Characteristics of Emerging Adults

1. Identity Explorations: Trying out various possibilities, especially in love and work.
2. Instability: Moving frequently, starting and stopping school and jobs. All of this contributes to a lack of stability—a period of "revision" of one's "life plan".
3. Self-focused: Attention is given to personal needs and aspirations more than any other time in one's life.
4. Feeling "in-between:" As neither an adolescent nor an adult, this is a transition time.
5. An Age of Possibilities: This is an age or time period where anything seems possible, hope flourishes, and people have an unparalleled opportunity to transform their lives.

Characteristics of Adulthood:

1. Accept responsibility for yourself
2. Make independent choices
3. Financial independence

—Jeffrey Jensen Arnett in Emerging Adulthood

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.