Context-Related Sense of Adulthood
Unveiling Peer and Adult Contexts and Developing a New Measure
Abstract
Abstract. Emerging adulthood theory highlights ambivalence about one’s adult status as a distinctive feature of this period. However, most studies that addressed this ambivalence employed rather limited, single-item measures, or measures that focused on specific life domains but addressed them separately. Although existing literature suggests that various life situations are likely to contribute differently to a sense of adulthood, no attempt has been made to date to conceptualize these situations as contexts and to develop a measure that takes them into account. The first study of the present research aims at unveiling the contexts that shape a sense of adulthood by conducting a multiple group exploratory factor analysis on the self-perceived adulthood scale (Shanahan, Porfeli, & Mortimer, 2005). The analyses revealed two factors contributing to a sense of adulthood, which were interpreted as adult and peer contexts. The second study aims at developing a new measure designed to address sense of adulthood in these two contexts. This measure was proven reliable, valid, and stable across three age groups. The present research demonstrates that sense of adulthood is a context-specific feeling. Thus, adult and peer contexts ought to be considered and addressed separately, which has been made possible with our proposed measure.
References
(2007). Does leaving home make you poor? Evidence from 13 European countries. European Journal of Population/Revue Européenne de Démographie, 23, 315–338. doi: 10.1007/s10680-007-9135-5
(2003). Manual for the ASEBA Adult Forms & Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.
(2006). The “inner side” of the transition to adulthood: How young adults see the process of becoming an adult. Advances in Life Course Research, 11, 225–251. doi: 10.1016/S1040-2608(06)11009-6
(1997). Young people’s conceptions of the transition to adulthood. Youth & Society, 29, 3–23. doi: 10.1177/0044118X97029001001
(2001). Conceptions of the transition to adulthood: Perspectives from adolescence through midlife. Journal of Adult Development, 8, 133–143. doi: 10.1023/A:1026450103225
(2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi: 101093/acprof:oso/97801953093790010001
(2009). Exploratory structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 16, 397–438. doi: 10.1080/10705510903008204
(2011). Young adult identities and their pathways: A developmental and life course model. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1646–1657. doi: 10.1037/a0023833
(2006). Entry into adulthood: Are adult role transitions meaningful markers of adult identity? Advances in Life Course Research, 11, 199–224. doi: 10.1016/S1040-2608(06)11008-4
(1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York, NY: Wiley.
(2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
(2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14, 464–504. doi: 10.1080/10705510701301834
(2014). Identity styles, positive youth development, and civic engagement in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1818–1828. doi: 10.1007/s10964-014-0100-4
(2008). Capturing the dynamics of identity formation in various ethnic groups: Development and validation of a three-dimensional model. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 207–222. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.09.002
(2005). Chronological and subjective age in emerging adulthood: The crossover effect. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 538–556. doi: 10.1177/0743558405274876
(2006). The new adulthood? The transition to adulthood from the perspective of transitioning young adults. Advances in Life Course Research, 11, 253–286. doi: 10.1016/S1040-2608(06)11010-2
(2007). Differentiation in self-perceived adulthood: Extending the confluence model of subjective age identity. Social Psychology Quarterly, 70, 243–261. doi: 10.1177/019027250707000304
(1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202.
(2002). A caveat on using single‐item versus multiple‐item scales. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 68–75. doi: 10.1108/02683940210415933
(2008). Employment, sense of coherence, and identity formation contextual and psychological processes on the pathway to sense of adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23, 566–591. doi: 10.1177/0743558408322146
(1989, May). The impact of biological events on females’ subjective age identities. In Paper presented at the Eighth Meeting of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research. Salt Lake City, UT.
(1998–2012). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
(2005). Distinguishing features of emerging adulthood: The role of self-classification as an adult. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 242–262. doi: 10.1177/0743558404273074
(2007). “If you want me to treat you like an adult, start acting like one!” Comparing the criteria that emerging adults and their parents have for adulthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 665–674. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.665
(2001). Bias of coefficient for fixed congeneric measures with correlated errors. Applied Psychological Measurement, 25, 69–76. doi: 10.1177/01466216010251005
(2010). A comparative investigation of rotation criteria within exploratory factor analysis. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45, 73–103.
(2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66, 507–514. doi: 10.1007/BF02296192
(2005).
Subjective age identity and the transition to adulthood: When does one become an adult? . In R. A. J. SetterstenF. F. J. FurstenbergR. G. RumbautEds., On the frontier of adulthood: Theory, research, and public policy (pp. 225–255). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
