Friendship
Friendships during emerging adulthood may be less stable than in earlier and later periods because of the frequency with which people of this age relocate. They tend to center on work and parenting activities and the sharing confidences and advice.
There tend to be gender differences in the way young adults develop intimate friendships.
Women
- Tend to have more intimate friendships than men.
- More likely to discuss problems they are having in their relationships and are more open to receiving advice and support.
- Tend to have more close friends than men.
Men
- More likely to share information and activities, not confidences, with friends.
- Share confidences on a more limited basis.
- Competition can be an aspect of friendship, but the focus is usually on social interaction, not winning.
Love
According to Sternberg's triangular theory of love, patterns of love in young adulthood hinge on the balance between intimacy, passion, and commitment.
Typical patterns of loving are listed as follows:
- Nonlove = no intimacy, passion, or commitment
- Liking = intimacy
- Infatuation = passion
- Empty Love = commitment
- Romantic Love = intimacy and passion
- Compassionate Love = intimacy and commitment
- Fatuous Love = passion and commitment
- Consummate Love = intimacy, passion, and commitment
Marital and Nonmarital Lifestyles
Single Life
The proportion of young adults in the US who have not yet married has increased dramatically. This is due to factors such as:
- Changes in social norms of dating and courtship
- Less social pressure to marry
- More freedom to take risks, experiment, make changes, and experience sexual freedom
- More financial independence
- Fear of marriage ending in divorce
Gay and Lesbian Relationships
- Long term gay and lesbians are more common on societies that tolerate, accept, or support them.
- The ingredients for long-term satisfaction in the relationship are the same as those of heterosexual relationships.
- Experience more stress than heterosexual relationships when attempting to have a legal marriage and receive federal rights and benefits that marriage brings.
Cohabitation
- An unmarried, committed couple involved in a sexual relationship that live together.
- Has increased among all racial and ethnic groups and all educational levels in the US.
- More than half of all US couples who marry have lived together.
Marriage
- The typical marrying age has increased for young adults in industrialized countries by about 4-6 years (26 for women and 28 for men).
- Transition to married life brings major life changes and a redefining of relationships both inside and outside of the marriage.
- Factors for success or failure of a marriage include, happiness with the relationship, presence of emotional support, communication and conflict management skills, age of marriage, and the presence of spousal abuse.
- Statistics of divorce have increased.
(Papalia, 2009, p. 462-470)
Occupational Balance and Relationships
During this transition towards the development of more intimate relationships, most young adults will maintain that their social relationships are a large factor in whether or not they feel a sense of occupational balance. Those who find they do not have enough time to spend with friends or loved ones are more likely to be imbalanced.
In one study on occupational balance, participants, "emphasized the importance of not
only good relationships but also good reciprocal relationships. It was considered important to have relationships including the possibility to help others, but
not to the degree of feeling exploited, i.e. a balance
between giving and receiving" (Wagman, 2012, p. 382).
Therefore, for a young adult to be occupationally balanced they must seek reciprocal, intimate relationships and make time for their social needs.
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