ESSENTIALS OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT JOHN W. SANTROCK

1. 3e ESSENTIALS OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENTJOHN W. SANTROCK 11 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

2. Chapter Outline • The transition from adolescence to adulthood • Physical development • Sexuality • Cognitive development • Careers and work

3. The Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood • Becoming an adult • The transition from high school to college

4. The Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood • Becoming an adult • Emerging adulthood: Transition from adolescence to adulthood • Occurs from approximately 18 to 25 years of age • Characterized by experimentation and exploration • Key features • Identity exploration, especially in love and work • Instability, self-focused, and feeling in-between • The age of possibilities, a time when individuals have an opportunity to transform their lives

5. The Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood • Markers of becoming an adult • Holding a full-time job • Economic independence • Taking responsibility for oneself • The transition from high school to college • Top-dog phenomenon • Movement to a larger school structure • Increased focus on achievement and assessment • Several positive features

6. Physical Development • Physical performance and development • Health

7. Physical Development • Physical performance and development • Peak physical performance typically occurs between 19 and 26 • Muscle tone and strength usually begin to show signs of decline around age 30

8. Physical Development • Health • Emerging adults have twice the mortality rate of adolescents • Few chronic health problems • Increase in bad health habits • Eating and weight • Obesity - Linked to increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease • Dieting - Become an obsession with many Americans • Although obesity is on the rise

9. Physical Development • Regular exercise • Helps prevent chronic disorders • Aerobic exercise: Sustained exercise that stimulates heart and lung activity • Exercise benefits both physical and mental health • Improves self-concept and reduces anxiety and depression • Substance abuse • Alcohol • Binge drinking - Increases in college • Pregaming - Drinking alcohol before going out common among college students

10. Sexuality • Sexual activity in emerging adulthood • Sexual orientation and behavior • Sexually transmitted infections • Forcible sexual behavior and sexual harassment

11. Sexuality • Sexual activity in emerging adulthood • Patterns of heterosexual behavior: • Males have more casual sexual partners, while females report being more selective • Casual sex is more common in emerging adulthood than in young adulthood

12. Sexuality • Sexual orientation and behavior • Heterosexual attitudes and behavior • Americans fall into three categories: • 1/3 have sex twice a week or more, 1/3 a few times a month, and 1/3 a few times a year or not at all • Married (and cohabiting) couples have sex more often than non-cohabiting couples • Most Americans do not engage in kinky sexual acts • Adultery is the exception rather than the rule • Men think about sex far more often than women do

13. Sexuality • Sources of sexual orientation • Sexual orientation is a continuum from exclusive male–female relations to exclusive same-sex relations • Most likely a combination of genetic, hormonal, cognitive, and environmental factors

14. Sexuality • Attitudes and behavior of lesbians and gay males • Many gender differences that appear in heterosexual relationships occur in same-sex relationships • Lesbians and gays experience life as a minority in a dominant, majority culture • Developing a bicultural identity creates new ways of defining themselves

15. Sexuality • Sexually transmitted infections (STIs): Diseases contracted primarily through sex • Effective strategies for protecting against HIV • Know your risk status and that of your partner • Obtain medical examinations • Have protected, not unprotected, sex • Do not have sex with multiple partners

16. Figure 11.6 - Sexually Transmitted Infections

17. Sexuality • Forcible sexual behavior and sexual harassment • Rape: Forcible sexual intercourse with a person who does not consent to it • Characteristics of male rapists • Aggression enhances their sense of power or masculinity • Angry at women in general • Want to hurt and humiliate their victims • Date or acquaintance rape: Coercive sexual activity directed at someone with whom the perpetrator is at least casually acquainted

18. Sexuality • Sexual harassment - Manifestation of power of one person over another • Takes many forms

19. Cognitive Development • Cognitive stages • Creativity

20. Cognitive Development • Cognitive stages • Piaget’s view: • Adolescents and adults think qualitatively in the same way • Individuals consolidate their formal operational thinking during adulthood • Postformal thought: • Reflective, relativistic, and contextual • Provisional • Realistic • Recognized as being influenced by emotion

21. Cognitive Development • Creativity • Early adulthood is a time of great creativity for some people • Any consideration of decline in creativity with age requires consideration of the field of creativity involved

22. Careers and Work • Careers • Work

23. Careers • Developmental changes • From mid-twenties on, individuals often seek to establish their emerging career in a particular field • Finding a path to a purpose • Only 20% of 12 – 22-year-olds had a clear vision of where they want to go in life • Students focus only on short-term goals • Don’t explore the big, long-term picture of what they want to do in life

24. Work • The impact of work • Most spend 1/3 of their lives at work • Important consideration is how stressful the work is • Work during college • Working can pay or help offset some costs of schooling • But can also can restrict students’ opportunities to learn

25. Work • Monitoring the occupational outlook • Be knowledgeable about different fields and companies • Unemployment • Produces stress regardless of whether the job loss is temporary, cyclical, or permanent • Factors affecting employment • Physical problems, mental problems, marital difficulties, and homicide

26. Careers and Work • Dual-earner couples • Face special challenges finding a balance between work and family life • Diversity in the workplace • Women have increasingly entered the labor force • Ethnic diversity also increasing in the workplace in almost every developed country