Media Events 2010: Please click on the title to obtain the full story or interview
Recession shatters many young career dreams
Kansas City Star 11/20/2010 “…Our wounded economy has twentysomethings limping
into the job market. Large numbers are out of work. Even more look long and hard
only to find jobs that don’t capitalize on their talents or pay much. … What
complicates the hard times for the young, said Clark University psychologist
Jeffrey Arnett, is that they haven’t fully become adult. His studies of
‘emerging adulthood’ — the slow process that doesn’t see full maturity until
about 30 — find that trouble landing work delays maturation and a healthy sense
of self-worth. …”
Not quite grown up
11/14/2010 Is generation Y's reluctance to rush through the rites of passage
from adolescence to adulthood a sign of self-indulgence or a sensible response
to an increasingly complex world? … Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology
professor at Clark University in Massachusetts, USA, is leading the movement to
view the 20s as a distinct life stage, one that has developed in response to
cultural change, not simply the lazy indecisiveness of an oft-maligned
generation.
Don’t get caught up in a quarter-life crisis
Red & Black (U of Georgia) 11/8/2010 “…It seems I’ve always had a plan for life.
After college, I quickly transitioned into adulthood… A recent New York Times
article by Robin Marantz Henig entitled, “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” posed
the question, “Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?”
Henig says young people today are forestalling the beginning of adulthood.
Henig’s article cites research by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor
at Clark University, which outlines the 20s as a distinct life stage called
‘emerging adulthood.’ ” Arnett’s work was also quoted in the newspaper of
Quinnipiac this week.
Is 30 the new 20 for adults?
AARP.com blog 11/04/2010 Wonder why your grown kids seem so much younger than
you at that age? Two experts explain why.
Women Talk:
Confusion in Options
RIA Novosti (News agency, Russia) 10/12/2010 Columnist Svetlana Kolchik writes:
“… In a recent New York Times magazine article, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a
psychology professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., explores the
phenomenon of “emerging adulthood” which, according to him, tends to start
somewhere in the early 20s and, if all goes well, should end in the early 30s
when some of the milestone life decisions such as choosing a career and a
partner are supposed to be made. …”
Separation anxiety
More Magazine 9/2010 issue Writer Judith Timson writes on "Separation anxiety:
In today's age of hyper-parenting, it's hard to pinpoint when our kids are truly
grown up."
Emerging
adulthood
Walkingonair.org 9/30/2010 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, research professor, Department
of Psychology, is interviewed on “Walking on Air with Betsy and Sal,” a
syndicated, one-hour talk radio program online and carried on AM stations from
California to Virginia. The audio is available in two parts:
Emerging Adults
part 1;
Emerging Adults part 2.
The Peter Pan Generation
Fox Business News 9/28/2010 “…According to Jeffrey Arnett, a psychology
professor at Clark University, there is a quiet revolution taking place across
the world in which people in their 20s are taking longer to settle down. He
calls it ‘emerging adulthood’ and has been studying the subject for more than a
decade, interviewing hundreds of 20-something-year-olds about how and why their
road to adulthood is a longer route than their parents. FOX Business sat down
with Arnett to discuss this phenomenon and what it means for everyone's bottom
line.” The video and an expanded Q&A with Arnett are posted at foxbusiness.com.
The new twenty-something generation
UWM Post (University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee student newspaper) 9/27/2010 “I
can’t get it out of my head. This New York Times Magazine article from August,
titled ‘What Is It About 20-Somethings?’ by contributing writer Robin Marantz
Henig – I can’t escape it. But so it goes, I suppose, when something is so
candidly full of truths, it becomes unavoidable. ... Clark University Psychology
Professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett fronts this movement, asserting that this new
development should be viewed as a distinct life stage: ‘emerging adulthood.’ ”
Act your age! What, in the 21st century, does that mean?
The Independent (UK) 9/26/2010 “...A US-based developmental psychologist, who is
leading efforts to analyse the new age groups, believes the twenties – which
once saw adults married and saddled with a family before even reaching the
halfway mark – should be viewed as the new life stage of ‘emerging adulthood.’
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University in
Worcester, Massachusetts, thinks hitting 20 is no longer the gateway to becoming
an adult, but is the start of a further 10-year journey to reaching that
milestone.”
Twentysomethings
WCVB TV CH5 Chronicle HD 9/22/2010 Clark University psychology research
professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is interviewed for the news magazine topic
(intro): “They stay in school longer, enter marriage and parenthood later, and
recently, due to the lousy economy, have had a hard time getting out of their
childhood bedrooms in the first place. We're talking about the Millennial
generation, 18 to 25 year olds who are very different from their Baby Boomer
parents.”
Emerging Adulthood: What Is It About 20-Somethings?
TVO (Ontario Public Television) 9/20/2010 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, research
professor of psychology at Clark University, is interviewed about his research
on emerging adulthood on “The Agenda with Steve Paikin.”
Hard times make it harder for everyone to grow up
Providence Journal 9/17/2010 “… Many of our young people, though, are
sauntering. The reasons why were taken up in an Aug. 22 New York Times magazine
article, in which the author asks, ‘What’s with these people in their 20s?’ No
snickering. Actual research on the subject is being done. Leading the charge is
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at Clark University, in Worcester.
He proposes that, in the transition to adulthood, a new phase of human
development is occurring.”
Talking ‘bout my generation of slackers
Columbia Spectator 9/13/2010 “Do people in their 20s take too long to grow up? …
No, no, no, and no. I am in my 20s and strongly resent being told that I’m not
working hard enough. We are not putting off adulthood. … The New York Times
Magazine recently ran a 10-page spread discussing the state of 20-somethings. In
this piece, Robin Marantz Henig overviews why it takes this long for people in
their 20s to reach what is commonly defined as ‘adulthood.’ Henig draws on the
work of Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a Clark University psychology professor, whose
extensive research has led him to label the 20s lifestage as ‘emerging
adulthood.’…”
20-somethings: NOT lazy, spoiled or selfish
OUPblog (Oxford University Press) 9/10/2010 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett published this
blog to expand on the ideas presented in the recent New York Times Magazine
article on his research, and to respond to stereotypes about “emerging adults.”
He writes: “How do you know when you’ve reached adulthood? This is one of the
first questions I asked when I began my research on people in their twenties,
and it remains among the most fascinating to me. …”
Students delaying adulthood
Doane Line (Doane College, Neb.) 9/9/2010 “Graduate school may not be the
typical idea of Neverland, but it is one of the major reasons this college
generation has been accused of refusing to grow up. … Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a
psychology professor at Clark University cited in the Times article, said that
our generation had a more positive outlook about early adulthood than older
generations did. …”
Generation Y delays growing up, pursues different opportunities
The Daily Orange (Syracuse University) 9/8/2010 “In an August 2010 article in
The New York Times, ‘What Is It About 20-Somethings,’ reporter Robin Marantz
Henig examines the possibility that 20-somethings are taking a significantly
longer time growing up and reaching adulthood. … Henig writes of this new stage
of adolescence as ‘emerging adulthood,’ a term coined by psychology professor
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett at Clark University.”
Why 30 is the new 20
Toronto Star 9/8/2010 “Today, Hamlet would likely fit in among his fellow
twentysomethings. According to new psychological research, today's youth are
delaying big milestones such as marriage, career and children later than ever. …
This has caught the attention of a small but increasingly influential group of
psychology experts who say we should consider the period between the age of 18
and the late 20s as a new life stage called “emerging adulthood.” It would be
characterized by five features, according to Clark University psychologist
Jeffrey Arnett…”
Failure to stay launched: Boomerang kids moving back home
ParentDish 9/8/2010 “…There's a good chance your 20- or 30-something ‘older’
child could be returning to the nest. … ‘Usually moving home is temporary and
transitional,’ Jeffrey Arnett, professor of psychology at Clark University and
author of ‘Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the
Twenties’ (Arnett Hardcover, 2004), tells ParentDish. ‘Despite the 'failure to
launch' stereotype, few young adults want to live at home because life is easy
there and the rent is cheap.’…”
Are the
twenties the new teens?
The Emily Rooney Show (WGBH radio) 8/31/2010 “Young adults are marrying, buying
property, and starting families later than ever before. Are people in their
twenties just refusing to grow up or are we experiencing an inexorable change in
the timetable for reaching adulthood? We’re joined by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett,
research professor of Psychology at Clark University and author of Emerging
Adulthood: The Winding Road from Late Teens through the Twenties and by David D.
Burstein, the 21-year-old founder and executive director of Generation18.”
Young and free
Chattanooga Times Free Press 8/27/2010 “…While passion projects are often points
of pride, taking on an alternative, entrepreneurial career path such as Glen’s
is not a realistic prospect for the majority of people in their 20s and 30s ….
However, with a 9.5-percent national unemployment rate and a trend toward people
in their 20s delaying marriage, the question arises: Is the notion of the
traditional career path waning? “It certainly is more flexible,” said Jeffrey
Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
“I think people still need to find a career path eventually, by 30 or so.”
“When do
you become a grown-up?”
Today (NBC) 8/24/2010 Psychology Professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett was interviewed
on NBC’s Today Show for the segment, “When do you become a grown-up?” Besides
being featured in the “most emailed” New York Times story, which was referenced
in media outlets ranging from Psychology Today to the “Daily Show with Jon
Stewart,” Arnett was also interviewed on WNET TV (PBS) in New York, The Laura
Ingraham Show, Seattle public radio's
"The Conversation with Ross
Reynolds [Clark Class of '75]," and many others. The topic has captured
numerous mentions online among bloggers and in social media.
What is it about 20-somethings?
New York Times Magazine (cover feature) 8/22/2010“… Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a
psychology professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., is leading the
movement to view the 20s as a distinct life stage, which he calls ‘emerging
adulthood.’ He says what is happening now is analogous to what happened a
century ago, when social and economic changes helped create adolescence….” The
landmark study “Adolescence,” published in 1904 by Clark’s first president, G.
Stanley Hall, is mentioned. This article was excerpted or referenced by numerous
media, including Psychology Today, the Huffington Post, Globe & Mail (UK), the
Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Daily Beast’s “Must Read Cheat Sheet”,
Lemondrop.com, NDTV (New Delhi), and mire. The feature has sparked many online
blog-based and social media discussions.
Jeffrey Arnett / Clark University - Emerging Adulthood
WNET TV (PBS) New York 8/21/2010 Psychology professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is
interviewed about his research on emerging adults, on “One on One with Steve
Adubato.” The show discusses “compelling, real life stories and features
political leaders, CEOs, television personalities, professors, artists and
educational innovators who each share their experiences and accomplishments.”
The video is available online.
Jeffrey Arnett - Emerging Adulthood interview with Jill Kaufman
AMHERST, MA (WFCR) - Parents of 20-somethings and young people, take note!
Adulthood may arrive later than you think. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is a research
professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He says
the delay in making the leap into adulthood constitutes a new life stage which
he calls "emerging adulthood."
‘Emerging adulthood’ new life stage?
Mynorthwest.com & KIRO - 710 AM (Seattle) 8/19/2010 “There's a new term being
used to describe the age between adolescence and adulthood. Dr. Jeffrey Jensen
Arnett, in the Department of Psychology at Clark University, has dubbed the era
between your teens and adulthood ‘emerging adulthood.’ …” A link to the radio
interview is included: http://bit.ly/bkwmck.
The
science of roommates
The New York Times 7/25/2010 “First-year roommates matter. Though they may go
their separate ways sophomore year, their reach can ripple throughout the
college years and after. … ‘Peer pressure is intense in that first year of
college, probably more intense than in any other year of life,’ says Jeffrey
Jensen Arnett, a research psychologist at Clark University and author of
Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From Late Teens Through the 20s. ‘Everyone
around you is a stranger and you want to fit in,’ he says.”
Stalled on the road to security
Chicago Tribune 7/2/2010 “The class of 2010 is hearing lots of stirring speeches
about the end of a journey. But for a wide swath of young people, earning a
diploma or notching a 21st birthday won't be the culmination of anything. Their
trajectories will stall -- like Gleeson's -- or go in reverse as they move home,
propped up by parents. ... When does assistance turn into enabling? Jeffrey
Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.,
and author of Emerging Adulthood, said that knowing when to cut off aid is more
art than science.” This article ran in several media, including the Arizona
Republic 6/29).
Dating for a decade? Young adults aren't rushing marriage
USA Today 6/22/2010 “Relationships today are far different from the whirlwind
courtships that blossomed in the uncertain 1930s and '40s. …Although breaking up
and getting back together has been considered a bad sign… this back-and-forth
reflects a desire among some to keep their options open, experts say. ‘They may
still have this feeling they don't want their possibilities constricted,’ says
psychologist Jeffrey Arnett of Clark University in Worcester, Mass., who studies
emerging adulthood. This article ran in several other media outlets across the
country.
Any Job Better Than No Job?
New York Times - Room For Debate blog 6/6/2010 “Economists estimate that the
U.S. needs to add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with new
workers — high school and college graduates — entering the market. In such a
climate, should the new college graduates consider jobs they might have rejected
a few years ago? A recent Times Magazine article by Judith Warner pointed out
that some studies show young people just out of college are turning down jobs
that they don’t like. In this economy, is any job better than no job?...” Among
expert commentary cited, is “Why Shouldn’t They Take Their Time?” by Jeffrey
Jensen Arnett, research professor of psychology at Clark University and the
author of “Emerging
Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties.”
The
Why-Worry Generation
New York Times Magazine 5/24/2010 “For the past few years, it’s been open season
on Generation Y — also known as the millennials, echo boomers or, less
flatteringly, Generation Me. … And though less than a quarter of seniors who
applied for work had postgraduation job offers in hand by late April (compared
with 52 percent in 2007), many are still approaching work with attitudes suited
for a full-employment economy. ‘Almost universally they want to find a job
that’s not just a job but an expression of their identity, a form of
self-fulfillment,’ says Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a Clark University psychology
professor who interviewed hundreds of young people across the economic spectrum
for his book, ‘Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From the Late Teens Through
the Twenties.’ …”
Stalled on the road to security
Chicago Tribune 5/23/2010 “… Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at
Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and author of ‘Emerging Adulthood,’ said
that knowing when to cut off aid is more art than science. The key question: Is
the support helpful or counterproductive? ‘Look for a plausible plan on how your
child plans to move themselves toward self-sufficiency,’ Arnett explained. If
your rudderless child is intensely job-hunting, making contacts and searching
Web sites it could be smarter than taking a minimum-wage job. ‘But if they're
not going anywhere, it's a drain on you and not good for them,’ said Arnett, who
is working on an advice book for this phase, due out next year."
Debate rages over teen ‘narcissism’
ParentCentral 4/21/2010 “A fierce debate over whether today’s teenagers are
really narcissistic, self-entitled slackers is ricocheting across academia. An
analysis of nearly a half-million high school students over 30 years by two
psychologists, including Dr. Kali Trzesniewski at the University of Western
Ontario, declared this month that the kids are all right… ‘Oh, grow up!’ snapped
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett of Clark University in Massachusetts. You’re all missing
the point. Arnett’s own theory is that the modern world has created a new stage
in life which he calls ‘emerging adulthood,’ – that period between schooling and
mortgage-kids-responsible job that even Boomers didn’t have and are clearly
jealous of.”
Students
reconnect with parents at break
Worcester Telegram and Gazette A recent article discusses changes that a college
student returning home from break (and parents) might have to adjust to. “It
really does require an adjustment from everybody,” said Jeffrey Jensen Arnett,
research professor of psychology at Clark University and expert on emerging
adulthood. “The child is not a child anymore. They have reached a new stage in
life. They are not an adult, but they are not an adolescent.”
The
empathic civilization: The young pioneers of the empathic generation
The Huffington Post 2/9/10 Emerging Adults could also be called the Empathic
Generation. Their international experiences and education have made them more
aware than any previous generation of how interconnected the world is.