Economic Insecurity and Separation–individuation in Portuguese Emerging Adults

Abstract

Scholars have widely agreed that the transition to adulthood has become destandardized and more extended in time. Although this prolonged transition to adulthood is common in latemodern societies, it is not universal, and the pathways towards adulthood may vary according to contextual factors and personal resources. This study examined the association between perceived economic insecurity and the process of separation-individuation regarding the romantic partner, and explored the mediating role of personal resources (self-esteem, depression). Participants were 387 Portuguese emerging adults (Mage=22.32; SD=3.47) involved in a romantic relationship, from different economic and cultural backgrounds. Findings revealed that selfesteem and depressive symptoms totally mediated the relationship between economic insecurity and separation-individuation, with higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of depression being associated with a more successful process of separation-individuation. This study contributes to shed some light on the interaction between developmental processes and social context variables in the transition to adulthood. Arnett J J (2000) Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist 55 (5): 469-480. Arnett J J (2007) Emerging adulthood: What is it, and what is it good for? Child Development Perspectives 1 (2): 68-73. Aquilino W (2006) Family relationships and support systems in emerging adulthood. In: Arnett J J and Tanner J L (eds.) Emerging adults in America: coming of age in the 21st century. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 193-217. Barney B R and Bradbury T N (2005) Contextual influences on marriage: implications for policy and intervention. Current Directions in Psychological Science 14 (4): 171-174. Billari F C (2004) Becoming an adult in Europe: A macro(/micro)-demographic perspective. Demographic Research 3 (2): 14-43. Brandão T, Saraiva L and Matos P M (2012) O prolongamento da transição para a idade adulta e o conceito de adultez emergente: Especificidades do contexto português e brasileiro. Análise Psicológica 30 (3): 301-313.

The multidimensional subjective financial well-being scale for emerging adults: Development and validation studies

“…Italy and Portugal share the same pattern of transition to adulthood (southern European), where young people remain for extended periods in the parental home and tend to make direct transitions from living at home to (formal) marriage and parenthood. Furthermore, Saraiva, Brandão, and Matos (2018) reported that, in the European context, Portuguese and Italian parents contributed the most to their children’s incomes (an average of 146 € and 102 € per month, respectively).…”

Individuals with higher economic insecurity manifest greater self‐serving bias

“…As shown in previous study (Saraiva et al., 2018), we measured one's economic insecurity through using the sense of financial insecurity questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed one's subjective sense of their abilities to meet their financial needs now.…”

“…However, due to fact that economic insecurity is a state of uncertainty and unpredictability regarding one's financial well‐being. One's sense of economic insecurity could also be measured directly (Abeyta et al., 2017; Lu et al., 2018; Saraiva et al., 2018). For example, Saravia et al.…”

“…For example, Saravia et al. (2018) used eight questions about participants’ and their parent's current financial situation (e.g., “I worry very often if I will be able to pay my bills”; “My parents have enough money for all they need”) to measure their sense economic insecurity. To further figure out the relationship between economic insecurity and the self‐serving bias, the study 2 introduced the self‐report questionnaire to assess one's sense of economic insecurity.…”

“…People could derive sense of economic insecurity from unemployment status, low income, and poor economic prospect (Abeyta et al, 2017;Chou et al, 2016;Losee et al, 2019;Park et al, 2017). Previous studies have documented that economic insecurity increases the risk of physical pain, psychiatric disorders, and heart diseases (Catalano, 1991;Chou et al, 2016;Li & Mutchler, 2019;Russell et al, 2017;Saraiva et al, 2018). Economic insecurity could also impair cognitive functioning (Mani et al, 2013), trigger counterproductive financial planning (Shah et al, 2012), and make people afraid to confront with threats posed by environmental perils (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding) (Losee et al, 2019).…”