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The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults

Article in Polish Psychological Bulletin · January 2008

DOI: 10.2478/v10059-008-0020-9

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 Polish Psychological Bulletin

Original Papers
2008, vol. 39 (3), 129-137
DOI - 10.2478/v10059-008-0020-9

Ewa Gurba*

The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults

The article has made an attempt to identify the ways in which adolescents and adults see the process of “transitioning
into adulthood” and what attributes they think are necessary for an adult person to possess. The problem of “becoming
an adult” has been portrayed in the broader context of parent-adolescent relation development. Research by Smetana
(1988) has cast some light on a possible source of the conflict: differences in understanding social situations and the role
of authority figures by adolescents and their parents. In contemporary society there are no unquestionable determinants
of adulthood, a fact very conducive to intergenerational conflict. In the current study two groups of adolescents (15- and
18-year-olds) and a group of adults (38 to 56-year-olds) were examined using a questionnaire by J. J. Arnett (1997)
The Attributes of Adulthood. The results show marked uniformity among subjects as to the choice of “adulthood”
characteristics. They point to events such as reaching a certain age, completing one’s education or starting a family as the
least important in transitioning to adolescence. The most popular categories, regardless of age, included subjective and
psychological characteristics, such as financial independence, the ability to accept and fulfil new social roles or accepting
responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions. Reference to such ambiguous attributes can lead to parents and
adolescents interpreting them differently and thus contribute to misunderstanding and conflict in parent-child relations.

Keywords: adolescence, attributes of adulthood, transition to adulthood, parent-adolescent relations

The Concept of Adulthood a certain legal status, e.g., getting an ID or assuming full
legal responsibilities, is for one’s self-concept as an adult.
A life-span perspective on adulthood describes it as In contrast to more traditional cultures, western countries
a series of stages or phases (such as early, middle and find it increasingly difficult to pinpoint the precise moment
late adulthood) following the periods of childhood and of transition into adulthood. Postfigurative cultures,
adolescence. Each of these stages, according to Robert described by Margaret Mead (1986), employ culture-
Havinghurst (1972), revolves to a greater or lesser extent specific rituals to mark the transition. The responsibilities
around family life (e.g. the choice of a suitable spouse and associated with adulthood are in these cultures specified in
adapting to cohabitation following marriage, having a baby, a similar fashion, leaving no ambiguity. For girls living on
developing marital partnership based on equality, coming to Samoa, for example, such an unquestionable indication of
terms with the death of the spouse), a professional career, reaching the adult status would be body mass. Depending on
making friends and maintaining them or assuming social her weight a girl would assume, or not, clearly formulated
responsibilities. and commonly accepted rights and responsibilities.
The most frequent factors referred to in the literature Lack of such clarity in contemporary societies creates
concerned with the boundaries of adolescence marking its confusion and uncertainty as to the optimal outcome of
transition into adulthood are events commonly perceived as adolescent development regarding social roles, tasks, rights
such due to common beliefs and public expectations. Such as well as expectations and requirements. Legal criteria,
events indicating the passage into adulthood are usually like getting an ID or the right to vote, are frequently ignored
associated with certain developmental tasks, such as getting and bring about no change in the way transitioning youth is
married, completing one’s education, finding a job or treated by parents and educators. Moreover, adults are often
attaining financial independence. It is hard to tell, though, accused of blatant inconsistency in their attitudes towards
if entering adulthood necessarily means assuming all these adolescents. This gives grounds for a common complaint
responsibilities as well as what the significance of reaching that the way young people are treated – as children or adults

* Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University

129
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– depends on a specific situation and involves limiting stages of adolescence could also account for the role that
their independence with the simultaneous formulation of these differences play in the conflicts that arise between
expectations and responsibilities. parents and their pubescent children.
The condition of youth in postfigurative cultures is The intensity of these conflicts increases significantly
not a model we can conform to due to the major socio- in adolescence. Here are the causal factors most frequently
economic changes going on around us. It is no longer valid, referred to in the literature on the subject:
and has not been since the 1970s – due to these profound
changes – to describe “entering adulthood” through 1. Biological factors
events such as completing one’s education, getting a job, There are two perspectives that can be adopted when
forming an intimate relationship or assuming the role of analysing the influence biological factors exert on adult-
a parent (Nilsen, Brannen, 2002). Research shows that a adolescent conflict. These factors can affect parent-child
large percentage of young people do not conform to the relations either directly or indirectly. Direct biological
social clock and fail to enter the abovementioned “gates to action is described – based on extensive literature and
adulthood” at the time socially prescribed. The average age research – as the direct activity of adolescent hormones and
of people getting married or deciding on their first child has the influence that their fluctuating levels exercise on arousal
risen by a few years nowadays. A key factor in accounting and emotional stability, frequently leading to negative,
for this trend is prolonged education of young people for unexpected and violent behaviour (Paikoff, Brooks-Gunn,
whom technical and scientific progress is both a chance and 1990).
a challenge. Their proper social adjustment is contingent Indirect biological action is linked to maturational
on attaining a high level of expertise through a long process changes affecting adolescents throughout development.
of thorough education. This prolonged education leads in These changes, concerning sexual organs and other
turn to prolonged financial dependence. Having analysed physical characteristics, are indicative – to both parents
these trends and changes, Arnett, Ramas and Jansen and adolescents – of their reproductive and social maturity
(2001) concluded that the stage of life encompassing late and lead to a change in mutual expectations (Brooks-Gunn,
adolescence and early adulthood can no longer be regarded Zahaykevich, 1989; Collins, 1990) thus modifying in-
as a normative stage preparing adolescents to assume their family dynamics.
roles as adults. This is rather a time of experimenting with
and exploring of different life models, which means that 2. Social and cultural factors
the stage of psychosocial moratorium (E. Erikson, 1972) According to Margaret Mead (1986) an important source
is extended. In view of these facts, the authors suggest of parent-child conflict can be traced back to the disparate
introducing a new stage in life-span development, which realities of their upbringing. Their respective culture
they describe as “emerging adulthood”. models, value systems and general norms are a generation
apart. Rapid cultural changes are reflected in the process of
Perception of Adulthood in Adolescents and Adults. bringing up children and so in the quality of parent-child
Despite the considerable difficulty implicit in the relations. These changes can eventually lead to conflict – a
attempts to pinpoint the precise moment of transitioning clear example of the generation gap. In contemporary, rapidly
from adolescence into adulthood and the problems of evolving societies parents can no longer serve as the main
defining the relevant life events, a lot of research concerns repositories of knowledge about the world available to their
with finding objective determinants or normative measures children. Nowadays, especially in the West, an emphasis
of entering adulthood. In studying the process of adjustment is placed on achieving independence and striving towards
to adulthood it is very important to take into consideration individualism with simultaneous prolonged education
the way adolescents see and understand adulthood and its of young people and their financial dependence on the
attributes (Scheer, Unger, 1996). J. Jensen Arnett (1997) parents. This ‘double bind’ of conflicting expectations and
uses this perspective to emphasise the significance of actual living conditions imposing restraints on the extent of
research on the expectations that young people have independence attainable for the young is not conducive to
concerning the status of an adult, how to achieve it and good parent-child relations.
adjust to this newly acquired role.
The above factors are so important because the picture of 3. Psychological factors
adulthood that adolescents build up determines the behavior Psychodynamic theories (A. Freud, 1958; E. Erikson, 1997)
they choose to exhibit in order to cross the boundary that offer detailed descriptions of conflicts between parents and
separates them from it and enter the “gates to adulthood”; their children and their putative causal determinants. The
it also influences the way the role of an adult is fulfilled disturbed parent-child relation is thought to be an outward
in the future. A comparison of the differing conceptions sign of an instinctual propensity of young people to reject
of adulthood that are formed in adulthood and at various the authority of the parents when new, age-related standards

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 The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults 131

of behavior and limitations are imposed. These emerging Among the different traits included in the questionnaire
conflicts are seen as a necessary step in identity formation given to them, they were expected to mark those they
and autonomy development. considered indispensable for the acquisition of adult
Adolescent rebellion against authority is also present in status.
other theoretical perspectives and often tied to the nature
of cognitive development at this stage. Social relations, Subjects
including those with individuals formerly regarded as 40 second-graders from a junior high school in Krakow
authority figures, are undoubtedly affected when a new (mean age: 14.8)
powerful tool to explore the world around is mastered. The 30 second-graders from a high school in Krakow (mean
emerging ability of abstract, formal thinking leads to critical age: 18)
assessment of authority figures and the related logical 31 persons aged 37 to 56 and with different education
absolutism leaves no doubt as to the judgements passed levels (mean age: 42.4)
by adolescents. Given these cognitive changes, it is only The two different age groups of adolescents represent
reasonable to expect parent-child relations to be modified early and late adolescence, respectively.
accordingly, in the direction of more distance, more conflict Since one of the questions posed in the paper concerns
and more assertiveness on the part of adolescents. the role that the picture of adulthood plays in causing
J. G. Smetana (1988) has identified other cognitive parent-child conflict and tension, the subjects selected to
determinants affecting the quality of parent-child relations. the “adult” group represent an age group that could have
She was interested in the way children and their parents adolescent children.
understand the social world and found out that conflict
can arise as a consequence of a clash in interpreting social
events. Young people are inclined to treat many situations as Method and Procedure
a personal matter and not a matter of custom or convention
– unlike their parents. Consequently the authority of the A questionnaire was used to study the cognitive
parents is undermined because the expectations formed by representation of characteristics attributed to adults. An
them are seen as nothing less than an invasion of personal adapted version of the American questionnaire “Transition
space. Tidying the room can serve as a clear example of to Adulthood” by J. Jensen Arnett (1997) was employed. The
such a very delicate matter. According to parents “keeping questionnaire has 35 items and each item is a characteristic
things in order” is a reasonable chore and an expression of that can be attributed to a transitioning adolescent.
social convention but for adolescents it is a private matter The adolescent groups filled in their questionnaires
that parents should stay away from. These differences in collectively in class, which took about 20 minutes. The
the way certain events are interpreted can have serious adult subjects filled in their questionnaires individually at
repercussions for parent-child relations especially when home. The study was conducted by psychology students
they deal with such fuzzy ideas and vague concepts, as for from the Jagiellonian University.
example reaching adulthood is in our culture. The subjects had to organise their pre-selected attributes
As was mentioned before, in European and American of adulthood in order of importance. At the end of the study
cultures there are no well-defined and clear-cut boundaries they had to answer the question: do you consider yourself
separating the worlds of adults and adolescents. an adult? If they said yes, they had to specify when they
For this reason, but also following the suggestions became adults and what influenced this transition. If they
of Smetana (1988) indicating a clash in the cognitive said no, they had to speculate on when they thought they
interpretations of events in adults and adolescents, it would become adults.
seems important to identify the attributes of adulthood that The attributes included in the questionnaire were
adolescents and adults subscribe to. subsequently clustered by competent judges into the
Such an attempt has been made with the use of The following categories:
Questionnaire of the Transition to Adulthood by J. Jensen 1. Biological, 2. Emotional, 3. Social roles, 4.
Arnett (1997). Responsibilities, 5. Behavioural, 6. Legal/Chronological,
7. Financial.
Research on the Perception of Adulthood in Adolescents The items included in the specific categories were:
and Adults. Biological: a. capable of bearing/fathering children (5),
To learn what attributes of “transitioning into adulthood” b. grown to full height (8), c. possessing physical prowess
are recognised by adolescents and adults as well as if these and fitness (17), d. have sex (20), e. achieved sexual
different age groups differ on the criteria they apply to maturity (28), f. have at least one child (31).
adults, three groups: 15 year-olds, 18-year-olds and adults Emotional: a. establish a relationship with parents as
(aged from 37- to 56) were examined. equal adults (2), b. learn always to have good control of

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Table 1
Frequency of selecting each category of attributes associated with adulthood in three age groups (15-year-olds, 18-year-olds and adults).
Attributes selected by
15-year-olds 18-year-olds Adults
Category frequency % Category frequency % Category frequency %
Financial 61 Financial 59 Financial 61
Responsibilities 59 Responsibilities 59 Responsibilities 61
Social roles 53 Social roles 46 Social roles 57
Behavioural 47 Emotional 43 Emotional 43
Emotional 43 Behavioural 23 Behavioural 30
Legal/Chronol. 38 Legal/Chronol. 20 Legal/Chronol. 19
Biological 31 Biological 12 Biological 18

Figure 1. Categories of attributes associated with adulthood selected by adolescents and adults.

your emotions (3), c. not deeply tied to parents emotionally Financial: a. achieved financial independence (1), b.
(14), d. committed to a long-term love relationship (24). capable of supporting a family financially (16), c. purchased
Social roles: a. able to get a job (9), b. capable of caring a flat (25).
for children (11), c. capable of running a household (30), d.
involved in his/her career and social activity (32).
Responsibilities: a. accept responsibility for Analysis of results
consequences of your actions (10), b. no longer living
in parents’ household (12), c. decide on personal beliefs Within specific categories the mean frequency of
and values independently of parents or other influences choosing specific items listed in the questionnaire was
(27), d. make life-long commitments to others (29), e. use calculated. Because different categories had different
contraception if sexually active and not trying to conceive numbers of items a percentage was used as a convenient
a child (33). measure.
Behavioral: a. avoid becoming drunk (4), b. avoid In order to identify the significance that adolescents
taking drugs (15), c. have no more than one sexual partner and adults attach to the concept of adulthood and assess
(18), d. drive an automobile safely and close to speed limit similarities and differences in its perception, separate
(26), e. avoid committing petty crimes like shoplifting and analyses were made for each age group and related statistics
vandalism (34), f. avoid using profanity/vulgar language were calculated.
(35). It was assumed that a relationship existed between
Legal/Chronological: a. obtained driver’s licence (6), b. the frequency of choosing certain “adult” characteristics
reached age (7), c. finished with education (13), d. obtained and the validity of these characteristics for the picture of
ID (19), e. married (22). adulthood that our subjects had.

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 The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults 133

Table 2 adulthood. Supporting a family financially and providing

Differences between specific age groups related to the frequency of security for the family went next, along with reaching
selection of categories of adulthood attributes.
financial independence as the most popular choices in
Category Groups “adulthood” attributes. Both adolescents and adults were
Biological 15-year-olds – 18-year-olds 15-year-olds – adults also likely (more than 50% of choices within each group) to
t=3.887 t=2.528 point to the ability to have good control of one’s emotions
p=.000 p=.01
as a significant indicator of adulthood, although this choice
Behavioural 15-year-olds – 18-year-olds 15-year-olds – adults
was most pronounced in the groups of early adolescents
t=3.281 t=2.243
p=.001 p=.001 and adults, and not so much in the late adolescence group.
The attributes deciding on personal beliefs and values
Legal/Chrono- 15-year-olds – 18-year-olds 15-year-olds – adults
logical t=2.926 t=3.20 independently of parents and other influences and capability
p=.005 p=.001 of bearing/fathering children had a higher frequency of
selection only in the two groups of adolescents. For adults,
reaching adulthood was more about the capability of caring
What categories of attributes of adulthood were most for children than simple procreation. It was, admittedly,
frequently chosen by 15-year-olds, 18-year-olds and equally often selected by 15-year-olds. These two groups
adults? were in similar agreement about avoiding becoming drunk,
An analysis of the frequency that given attributes of with the majority of 15-year-olds additionally pointing
adulthood were selected shows that for all three age groups out avoiding taking drugs as ideally typical of an adult.
there were three main categories of attributes that were It is worth mentioning here that among the attributes of
chosen most frequently and comparably frequently. These adulthood most popular with 18-year-olds there were none
three categories of attributes indicating reached adulthood from the category of risk behaviors mentioned above.
were: a. financial status, b. responsibilities, and c. social Sexual maturity was considered an adult characteristic
roles. In choosing the criteria indicating that adulthood only by a majority of 15-year-olds, unlike the other two
has been attained most of the subject ranked financial groups. Two other characteristics of adulthood: making
independence and the ability to support a family financially life-long commitments to others and capability of running
as equally important as the ability to accept responsibility a household were selected by no other group than adults.
for oneself and one’s family. However, the category of being
able to accept and fulfil given social roles was ranked as Were there any differences in the frequency of attribute
vital for becoming an adult only by the majority of 15-year- selection in the studied age groups?
olds and adults but less than half 18-year-olds. In an attempt to answer the fundamental question of
this study: is it possible that the factors responsible for the
Do the categories of selected attributes differentiate studied observed parent-child conflict are the differences in their
age groups? cognitive representations of adulthood, t-student statistics
To answer this question an analysis of significance were calculated to see whether and concerning what
of differences in the frequency of choosing each group of attributes of adulthood individual age groups differ as to
attributes by each age group of subjects was conducted. the frequency of selecting particular items.
Statistically significant differences in the frequency A comparison of the early and late adolescence groups
of choosing different attributes by 15-year-olds, 18-year- with the group of adults was especially interesting and
olds and adults were found for the following categories: informative.
a. behavioral, b. legal/chronological, and c. biological. It The attributes of adulthood that successfully
has to be specified, though, that the frequency of choosing differentiated at least two groups of subjects as to the
items from all three categories of attributes was significantly frequency of selection can be found in the table below.
higher for 15-year-olds than for adults and that they were As to the frequency of selecting particular attributes
more likely to choose items in the behavioral and legal/ of adulthood the greatest differences were found between
chronological categories compared to 18-year-olds. the groups of 15-year-olds and 18-year-olds (8 significant
differences in attribute selection) and then between 15-year-
What attributes of adulthood were most frequently selected olds and adults (7 significant differences in attribute
by 15-year-olds, 18-year-olds and adults? selection). The smallest differences were found between the
An analysis of the frequency of selecting individual groups of 18-year-olds and adults (3 significant differences
attributes of adulthood shows that the most frequent choice, in attribute selection).
regardless of the subjects’ age, was accepting responsibility A comparison of the choices made by the early and late
for the consequences of one’s actions. All adults and almost adolescence groups shows that apart from one “adulthood”
90% of adolescents (in both the early and late adolescence attribute described in the questionnaire as establishing a
groups) ranked it as the most important determinant of

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Table 3
The attributes of adulthood selected by the majority of subjects in each age group.
Attributes of adulthood selected by
15-year-olds 18-year-olds Adults
Attribute Freq.% Attribute Freq.% Attribute Freq.%
Responsibility for one’s actions. 88 Responsibility for one’s actions. 90 Responsibility for one’s actions. 100
Providing security for one’s family. 80 Supporting a family financially. Inde- 80 Providing security for one’s 90
pendent decision-making. family.
Supporting a family financially. 78 Financial independence. 73 Financial independence. 83
Good control of one’s emotions. 75 Providing security for one’s family. 70 Good control of one’s emotions. 73
Independent decision-making.
Independent decision-making. 73 Relationship with parents based on 67 Getting a job. 65
equality.
Getting a job. Capability of bearing/ 70 Relationship with parents based on 53 Avoiding getting drunk. Capabil- 59
fathering children.Avoiding taking equality. Capability of bearing/father- ity of looking after a child.
drugs. ing children.
Capable of looking after a child. 65 Making life-long commitments 53
to others.
Avoiding getting drunk. 64 Capability of running a house- 51
hold.
Sexual maturity. 63
Getting an ID. 55

Table 4
The attributes of adulthood differentiating groups of 15-year-olds, 18-year-olds and adults as to the frequency of their selection.
Attribute 15-year-olds – 18-year-olds t 15-year-olds – adults t 18-year-olds – adults t
% p % p % p
Relationship with parents 23 2.667
based on equality 67 .001
Reaching a certain age 35 2.580
11 .012
Getting a job 70 2.593 40 -2.064
40 .012 65 .043
Responsibility for one’s 87 -2.269
actions 100 .027
Avoiding taking drugs 70 3.560 70 4.118
30 .001 27 .000
Getting married 20 -2.509
49 .015
Getting an ID 55 2.436 55 3.811
27 .017 16 .000
Working full-time 30 2.050
10 .044
Sexual maturity 63 3.307 63 3.308
23 .002 30 .004
Having at least one child 18 2.050 018 -2.606
0 .015 .011
Avoiding committing petty 38 3.733 38 3.401
crimes 17 .003 19 .001

relationship with parents as equal adults which was more c. getting an ID, d. working full-time, e. sexual maturity, f.
popular among the 18-year-olds, the other 7 attributes having at least one child and g. avoiding committing petty
differentiating the two groups were more frequently selected crimes.
by the younger adolescents. The indicators of adulthood in Similar differences in the frequency of selecting
question were: a. getting a job, b. avoiding taking drugs, particular attributes of adulthood were found between the

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 The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults 135

groups of 15-year-olds and adults, and in 4 cases they were subjects, including the younger groups, financial backing
identical. The 15-year-olds were more likely than the adults is primarily meant as a means of supporting a family, and
to identify adulthood with qualities such as: a. avoiding is only then considered in terms of financial independence.
taking drugs, b. getting an ID, c. sexual maturity and d. This means that an important feature of adulthood is thought
avoiding committing petty crimes. Besides, for the younger to be the ability to assume responsibility for oneself and
adolescents reaching a certain age was a popular criterion others. All adults and almost 90% of adolescents ranked this
of adulthood whereas the adults were more likely to refer characteristic as an indispensable attribute of adulthood.
to accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s This attribute of adulthood is also dominant among the items
actions as an important indicator of being an adult. selected by American adolescents and adults examined
with the original questionnaire by J. Jensen Arnett (1997,
2000). Similar results were obtained by Scheer (1996) on
Discussion of Results a group of American 16-year-olds, who saw transitioning
into adulthood as a process of accepting responsibility for
It is important to remember that the main purpose of their actions. Another popular “adulthood” characteristic
this study was to answer the following questions: among American subjects was deciding on personal beliefs
1. What is the picture of adulthood that adolescents and and values independently of parents and other influences.
adults possess? What is their understanding of the According to researchers such an outcome is a feature of
concept? the individualism present in the American culture which
2. Is it possible that one of the sources of misunderstanding values independence and self-sufficiency most of all and
and parent-child conflict is the discrepancy in places strong emphasis on this value in the process of
perceptions of adulthood between adults and socialisation.
adolescents? According to a majority of Polish subjects, especially
To answer the first question it can be helpful to analyze 15-year-olds and adults, a quality typical of an adult is the
the frequency of selecting particular questionnaire items ability to maintain good control of one’s emotions. Selecting
describing “adulthood” characteristics in the three age this trait by the 15-year-olds is probably connected to the
groups under investigation. It is enough to perform an initial problems they themselves experience controlling their
analysis to see that the youngest subjects, the 15-year-olds, own, frequently conflicting and fluctuating, emotions.
select a larger number of attributes in almost each and Among the 18-year-olds, having achieved hormonal and
every category compared to the two other groups. What emotional stability, this quality is of lesser importance. It is
it means is that in early adolescence it seems necessary only in middle adulthood that this trait is again sufficiently
to fulfil a significant number of conditions to become an appreciated, which comes in the wake of diverse life
adult, an assumption not shared by the two older groups. experiences pointing to the considerable usefulness of
This phenomenon can be understood in the context of one’s ability to control emotions and its significance as
moral rigor and criticism typical of adolescent idealism. an attribute of adulthood. The groups of 15-year-olds and
Young people at this age (14 and 15-year-olds) place high adults also made similar choices concerning the attributes
demands on adults. describing risk behaviors (avoiding becoming drunk or
Apart from that, all subjects, regardless of their age, refer taking drugs). Failing to include this category among the
to a picture of adulthood with similar, dominant categories six most popular characteristics of adulthood selected by
of attributes. According to all subjects, adulthood can be 18-year-olds corroborates the finding by J. J. Arnett (2001)
characterised in terms of financial standing, the ability to who thinks that propensity for risk behaviors is most
accept responsibility in different areas of activity and the pronounced in young people past the age of 18, the fact
ability to accept the roles that culture or society assigns. that he uses to suggest introducing an additional stage in
The last characteristic, however, is more popular among human development, preceding early adulthood, which he
the youngest and oldest groups than in the 18-year-olds. describes as “emerging adulthood”. It is understandable
The emphasis that adolescents place on achieving then that older adolescents who display such behaviours but
certain financial standing in order to become adults may also meet a number of other criteria of adulthood will not
be seen as an expression of their striving for autonomy and expect adults to avoid becoming drunk or taking drugs.
independence. Their journey to reach these goals is often In the picture of adulthood that is built from the perspective
hindered by what they perceive as financial dependence on of 18-year-olds the traits that can be seen most clearly,
their parents. That is why achieving a certain financial status especially in comparison to the two remaining groups, are
can be treated as a kind of a “ticket” to adulthood identified deciding on personal beliefs and values independently of
with the ability to make independent decisions. A deeper parents and other influences and establishing a relationship
analysis of the selection of particular financial attributes with parents as equal adults. The latter characteristic
makes it impossible to ignore the fact that, according to the was completely ignored by the other participants.

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136 Ewa Gurba

Older adolescents display with increasing frequency of the agents involved in the exchange of opinions, it is
the intellectual aptitude to form their own, independent only fair to expect that the relationship of parents with their
judgements and build relationships with their parents based 15-year-old children will be more disturbed than if their
on mutual respect and equality, relationships which allow children are 18-year-olds. American research proves exactly
them to experience their own adulthood. that: parent-child conflict is more pronounced in early
In a summary of our considerations concerning the most stages of adolescence (Steinberg, 1987), with its intensity
popular attributes of adulthood selected by adolescents reaching its peak in middle adolescence (Laursen, 1998).
and adults it is important to emphasise the substantial Different world views are of course not the only source
overlap between groups as to the dominant characteristics of intensifying parent-adolescent conflict. It would be a
that apply to the transitioning individual. The majority of serious oversight to discount the significance of biological
participants from each age group had a picture of adulthood factors which, in the early stages of adolescence, can
including qualities such as accepting responsibility for upset the hormonal equilibrium of the organism and lead
the consequences of one’s actions, the ability to support to increased reactivity, fluctuating moods and emotional
the family financially and provide it with security and the instability (Buchanan, Eccles, Becker, 1992).
ability to maintain good control of one’s emotions. When, at the end of this paper, we look again at the picture
Similar overlap was also found in biological and legal/ of adulthood we were able to identify in our study, based
chronological attributes, which, according to all subjects, – in both adolescents and adults – on such characteristics
had only negligible relevance for becoming an adult. as accepting responsibility for oneself as well as one’s
Is it possible then that the similarity observed in the family, the ability to support a family and provide it with
adolescent and adult groups of subjects as to the significant security, financial independence or the ability to have good
attributes of adulthood suggests that this is not exactly the control of one’s emotions, we cannot fail to notice that our
place where we should be looking for the sources of parent- subjects perceive adulthood as a process rather than a series
adolescent conflict? of critical events marking the transition into adulthood.
An answer to this question requires an analysis of Almost completely ignoring the legal/chronological
the differences between adolescents and adults in their attributes can be seen as a sign of the times, when the
cognitive representations of adulthood. period of education is prolonged and the decision to marry
The largest number of statistically significant differences or have children is often delayed. That is why it is no longer
in the frequency of choosing particular attributes of possible to use unquestionable, unambiguous and objective
adulthood was found between the groups of 15-year-olds criteria of adulthood. On the other hand the negligible
and 18-year-olds and between the groups of 15-year-olds importance attached to biological attributes signifies an
and adults, whereas the smallest number of such differences awareness, in the old and young alike, of insufficiency of
was found between the groups of 18-year-olds and adults. biological maturity for becoming an adult. In the picture of
Older adolescents are not as likely as adults to include adulthood shared by participants from all three age groups
getting a job, getting married or having at least one child the prevailing categories include individual qualities
as important indicators of adulthood. Younger adolescents, concerning, e.g. the ability to provide for one’s family or
however, are more likely than older adolescents and adults financial independence as well as psychological qualities,
to associate adulthood with qualities such as avoiding taking such as accepting responsibility for the consequences of
drugs, avoiding committing petty crimes, sexual maturity, one’s actions. As a consequence, the picture of adulthood in
getting an ID or reaching a certain age and less likely than the eyes of both adolescents and adults becomes amorphous
adults to refer to traits such as accepting responsibility and indistinct and the qualities constituting it become open
for the consequences of one’s actions. It is easy to notice to liberal interpretation and arbitrary evaluation. Being
that younger adolescents particularly value principles of responsible is often quite a different thing for an adolescent
conduct espoused in educational influence as well as these and for an adult, which means different behaviors. The
indications of adulthood still beyond their reach. That is interpretations of the dominant attributes of adulthood are
why the pictures of adulthood are so different in the groups thus largely subjective so despite the significant overlap in
of 15-year-olds and adults, much more so than between the cognitive representations of adulthood in adolescents
the groups of 18-year-olds and adults. It proves that the and adults this subjectivity or idiosyncrasy of interpretation
period of modifying the picture of adulthood, especially can constitute an important source of parent-child conflict.
concerning minor characteristics, takes place between early The analyses carried out and the interpretations offered
and late adolescence. In the current study, older adolescents based on the results of the questionnaire “Transitioning
had a picture of adulthood very similar to that presented by to Adulthood” indicate a necessity to supplement the test
adults. with a justification of the choices made as to the selected
Assuming that the quality of interpersonal relations is attributes given by the subjects. This would allow to look
positively correlated with the similarity of the mindsets into the meanings that adolescents and adults attach to the

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 The Attributes of Adulthood Recognised by Adolescents and Adults 137

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