HDEV Chapter 13: Early Adulthood - Physical and Cognitive Development

Overview of Early Adulthood: Physical and Cognitive Development

Early adulthood is a significant period in human development that encompasses shifts in physical health, cognitive frameworks, and career trajectory. This stage is marked by the theoretical concept of "emerging adulthood," significant health considerations, and the peak of certain physical and intellectual capabilities.

Emerging Adulthood

Emerging adulthood refers to a period of development spanning the ages of $18$ to $25$. During this time, young people in developed nations engage in extended role exploration.

Characteristics of Emerging Adulthood

• Role Exploration: Engagement in extended exploration of various life roles.

• Socioeconomic Factors: Exploration is often supported by help from affluent parents or government assistance for higher education.

Five Stages of Emerging Adulthood

1. Age of Identity Exploration: Individuals aged $18$ to $25$ explore their romantic and career choices.

2. Age of Instability: This phase is characterized by frequent changes in jobs, romantic partners, and living arrangements.

3. Age of Self-Focus: Emerging adults are exceptionally self-focused as they are free to make their own decisions.

4. Age of Feeling In-Between: A transition period where individuals feel they are "in transit" between adolescence and full adulthood.

5. Age of Possibilities: Emerging adults possess the feeling that they have the opportunity to make dramatic changes in their lives.

Physical Development in Early Adulthood

Physical development reaches its peak during early adulthood, followed by the beginning of many gradual declines.

• Physical Peaks: General physical capabilities peak during this stage.

• Sensory Sharpness: Sensory abilities peak in the early $20s$, followed by a gradual decline throughout middle adulthood.

• Systemic Aging: Aging begins to affect the cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune systems.

• Fertility: Fertility begins a decline by the end of early adulthood.

• External Features: Visible signs of aging, such as the thinning and graying of hair, typically begin.

Health and Fitness in Early Adulthood

Leading Causes of Death

The table for individuals aged $15$ to $44$ years indicates specific mortality risks that shift as individuals move through early adulthood.

Diet and Weight Management

• Gender Trends: Overweight and obese young women are more likely than young men to report dieting.

• Causes of Obesity:

  • Heredity: Genetic factors play a significant role.

  • Adaptive Thermogenesis: A process where the body converts food energy to heat at a lower rate when a person eats less, making weight loss difficult.

  • Negative Emotions: Binge eating is often linked to negative emotional states.

Exercise Requirements

• Recommendation: Adults above age $18$ require $30$ minutes of physical activity five days a week.

• Methodology: Breaking exercise into smaller segments is shown to be beneficial.

• Risk Reduction: Regular exercise reduces the risks of:

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Type 2 diabetes

  • Certain types of cancers

Substance Use and Abuse

• Alcohol Consumption: There is a notable increase in alcohol consumption due to unsupervised young adults being at school or home.

• Drug Exploration: This stage provides several years of opportunity to try out new drugs.

• Perception of Risk: Young adults generally believe that cigarette smoking and trying cocaine and heroin carry great risks. However, a "less fear" attitude toward marijuana results in its greater use.

Stress and Health

• Prevalence: One-third of Americans report living with extreme stress.

• Effects: Stress negatively impacts both psychological and physical health.

• Response Mechanisms: Younger adults often respond to stress in unhealthy ways, such as skipping meals, lying awake at night, and smoking more.

Sexuality in Early Adulthood

Sexual Activity and Hormones

• Peak Activity: Sexual activity peaks in the early $20s$. This frequency is attributed to a surge of hormones and increased opportunity.

• Hormonal Influence: Men and women experience the same "flood" of sex hormones that affected them during adolescence.

Frequency of Sex by Age

Data indicates the percentage of individuals having sex at least a few times or more per month:

• Ages 18–24: High frequency for both men and women (reaching approximately $80\%+$).

• Ages 25–29 and 30–39: Remains high but shows a slight, gradual decline as individuals age through their $40s$ and $50s$.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Menstrual Problems

• Dysmenorrhea: Painful menstruation characterized by pelvic cramps. It is initiated by hormones called prostaglandins, which cause muscles in the uterine wall to contract. Fluid retention may also cause bloating.

• Amenorrhea: The absence of menstruation, which is a sign of infertility.

• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS): Discomforting symptoms affecting many women during the $4$ to $6$ day interval preceding their periods.

• Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD): A condition similar to PMS but significantly more severe.

• Causes: Emotional and physical symptoms result from the body's response to changing sex hormones and imbalances in neurotransmitters.

• Treatment: Can involve exercise, dietary control, hormone treatments, and medications.

Sexual Coercion and Harassment

Rape

Defined as sex with a nonconsenting person by the use of force or threat of force.

• Acquaintance Rape: Accounts for $90\%$ of rapes; often underreported to police.

• Date Rape: A form of acquaintance rape, likely to occur when the couple has consumed too much alcohol.

• Sex Myths: Common myths include the idea that women say "no" when they mean "yes," that clothing encourages rape, or that women want to be overpowered.

• Cultural Factors: Traditional upbringing of men to be aggressive and devoid of "feminine" traits can make them aversive to tenderness and empathy.

Sexual Harassment

Defined as deliberate or repeated unwanted comments, gestures, or physical contact.

• Social Context: Often trivialized in the workplace, leading to victim-blaming and stress.

• Power Dynamics: Harassment is generally an abuse of power rather than sexual desire, especially in traditional male fields.

• Accountability: Employers are held accountable if harassment creates a hostile work environment.

• #MeToo Movement: Went viral in $2017$ following revelations about producer Harvey Weinstein; encouraged high-profile women to bring awareness to systemic harassment.

Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

Intelligence and Knowledge

• Height of Ability: People are at the height of cognitive ability during early adulthood. While memory may decline with age, verbal skills are usually retained.

• Crystallized Intelligence: Represents one's intellectual attainments.

• Fluid Intelligence: The ability to process information rapidly.

• Late Adolescence Knowledge: According to Schaie’s study, late adolescents possess broad knowledge of the sciences.

Epistemic Cognition (William Perry)

• Epistemic Cognition: Thought processes directed at considering how one arrives at beliefs, facts, and ideas.

• Dualistic Thinking: Dividing the cognitive world into opposites (e.g., right vs. wrong).

• Relativistic Thinking: Moving toward the recognition that judgments are not absolute but are influenced by religious or cultural contexts.

Labouvie-Vief’s Theory

• Pragmatic Thought: Decision-making characterized by a willingness to accept reality and compromise.

• Cognitive–Affective Complexity: A mature form of thinking that allows people to harbor both positive and negative feelings about their choices (e.g., career paths). Adults function best when they can accept reality.

Postformal Thinking

• Young adults are well-informed through specialized education.

• They are less egocentric than adolescents.

• They are more relativistic but capable of making commitments within that relativistic world.

• Note: There is a lack of global consensus on whether a specific stage exists beyond Piaget’s formal operations.

College and Diversity

STEM and Gender

• More men enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields despite women performing equally well at math.

• While more males score higher on SAT tests, math-proficient women are more likely than math-proficient men to prefer careers that do not require math skills, often because their higher verbal competence creates more career choices.

Benefits of Campus Diversity

• Recognizing that one's way of looking at the world is not universal.

• Embracing opportunities to meet different people.

• Learning that initial defensive reactions to new cultures can be overcome.

• Understanding the value of others' cultural traits.

• Immersing oneself in different cultures and listening to others' concerns.

Career Development

Work Motives

• Extrinsic Motives: Driven by the paycheck and financial security.

• Intrinsic Motives: Driven by the work ethic, self-identity, self-fulfillment, self-worth, socialization, and public roles.

Super’s Stages of Career Development

1. Fantasy Stage (until age 11): Unrealistic conceptions of self-potential and the world of work.

2. Tentative Choice Stage (age 11 to High School): Choices based on interests, abilities, limitations, and perceived glamour.

3. Realistic Choice Stage (after age $17$): Choices narrow as students weigh job requirements and rewards against values and skills. Educational plans become focused.

4. Maintenance Stage (mid-30s): The person settles into a career role. Contemporary trends show a reduction in loyalty to employers, though vocational interests remain stable.

5. Retirement Stage: The individual leaves the workplace and may become restless.