Edith Martinez

Emerging adulthood is a developmental phase in which personality, cognitive and identity is formed. During this time, there are decisions to be made by emerging adults. Many decisions made are however often made due to the way the person has been brought up with cultural standards, a set of morals or beliefs as well as pressure from their loved ones.

In some cases, certain individuals select an identity that is not really who they are simply because they did not have the opportunity to explore beyond what they were being told.

Erikson's lifespan development theory is based on an emphasis on how development occurs according to stages. His theory is a shortcoming in that it was formulated based on Western civilization and failed to include others which may be experiencing the same things due to the development that takes place around the world.

Erikson theory described how early childhood development played a major role in the individuals personality and behavior during adolescence and early adulthood. According to Mossler and Ziegler, "Erikson's theory concerns the development of the self, which is a conceptualization of how we evaluate our thoughts and attitudes about ourselves" (Mossler, & Ziegler, 2016). During this time, the individual is trying to discover who they are and explore other things that they are not familiar with.

According to a study conducted, "Results are discussed with attention to the ways in which women's adult development may have been shaped by experiences particular to both gender and birth cohort, and to how these women fit with E. H. Erikson's theory of adult development" (Zucker, Ostoye, & Stewart, 2002).

The emotional welfare of a child is important throughout their life due to the resilience theory. According to Mehring, "Resilience theory provides a framework for identifying and understanding factors that may influence the negative effects of childhood adversity" (Mehring, 2014).

An example of the resilience theory is that children generally have a hard time when their parents go through a divorce however when the children begin to emerge in adulthood those who accomplished resilience will be able to make commitments and feel that having a commitment to their spouse without a divorce is possible. Other individuals that encountered the same situation with their parents may not be able to successfully remain in a committed relationship due to their perception.

Mehring, D. B. (2014). Adverse childhood experiences and emotional well-being in emerging adults: The role of the perceived relationship with father (Order No. 3636388). Available from Psychology Database. (1615413059).

Mossler, R. A., & Ziegler, M. (2016). Understanding development: A lifespan perspective. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Zucker, A. N., Ostrove, J. M., & Stewart, A. J. (2002). College-educated women's personality development in adulthood: Perceptions and age differences. Psychology And Aging, 17(2), 236-244.

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Emerging Adulthood

Ethnic identity is theoretically linked to psychological well-being (Romero, Fryberg, & Orduna, 2014). Ethnic identity is shaped by an adolescent's internalization attitudes that transcend into young adulthood.In the article , Resilience to discrimination stress across ethnic identity stages of development, the researchers Romero, Fryberg, & Orduna's theses is based on the lifespan theory, and assumes that the formation of behaviors and attitudes concerning ethnic identity are influenced by ego developmental factors, which mature and evolve throughout an individual's lifespan (Romero, Fryberg, & Orduna, 2014). Ethnic identity also refers to one's sense of belonging to an ethnic group.

Ethnic identity affects an individual's perceptions, feelings, and behavior that are due to ethnic group membership (Acevedo-Polakovich, Chavez-Korell, & Umana-Taylor, 2014). It is also feeling positive about one's ethnic group's history. Based on the resilience theory, the development of ethnic identity may increase resilience to discrimination and prejudice. These issues are common and stressful for ethnic minority adolescent individuals (Acevedo-Polakovich, Chavez-Korell, & Umana-Taylor, 2014). In the article, U.S. Latinas/os' Ethnic

Identity: Context, Methodological Approaches, and Considerations Across the Life Span, researchers Acevedo-Polakovich, Chavez-Korell, & Umana-Taylor's theses assumes that, based on the resilience theory, ethnic affirmation has protective effects on adolescent's self-esteem and decreases depressive symptoms, which aids them in attaining favorable outcomes in their lives that will transcend into their young adulthood.

Theories of life span development address the stages of human growth that occur over the life cycle (Smith-Osborne, 2007). Lifespan development theories focus the development of an individual organism or anatomical or behavioral feature from formation to maturity. Lifespan development theories also focus on the series in which an individual's abilities, skills, and tasks are mastered (Smith-Osborne, 2007).

The theory or resilience focuses on at-risk populations and how they develop, overcome stress, and other adversities to attain functional outcomes in their early life stage or in a specific area of their lives (Smith-Osborne, 2007). This theory originally focused on children and adolescence, and how early events their lives affect them in adulthood. However, the resiliency approach is now being applied to at-risk adults.

The lifespan and resilience approach to ethnic identity assume that having a sense of ethnic identity has a positive effect on an adolescent's psychological wellbeing. The life span approach addresses how ethnic identity is developed from adolescence to young adulthood. The resilience approach addresses how the development of an adolescents ethnic identity, assists them in overcoming adversity and other stressful situations that may affect them as they become young adults.

The life span theory strengths include its expanded comprehension of personality development throughout and individual's life span. A strength of the resiliency theory is that it addresses the biopsychosocial characteristics of human development. A weakness of the life span theory is the inflexibility in the theoretical approach. A weakness of the resilience theory is that it the theory is only applied to at-risk populations.

References

Acevedo-Polakovich, I. D., Chavez-Korell, S., & Umana-Taylor, A. J. (2014). U.S. Latinas/os' Ethnic Identity: Context, Methodological Approaches, and Considerations Across the Life Span. Counseling Psychologist, 42(2), 154-169.

Romero, A. J., Edwards, L. M., Fryberg, S. A., & Orduna, M. (2014). Resilience to discrimination stress across ethnic identity stages of development. Journal Of Applied Social Psychology, 44(1), 1-11. doi:10.1111/jasp.12192

Smith-Osborne, A. (2007). Lifespan and resiliency theory: A critical review. Advances in Social Work, 8(1), 152-168.