Developmental goals during the transition to young adulthood

Abstract

Adolescents navigate the transition into young adulthood through their pursuit of developmental goals. While societal expectations and institutions provide normed paths to adulthood by shaping decisions on goal identification, individuals take various routes to attain adult-status through different goal prioritization. Using longitudinal data from a U.S. sample of 1,088 adolescents (55.6% female; 25.3% Whites, 19.8% Asians, 30.4% Latinx, 12.6% Multiracial), we identified young adults’ major developmental goal and subgoal trajectories during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants nominated goals within a 5-year period starting from the final year of secondary school, and responses were categorized into major developmental goals. Results showed moderate goal stability over time. Although career and education goals were initially prioritized, they were less frequently nominated over time while relational and financial goals became more frequent. However, rank-order stability was retained. Findings also showed that individual differences in education and employment status, motivational factors, gender, and ethnicity predicted goal identification in young adulthood. Collectively, findings reveal both general trends and interindividual differences in goals that highlight the interplay between society and individual agency, ultimately leading to different paths taken during the transition to adulthood.