Over the past century, the developmental phases of the psychosocial course of life have shifted (Settersten Jr et al., 2015). A new life stage, named “emerging adulthood”, was proposed by Arnett (2000) and occurs after adolescence and before full adulthood. The life stage indicates that young people today postpone their entry into adulthood, particularly in post-industrial societies where education, individualism and personal independence are emphasized (Arnett, 1998, 2014). The meanings and markers of adulthood are different from the past (Settersten Jr et al., 2015), and even modern day expectations continuously evolve (Scabini et al., 2007). This constant state of re-evaluating what it means to be an adult can be found cross-culturally. Not only is this trait reflected in Western cultures, such as in North America (e.g., Arnett, 2003), Australia (e.g., Fussell et al., 2007), and European countries (e.g., Buhl & Lanz, 2007), but also reflected in Eastern cultures, including in Malaysia (e.g., Wider et al., 2021), India (e.g., Seiter & Nelson, 2011), and China (e.g., Zhong & Arnett, 2014).
Defining adulthood: traditional vs non-traditional markers
Historically, marriage was the fundamental determinant of entering adulthood (Arnett, 1998, 2014). However, modern day young adults do not equate these traditional markers of age as criteria for becoming an adult. Instead, young adults now adopt more subjective and individualistic qualities as their criteria for adulthood including making independent decisions, becoming financially self-sufficient, and taking responsibility for their own actions (Arnett, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2014; Arnett & Mitra, 2020). This phenomenon is in accordance with the belief that the traditional structure of the entrance into adulthood is no longer emphasized in late-modern societies where people tend to individualize their life trajectories (Côté, 2002).
Measuring the entrance to adulthood
To increase the breadth of knowledge relating to young adults’ perceptions of adulthood, Arnett (1994, 1997, 1998, 2001) developed a list of developmental milestones, including the Markers of Adulthood (MoA) scale. The MoA scale seeks to determine societal meanings of adulthood. Originally, there were seven subscales in the MoA scale (Arnett, 1998, 2001, 2003), including Independence, Interdependence, Role Transitions, Norm Compliance, Biological Transitions, Chronological Transitions, and Family Capacities. Based on a 43-item questionnaire developed by Arnett (1997), Badger et al. (2006) validated a revised MoA scale in Chinese and American samples, which consisted of five subscales including role transitions, norm compliance, relational maturity, biological/age-related transitions, and family capacities. Based on comparisons and evaluations of both deductive and inductive evidence, Fosse et al. (2015) found a refined, four-factor scale, including role transitions, norm compliance, relational maturity, and independence. Collectively, these recent validated versions of the MoA have been widely used across cultures, such as in Arica (e.g., Obidoa et al., 2019), and in Germany (e.g., Meckelmann & Peiker, 2013). Conversely, a Chinese version of the MoA scale (Zhong & Arnett, 2014) made several modifications rooted in their local culture. (i.e., items involving smoking or drinking and driving were removed, whereas items relating to caring for one’s parents were added.)
Emerging adulthood in China
According to the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (the Xinhua News Agency, 2020), any person over the age of 18 is legally considered to be an adult. Regardless of this legal stipulation, research conducted in China suggests that age alone is rarely considered as important in subjective views in defining adulthood.
In 2004, Nelson et al found that 60% of young people in China considered themselves to be “fully” adult; whereas, in a 2014 study, the portion of young Chinese adults defining themselves as fully adult was much lower, 22%. Instead, the majority of this sample (71%) of young Chinese adults identified as being “partially” an adult (Nelson et al., 2013). This change may reflect a tension between Chinese youth’s increased exposure to both Western individualistic culture (Nelson et al., 2013), and traditional Confucian cultural values (Nelson et al., 2004; Nelson et al., 2013; Zhong & Arnett, 2014). Moreover, changes have also taken place in Chinese young people’s life trajectories. Not only has the typical age of marriage increased, but the age of entering parenthood has also been pushed back. According to the China Population Census Yearbook (2020), from 2010 to 2020, the mean age of marriage has increased by 3.63 for men and the mean age of marriage has increased by 3.95 for women. And more young people pursing higher education and attaining tertiary degrees, (the gross enrollment rate was 57.8% in 2021) (Chinese Education Online, 2022). Indeed, in the past 10 years, the average total number of years of formal education has increased from 9.68 to 10.75 (the Seventh National Census of the State Council, 2021).
Since having been proposed as the unifying ideology by Dong Zhongshu in the Han times (Loewe, 2011), Confucianism has played a pivotal role in influencing Chinese culture and dictating the start of adulthood. Confucianism emphasizes filial piety, which requires children’s respect, obedience, and reverence for parents and other family elders (Yeh & Bedford, 2003). The idea of filial piety also influences individuals’ perception of themselves and their internal development (Chao & Tseng, 2002). Zhong & Arnett, (2014) found that family obligation is an important part of adult status among migrant women workers in China. These other-oriented ideas of Confucianism are closely associated with collectivism (Zhang et al, 2005). In collectivist countries like China, the core of an individual’s self-concept is based on social embeddedness and interdependence with others in their ingroups (Brewer & Chen, 2007). Such collectivist ideas contribute to young Chinese adults’ perception of adult status (Nelson et al., 2004; Nelson et al., 2013). In recent decades, Chinese emerging adults have had new and more frequent opportunities to engage with Western culture and values. Their perception of adult status may therefore have changed subsequently, although to date these perceptual shifts have been largely unexamined.
The current study
In the current study, three major demographic differences in emerging adults’ subjective markers of adulthood were investigated: gender (male vs female), residency status (rural vs urban) and educational status (student vs non-student). Firstly, the completion of school education is an important milestone for most emerging adults, which indicates that they are no longer identified as students. After graduation, emerging adults feel added parental and cultural pressures to enter marriage and parenthood. According to Zhang (2006), with increasing age, Chinese emerging adults may become more prone to adhering to traditional ideals. Based on these findings, the first hypothesis is that non-students will be more inclined to traditional Chinese markers of adulthood. In this study, non-students refer to emerging adults aged 18 to 30, who are not studying or enrolled at a school or a university or other educational program, including individuals who dropped out of high school or universities, and individuals who graduated from high schools or universities. Gender differences arise within the criteria for entering adulthood. In traditional Confucian society, women had always been discouraged from pursuing further education, coupled with receiving fewer overall opportunities to cultivate their talents, in comparison to men. And the son preference still remains pronounced in China, especially in rural regions (Hesketh et al., 2011; Lei & Pals, 2011; Wang, 2005). In this case, women were always relegated to a lower social status than their male counterparts (Tu et al., 1992) and gained less educational opportunities (Wang, 2005; Yu & Su, 2006). However, with the progress in the promotion of gender equality in domestic and work life, women now experience more egalitarian opportunities (Tu & Liao, 2005; Zhang, 2006). Based on the inequality women had experienced for centuries, we hypothesized that women may be less likely to endorse traditional markers. With respect to residency status, since the establishment of the household registration system (Chinese name: “Hukou”), Chinese society has been deeply impacted (Wang, 2004). Under this system, there are two residency statuses referred to as rural and urban. Substantial rural-urban disparities favor urban areas, including in household income and property; social welfare and security (e.g., housing allowance and unemployment insurance); and resources (educational resources and medical resources) (Sheehan, 2017). Based on various degrees of modernization, Chinese rural areas may be less inclined to adopt western and individualistic values (Sun & Ryder, 2016), leading to the third hypothesis: emerging adults with rural residency status may put more emphasis on traditional criteria of adulthood status, in comparison to urban societies.
There is lacking recent literature identifying markers in entering Chinese adulthood (Nelson et al., 2013; Zhong & Arnett, 2014). With the recent rapid socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural changes experienced, a new pattern in the trajectories to adulthood is emerging in Chinese context (Wang & Zhao, 2021; Yeung & Hu, 2013). Previous studies, with relatively small sample sizes, were conducted from either the view of college students (Nelson et al., 2004; Nelson et al., 2013) or from the view of workers (Zhong & Arnett, 2014). There is lacking research in comparing students’ and nonstudents’ perceptions of adulthood within the same study. In addition, the differences between the rural and the urban samples need to be examined. In this way, the current study aims to address the insufficiency of previous studies and carry the research on Chinese emerging adulthood a step forward.