10: Constructing an Adult Life

Question 1

phase of life that begins after high school, lasts through the late twenties - devoted to constructing an adult life, exploring options

Answer 1

emerging adulthood

Question 2

sharing a household in an unmarried romantic relationship

Answer 2

cohabitation

Question 3

moving out of one’s childhood home and living independently for the first time

Answer 3

nest-leaving

Question 4

concept that we regulate our passage through adulthood by referring to our society’s timetable that tells us which life activities are appropriate at certain ages

Answer 4

social clock

Question 5

cultural ideas about the appropriate ages to engage in particular activities or life tasks

Answer 5

age norms

Question 6

being on target in a culture’s timetable for achieving adult life tasks

Answer 6

on time

Question 7

being too early or too late in a culture’s timetable for achieving adult life tasks

Answer 7

off time

Question 8

in Erikson’s theory, the life task of deciding who to be as an adult

Answer 8

identity

Question 9

Erikson’s term for a failure in identity formation, marked by the lack of any sense of a future adult path

Answer 9

role confusion

Question 10

James Marcia’s four categories of identity formation - identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement

Answer 10

identity statuses

Question 11

Marcia’s term for an identity status in which the person is aimless or feels totally blocked, without any adult life path

Answer 11

identity diffusion

Question 12

Marcia’s term for an identity status in which the person decides on an adult life path without any thought or active search (usually informed by an authority figure)

Answer 12

identity foreclosure

Question 13

Marcia’s term for an identity status in which the person is actively exploring different possibilities to find a truly solid adult life path

Answer 13

moratorium

Question 14

a fully mature identity, when a young person decides on a satisfying adult life path

Answer 14

identity achievement

Question 15

when a young person is unable to decide between different identities, becoming emotionally paralyzed and extremely anxious

Answer 15

ruminative moratorium

Question 16

how people come to terms with who they are in relation to their unique ethnic or racial heritage

Answer 16

ethnic identity

Question 17

how people of mixed racial backgrounds come to terms with who they are in relation to their heritage

Answer 17

biracial or multiracial identity

Question 18

Csikszentmihalyi’s term for feeling total absorption in a challenging, goal-oriented activity

Answer 18

flow

Question 19

the change from the schooling phase of life to the work world

Answer 19

school-to-work transition

Question 20

Erikson’s first adult task, which involves connecting with a partner in a mutual loving relationship

Answer 20

intimacy

Question 21

on-again/off-again romantic relationships in which couples repeatedly get together and then break up

Answer 21

relationship churning

Question 22

Bernard Murstein’s mate-selection theory that suggests similar people pair up and that our path to commitment progresses through three phases

Answer 22

stimulus-value-role theory

Question 23

in Murstein’s theory, the initial mate-selection stage, in which we make judgments about a potential partner based on external characteristics such as appearance

Answer 23

stimulus phase

Question 24

in Murstein’s theory, the second mate-selection stage, in which we make judgments about a partner based on similar values and interests

Answer 24

value-comparison phase

Question 25

in Murstein’s theory, the final mate-selection stage, in which committed partners work out their future lives together

Answer 25

role phase

Question 26

the principle that we select a mate who is similar to us

Answer 26

homogamy

Question 27

the different ways in which adults relate to romantic partners, based on Mary Ainsworth’s infant classification

Answer 27

adult attachment styles

Question 28

an excessively clingy, needy style of relating to loved ones

Answer 28

preoccupied/ambivalent adult attachment

Question 29

a standoffish, excessively disengaged style of relating to loved ones

Answer 29

avoidant/dismissive adult attachment

Question 30

the genuine intimacy that is ideal in love relationships - empathy, balance

Answer 30

secure adult attachment