Reconsidering Adulthood: Relative Constructions of Adult Identity during the Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: 434 - Section on Children and Youth Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Transitions to Adulthood

Abstract

This article explores how scholars of the transition to adulthood can explain differences in self-perceived definitions of adulthood between individuals of similar status characteristics. While prior research has demonstrated how differences by status characteristics such as race or social class can lead to differences in feelings of adulthood, less is known about how variation exists between demographically similar individuals. This study utilizes data from in-depth interviews with 60 young adults who are all exactly 30 years old and live in the same geographic region. Findings indicate that peer social networks can partly explain variation in self-perceived definitions of adulthood. Respondents described defining their own adulthood status based on their perceptions of two characteristics of their peer social network. First, they measure the timing of their transitions relative to their peers. Second, they assess the nature of their transitions relative to what they perceive to be the normative nature of that transition within their peer network. In addition to illustrating that peers may help to explain heterogeneity in adulthood definitions among demographically similar individuals, this study also suggests that norms about adulthood are perceived at the network level. As previous research has suggested that adulthood norms exist primarily at the societal level, this study expands on that work by suggesting that adulthood norms may be developed and utilized on a more micro scale as well.

Author

• Christina Panagakis, State University of New York-Buffalo