engleski

Life Satisfaction and Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood in Regards to Professional Status

According to Arnett (2004), Emerging Adulthood is the age of feeling in-between, identity explorations, instability, self-focusing, and possibilities. As most research on emerging adulthood has focused on college students, less is known about the perception of this period in the employed or the unemployed and its relations to well-being. The main aim of this study was exploring the effects of gender, age and professional status on dimensions of emerging adulthood and life satisfaction. Additionally, we wanted to check the contribution of dimensions of emerging adulthood on life satisfaction, after controlling for demographics. Methods: A sample of 572 Croatian employed and unemployed youths, and college students (ages 19 to 28) was assessed. The measures used include the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) and The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: The effects of gender and professional status, after controlling for age, are different for specific dimensions of emerging adulthood. The females and the unemployed perceive this period more as time of selffocusing. Even if females, on average, see this period as time of instability and identity exploration, among the unemployed, gender differences tend to go in opposite directions. Regarding life satisfaction, unemployed men are least satisfied. All dimensions of emerging adulthood were significant predictors of life satisfaction, after controlling for age, gender and professional status. Perceiving this period more as a time of possibility and self- focusing and less as that of instability and identity exploration, predict higher satisfaction with life. Conclusions: Our results confirm that perceptions of Emerging Adulthood vary across demographic variables such as gender and professional status. Gender differences are more pronounced among unemployed emerging adults ; being unemployed has more detrimental effects on males rather than females. This information could have effects on developing preventive programmes for emerging adults, especially in societies with high unemployment rates.

emerging adulthood ; life satisfaction ; professional status

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