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This article asserts that the theory of emerging adulthood is a useful way of conceptualizing the lives of people from their late teens to their mid-to late 20s in industrialized societies. The place of emerging adulthood within the adult life course is discussed. The weaknesses of previous terms for this age period are examined, and emerging adulthood is argued to be preferable as a new term for a new phenomenon. With respect to the question of whether emerging adulthood is experienced positively or negatively by most people, it is argued that it is positive for most people but entails developmental challenges that may be difficult and there is great heterogeneity, with some emerging adults experiencing serious problems. With respect to the question of whether or not emerging adulthood is good for society, it is argued that claims of the dangers of emerging adulthood are overblown, but emerging adulthood is probably a mixed blessing for society.

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The influence of globalization on psychological functioning is examined. First, descriptions of how globalization is occurring in various world regions are presented. Then the psychological consequences of globalization are described, with a focus on identity issues. Specifically, it is argued that most people worldwide now develop a bicultural identity that combines their local identity with an identity linked to the global culture; that identity confusion may be increasing among young people in non-Western cultures as a result of globalization; that some people join self-selected cultures to maintain an identity that is separate from the global culture; and that a period of emerging adulthood increasingly extends identity explorations beyond adolescence, through the mid- to late twenties.

G. S. Hall's (1904) view that adolescence is a period of heightened "storm and stress" is reconsidered in light of contemporary research. The author provides a brief history of the storm-and-stress view and examines 3 key aspects of this view: conflict with parents, mood disruptions, and risk behavior. In all 3 areas, evidence supports a modified storm-and-stress view that takes into account individual differences and cultural variations. Not all adolescents experience storm and stress, but storm and stress is more likely during adolescence than at other ages. Adolescent storm and stress tends to be lower in traditional cultures than in the West but may increase as globalization increases individualism. Similar issues apply to minority cultures in American society. Finally, although the general public is sometimes portrayed by scholars as having a stereotypical view of adolescent storm and stress, both scholars and the general public appear to support a modified storm-and-stress view.

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Oxford University Press) and is the chair of a group of scholars studying emerging adulthood (www.s-ra.org/easig.html). The theory of emerging adulthood has been proposed as a way of conceptualizing the developmental characteristics of young people between the ages of 18 and 25.Here, the theory is applied to explaining the high rates of substance use in this age group. Specifi cally, fi ve developmentally distinctive features of emerging adulthood are proposed: the age of identity explorations, the age of instability, the age of selffocus, the age of feeling in-between, and the age of possibilities. Then, each of these features is applied to an explanation of drug use in emerging adulthood.

Conceptions of the transition to adulthood in the contemporary American majority culture are examined, and compared to conceptions cross-culturally and historically. Perspectives from other places and times are presented first, indicating that there is a widespread view that the transition to adulthood involves the gradual development of character qualities such as impulse control and diligence but culminates in marriage as the ultimate marker of the transition to adulthood. Findings from several recent American studies are then presented, indicating that for contemporary young Americans the preeminent criteria for the transition to adulthood are the individualistic character qualities of accepting responsibility for one’s self and making independent decisions, along with becoming financially independent; marriage, in contrast, ranks very low. New data are presented to illustrate young Americans’ conceptions of the transition to adulthood. Reasons are discussed for the prominence of individualistic criteria in American society and the prominence of marriage in other places and times. The concept of emerging adulthood is presented as a new way of conceptualizing the period between adolescence and young adulthood.