The “Inner Side” of the Transition to Adulthood: How Young Adults See the Process of Becoming an Adult

Abstract Research on the subjective, psychological aspects or inner side of the transition to adulthood is limited despite considerable changes in this segment of the life course and speculation as to the increasing importance of internal, psychological facets of the transition. Extant research often employs artificial analytical divisions between internal and individualistic characteristics and traditional demographic markers due to methodological artifact and an underdeveloped theoretical framework. Our study extends prior work by using rich focus group data to analyze how young people construct the notion of “adult” and understand the process of becoming an adult. Similar to previous research using similar samples, respondents in our sample initially emphasize the internal, psychological facets of the transition to adulthood. However, in contrast to previous research, we do not find that youth dismiss the relevance of traditional demographic markers. Rather, these markers act as conduits in the transition to adulthood and provide structure for achieving many of the internal and individualistic changes in the contemporary transition to adulthood. We conclude by suggesting the need for a more comprehensive theoretical framework that addresses the connections between internal, psychological states and structured roles. Future research topics are also discussed.