Intentional engagement in the transition to adulthood : an integrative perspective on identity, career, and goal developmental regulation

Kurzfassung/Abstract

During the transition to adulthood, young people need to choose their career and overall life pathway and cope successfully with the transitions they face. The theories of personal identity development (Luyckx, Goossens, Soenens, & Beyers, 2006; Luyckx et al., 2008), career development (Savickas, 2005), and goal developmental regulation (Nurmi, 2004; Salmela-Aro, 2009) address the question of how people commit and engage in the changes faced during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and particularly how they deal with educational and occupational transitions. We reviewed how each of these theories discusses both adaptive and maladaptive processes during the transition to adulthood, including such themes as the feeling of competent, exploring choices, crystallizing and making decision, forming certainty, managing transition, changing direction and rumination. We propose that these theories are in fact presenting different perspectives on the same developmental process of intentional engagement. Finally, suggestions for future research and intervention outcomes are discussed.