social class. I support Furstenberg’s suggestion to use national data from other projects to examine questions concerning the relation between EA and social class as well as the distinctiveness of ages 18–25 compared to oth...
This paper draws attention to the pervasiveness of life stage concepts in human cultures and advocates the creation of a new field of study on indigenous life stage concepts. First, historical and cultural examples are presented to illustrate the widespread use of life stage concepts across times and places. Then, sociological research on the insti...
The theory of emerging adulthood has been criticized as not applying across social classes. This article presents data from a national survey of 18- to 25-year-olds in order to test this critique. There were consistencies across social classes in the five features proposed in the theory of emerging adulthood: positive and negative perceptions of th...
In a qualitative interview study, 18 Danish emerging adults (ages 18-27) were asked about their religious beliefs and moral views. Most had received little or no formal religious training within their families, but they nevertheless participated in the “confirmation” process in the Danish state Lutheran church at age 14. Regarding their current bel...
In this commentary to the special issue of Emerging Adulthood edited by Reifman and Grahe, I seek to provide a broader developmental context for the studies. I begin by describing the rise in college participation over the past century, noting that even now only about 20% attend 4-year residential colleges and universities. Then, I describe some of...
The Oxford Handbook of Human Development and Culture: An Interdisciplinary Perspective provides an in-depth and comprehensive synopsis of theory and research on human development, with every chapter drawing together findings from cultures around the world. This includes a focus on cultural change, migration, and globalization. The handbook covers t...
This chapter explores the cultural themes and variations of emerging adulthood worldwide. Similarities and differences among developed countries are described, including the European form of identity development emphasizing freedom and leisure and the Asian form, tempered by values of family obligation. Social class differences and the importance o...
Since 1960 demographic trends towards longer time in education and late age to enter into marriage and of parenthood have led to the rise of a new life stage at ages 18–29 years, now widely known as emerging adulthood in developmental psychology. In this review we present some of the demographics of emerging adulthood in high-income countries with...
Four hundred Danish emerging adults ages 17-29 were surveyed regarding their conceptions of adulthood and their self-assessments of their adult status. A majority of the 17-24-year-olds and nearly half the 25-29-year-olds viewed themselves as being adults in some ways but not others. Participants reported feeling most adult when with co-workers or...
This article presents a brief history of the field of emerging adulthood, from the author’s early studies in the 1990s through the recent establishment of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA). Also included is an overview of the results of a recent national study, the Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults, which included items...
The experiences of emerging adulthood may vary in different historical and cultural contexts. Little research has been dedicated to how non college students view adulthood in developing countries. Currently, millions of young people are migrating from rural villages to industrial cities in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate concept...
Following adolescence and prior to young adulthood is life developmental period that has been referred to as "emerging adulthood." This period of life involves an extended period of learning and experimentation before settling into a career and stable relationship. Risky behaviors may be most tolerated or even promoted during emerging adulthood. Va...
AM:STARs: Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews is the official publication of the AAP Section on Adolescent Health. Published 3 times per year, the journal offers adolescent medicine specialists and other primary care physicians who treat adolescent patients with state of the art information on all matters relating to adolescent health and...
Young patients in their late teens are at risk for aging out of pediatric care. Becoming and remaining disconnected from the health care system contributes to high unmet need for services in the late teens and twenties. Lack of connection to a health care professional translates into increased health risk, risk that is particularly concentrated amo...
This article addresses the question of whether today's emerging adults are excessively "narcissistic" as claimed by Jean Twenge and others. The answer is a decisive "no." There is no persuasive evidence that scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) have risen among college students in recent decades. In any case, the NPI is a dubious...
We respond here to Twenge's article "The Evidence for Generation Me and Against Generation We." With regard to the question of whether "narcissism" is increasing among emerging adults, flaws are identified in the studies she used to make her case, and counterevidence is presented. We show that for the most part emerging adults' values have not chan...
In this chapter I present some ideas about the future of the field of emerging adulthood. First, I explain my reasons for coining “emerging adulthood,” focusing on the vast changes that have taken place in the nature of the 18–24 age period over the past century. Next, I propose some new areas of inquiry for the years to come. These include explori...
This chapter starts by presenting quantitative and qualitative findings to illustrate how adolescents and emerging adults
increasingly have exposure to different cultures and a global world. One consequence of adolescents’ and emerging adults’
exposure to diverse cultures is that cultural identity development becomes a more complex process that may...
This chapter summarizes the theoretical and empirical evidence in support of the view that emerging adulthood is a unique stage of development. First, this stage of development is distinct demographically in terms of delayed school-to-work transitions, and delayed entries into marriage and parenthood. Second, the concept of recentering determines t...
The first chapter provides some background and some information on the two contending approaches debated in the book. Demographic and economic changes influencing the lives of young people in recent decades are noted. The limitations of 20th-century stage theories are described (e.g., Erikson, Havighurst). Then the two theoretical approaches of thi...
In this last chapter, all four authors independently comment on how, if at all, it might be possible to reconcile the different standpoints of stage and ecological theory. Arnett argues for "one stage, many paths." That is, emerging adulthood is experienced by most young people in industrialized countries, but the specific path they take varies wid...
In response to the previous chapters by Kloep and Hendry, this chapter acknowledges the overreaching of previous stage theories while defending the value of the theory of emerging adulthood. Stage theories can be valuable as long as they are not presented as uniform and universal. Emerging adulthood theory has shown its value in how quickly it has...
This chapter takes on the critique, made by Kloep and Hendry among others, that the theory of emerging adulthood obscures the variation by social class that exists in the 18- 29 age group. First, demographic differences by social class among emerging adults are noted, specifically educational attainment and age at marriage. Views of adulthood are s...
This chapter examines the theory of emerging adulthood from the perspective of cultural psychology. First it provides a brief overview of the theory. Then it addresses the ways "one size fits all" with respect to emerging adulthood, that is, the demographic and cultural changes that have taken places in many regions worldwide to lay the groundwork...
In this commentary on the article by Trzesniewski and Donnellan (2010, this issue), I focus on the question of why young people today are viewed so negatively, despite the lack of evidence that they are worse (or worse off) now than they were in decades past. I propose that an important reason is the rise of emerging adulthood as a new life stage i...
In this book two pairs of developmental psychologists take sides in a spirited debate over the theory of "emerging adulthood," Jeffrey Arnett's proposal that a new life stage has developed in between adolescence and young adulthood, lasting roughly from ages 18 to 25. Arnett and Jennifer Tanner argue that as young people around the world share demo...
Responds to the comments of LoSchiavo F. M. and Shatz M. A. (see record
2009-13007-013); Webster G. D., Nichols A. L., and Schember T. O. (see record
2009-13007-014); Stroebe W. and Nijstad B. (see record
2009-13007-015); and Haeffel et al. (see record
2009-13007-016) on the author's original article (see record 200814338-003) regarding the ass...
Sorry, there is no abstract. Read the first few lines of the text instead!
This article proposes that psychological research published in APA journals focuses too narrowly on Americans, who comprise less than 5% of the world's population. The result is an understanding of psychology that is incomplete and does not adequately represent humanity. First, an analysis of articles published in six premier APA journals is presen...
ABSTRACT—Cultural variation is an important question to address with regard to emerging adulthood. Summarized briefly are the contents of the Special Section, including a debate on the theory of emerging adulthood and six articles on emerging adulthood as it appears among various populations in Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States.
ABSTRACT—This article asserts that the theory of emerging adulthood is a useful way of conceptualizing the lives of people from their late teens to their mid- to late 20s in industrialized societies. The place of emerging adulthood within the adult life course is discussed. The weaknesses of previous terms for this age period are examined, and emer...
ABSTRACT—I offer a rejoinder to Hendry and Kloep’s critique of my theory of emerging adulthood. We differ in our perspectives in that I see more value than they do in overall terms for and conceptions of periods of the life course, including emerging adulthood. Also, they claim a greater influence for social class on well-being in emerging adulthoo...
The widespread belief that peer influence is the primary cause of adolescent smoking initiation is examined and called into question. Correlational and longitudinal studies purporting to demonstrate peer influence are analyzed, and their limitations described. Qualitative interview studies of adolescent smoking initiation are presented as depicting...
The later attainment of traditional adult roles by today’s youth compared to their counterparts of earlier decades has garnered considerable scholarly and public attention. This article describes a recent concept related to the transition to adulthood, known as emerging adulthood, including a discussion of relevant theory and historical background...
In the first half of the twentieth century, Europeans went from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood, and they reached a settled young adulthood by their early 20s. No more.
Many myths about adolescence have been refuted by research, but similar myths have grown up in recent years around emerging
adulthood. This essay addresses three of those myths: the claim that they suffer from a normative “crisis”; the accusations
that they are “selfish”; and their alleged reluctance to “grow up” and become adults. For each issue,...
Contributions of: Margaret S. Archer, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Michele Bertani, Julia Brannen, Manuel Castells, James E. Cote, Duccio Demetrio, Pekka Himanen, Stefano Mazzucco, Letizia Mercarini, K. J. Morgan, Ann Nilsen, Rosella Rettaroli, Giovanna Rossi, Seth J. Schwartz, P. Spicker, Manuela Stranges, Paolo Terenzi
In pre-industrial societies, people moved from childhood to adulthood directly, getting married and going to work early in life. Although this still holds true for many cultures, in countries such as the USA or Japan, adolescence has become a specific stage of life, where young people are cultural trendsetters and market drivers.
The Internationa...
This article is an overview of the special issue "G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A Centennial Reappraisal." First, a brief biography of Hall is presented. Then each of the six articles in the special issue is summarized. Three of the articles are by historians and three are by psychologists, but all six articles integrate history and psychology.
G. Stanley Hall's two-volume work on adolescence is assessed from the perspective of modern psychology, 100 years after he published it. A surprising number of similarities exist between Hall's views of adolescence and our own, and several of those similarities are discussed here. Some of the most striking differences between Hall's views and the v...
Projects
Projects (3)
To provide instructors and students with first-rate texts that take a cultural approach to development, are engaging and enjoyable to read, and teach students to think critically about human development, including their own.
The research project we displayed has three general aims. On the first hand, to describe, from a psychological perspective, Spanish young adultsfrom two very different geographic and economic contexts: Andalusia and the Basque Country.
Our second aim is to explain what aspects of young people lifestyle promote their well-being and their adaptation capacity, identifying risk and protective factors.
Our third aim is to offer to the administration a document about the main practical implications of our research project. There will appear factors that, according to our study, support the psycho-social
adjustment of the Spanish young people.