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According to the Law, an adult is the person who attains legal majority, which, in most countries, is above 18 years of age. For Biology, an adult is the organism that has reached the peak of physical development, with full body functionality and the cessation of bone growth. But, for society, what would be the best concept for defining an adult?
The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a time of great uncertainties and new experiences, frequently driven by the need to adapt to social expectations. We are often led to act according to what is expected of proper conduct. Based on observation, we judge what the typical behaviors of an adult are and we reach the conclusion, internally and also due to social pressure, of how we should behave in each situation. This learning by model and observation raises the question: could adulthood be a grand performance? Every spectacle, however, needs an audience. The social belief that being an adult involves working and making one’s own decisions generates individual pressure, even if unconscious. We thus become our own spectators, feeling the constant need to prove our maturity through our actions. That is, if the individual who represents an adult goes to the bank, to the doctor alone, pays the bills, and takes care of the house, then when we perform these tasks, we feel “more adult” than we felt before. But, if we are forcing ourselves to “be adults” to start living this life, would the adults themselves also be performing?
For the Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman, more specifically in his book “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,” life would be the stage for a social theater, where all individuals would be actors performing and controlling the impression they cause on others. For this, people use “fronts” to play the roles they believe are accepted by society. Adulthood, therefore, is seen as the most serious and complex role that the individual must represent. In this way, the transition from adolescence to adulthood is the period when we must abandon the adolescent role – frequently associated with indiscipline and disorder – and begin to adopt the mask of competence and stability.
However, the comforting factor is that no one performs all the time. Primarily, because it is impossible, and everyone possesses what Goffman defines as a “back region”, where the actor can leave the character and reveal the true Self that may be repressed on the stage. This is one of the reasons that contributes to making this period of life transition so turbulent: one must deal with responsibilities and allow themselves to experience new things, while simultaneously managing the urgent need to assume and sustain a new socially prescribed role. Thus, besides discovering who we are, we feel that we must also be what society expects us to be.
For modern Psychology, this transition is better explained by the concept of Emerging Adulthood, first described by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett. This new perspective encompasses the shift from adolescence to adulthood between 18 and 29 years of age (although it is more focalized between 18 and 25 years), which effectively captures the feeling of being between the two life stages, yet in neither. The focus of Arnett’s research lies in the finding that the time required to achieve full adult maturity has extended significantly. This prolongation is the result of sociocultural factors, such as the Technological Revolution, the advancement of the feminist movement, and changes in the labor market. Finally, this leads to the creation of this stage called Emerging Adulthood, which is notably longer and characterized by five main pillars: identity exploration, constant instability, being self-focused, feeling “in-between” (neither adolescent nor adult), and the development of autonomy. This is a favorable moment to experimentation, where young people can enjoy greater freedom to explore new possibilities before taking on permanent responsibilities, such as marriage, parenthood, and career.
Therefore, being a young adult is walking the fine line between the other two stages (adolescence and adulthood), and simultaneously feeling the pressure to perform an adult role while also being able to live in this transition for a longer period, discovering who they are and what they truly like. In this way, we can even believe that adulthood is a myth, but everything depends on the quality of our adaptation to new problems and situations. The natural course of life should not be seen as a mere performance, but rather an inherently complicated phase, where the feeling of unreality and constant effort manifests itself while the process of self-discovery unfolds.
For Psychology, therefore, being an adult is knowing how to live in balance. Assuming responsibilities is a fundamental role, but it is also knowing how to recognize and deal with one’s own emotions and those of others, knowing how to establish healthy social relationships, and having autonomy in decision-making. In this sense, maturity is essential, being one of the central goals developed during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, the stage known as Emerging Adulthood.
Daniele Pincinato
daniele.pincinatosouza01@icatt.it
References:
Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday, 1959. https://monoskop.org/images/1/19/Goffman_Erving_The_Presentation_of_Self_in_Everyday_Life.pdf
Crossman, A. (2024, September 6). The presentation of self in everyday life: An overview. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-presentation-of-self-in-everyday-life-3026754
”Why Does It Take So Long to Grow Up Today? (2015, April 28). Jeffrey Jensen Arnett. TEDxPSU.” YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks. https://youtu.be/fv8KpQY0m6o?si=ab9BhlAOux7GcFQG
Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen. “Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development from the Late Teens Through the Twenties.” American Psychologist, vol. 55, no. 5, 2000. https://assets.ctfassets.net/71uqn4vayf1f/76dukdq5w3C8t9FuPAZdjj/29c82b8a28c1f2e6d612a4c51b52bf3e/Arnett.2000.EA.pdf
A.P.E. 
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