CH14: Early Adulthood - Social & Emotional Development

Question 1

Individuation

Answer 1

The young adult’s process of becoming an individuals by means of integrating their own values and beliefs with those of their parents and society at large.

Question 2

Intimacy Verses Isolation

Answer 2

According to Erik Erikson, early adulthood’s central conflict or life/personality crisis is when a person develops an intimate relationship with a significant other or risks heading down a path toward social isolation.
- ages 19-39
Important life event: relationships
* Someone to share life with: life partner, supportive friend
* Without losing sense of self
* Lack of identity is related to a high divorce rate in young marriages

Question 3

The Dream

Answer 3

According to Daniel Levinson and his colleagues, the drive to become someone, to leave one’s mark on history, which serves as a tentative blueprint for the young adult.

Question 4

Attraction-similarity Hypothesis

Answer 4

The view that we tend to develop romantic relationships with people who are similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness and other traits.
- Nonphysical traits, such as familiarity, respect, and sharing values and goals, also influence a partner’s attractiveness.

Question 5

Reciprocity

Answer 5

The tendency to respond in kind when we feel admired and complimented.

Question 6

Romantic Love

Answer 6

A form of love fuelled by passion and feelings of intimacy.

Question 7

Intimacy

Answer 7

The experience of warmth toward another person that arises from feelings of closeness and connectedness.

Question 8

Passion

Answer 8

Intense sexual desire for another person.

Question 9

Commitment

Answer 9

The decision to devote oneself to a cause or another person.

Question 10

Serial Monogamy

Answer 10

A series of exclusive sexual relationships.

Question 11

Celibacy

Answer 11

Abstention from sexual activity, whether from choice or lack of opportunity.

Question 12

Cohabitation

Answer 12

Living together with a romantic partner without being married.
- Number of people living together in Canada has surged in the last two decades.
- Relationships are more likely to dissolve when cohabitation precedes marriage.
- Cohabitants tend to have less traditional views of marriage and gender roles.

Question 13

Monogamy

Answer 13

The practice of having a sexual relationship with only one person at a time.

Question 14

Polyamory

Answer 14

The practice of consenting partners who maintain an “open” sexual relationship.

Question 15

Homogamy

Answer 15

Marriage between two similar individuals; marriage between people from similar sociological or educational backgrounds.

Question 16

Fail-to-launch syndrome

Answer 16

Failure to launch syndrome is not technically a syndrome; instead, it is a term used to describe young adults who do not venture out on their own when they reach adulthood. Individuals who have failed to launch syndrome struggle to leave their parents’ or caregivers’ homes in order to begin their own lives.
- Labelled as the “boomerang generation” as they are returning home
- Returning due to financial troubles, relationship issues, and parenting styles.

Question 17

Sternberg’s triangular theory of love

Answer 17

Involves the building blocks of intimacy, passion, and commitment.
- Jealously can lead to loss of feelings of affection.

Question 18

Why do people become lonely, and what is their response

Answer 18

Loneliness can be related to low self-confidence, depression, and physical health problems.
- Lonely people can lack social skills, interest in other people, and empathy.
- Many people remain lonely because of fear of rejection.

Question 19

Discuss being single

Answer 19

• Became a common Canadian lifestyle of people in their 20s.
• Most ppl postpone marriage to pursue educational and career goals.
• Online dating is becoming a common way to meet potential partners in Canada.
• Many singles engage in serial monogamy, while many others choose celibacy.

Question 20

Describe the practice of marriage

Answer 20

• Marriage legitimizes sexual relations, provides an institution for rearing children, and permits orderly transmission of wealth and same-sex marriages.
• Most marriages where partners are very similar in physical attractiveness, values, and family backgrounds enjoy a higher stability rate than other unions.
• Couple satisfaction does not seem to be measurably different between same-sex couples and opposite see couples. Still, household choose are more evenly distributed in same-sex unions, leading to less “bickering.”

Question 21

Role of Attachment

Answer 21

• Secure: happy and confident about the future successes of their relationship
• Avoidant: less invested in their relationships, higher break-up rates, feel lonely
• Ambivalent/Resistant: overly invested in their relationship, repeated break-ups with the same
  partner, low self-esteem

Question 22

Postpartum depression prevalence

Answer 22

• 10 to 15%
• Likelihood increased by major life stressors during pregnancy or after baby’s birth
• But, the best predictor is depression during the pregnancy!