The present study examined the defining features of emerging adulthood, subjects' conceptions of the transition to adulthood, and the perceived adult status in Austria. The sample consisted of 775 subjects (226 adolescents, 317 emerging adults, 232 adults). Results showed that most Austrian emerging adults feel themselves to be between adolescence and adulthood. Emerging adults predominantly described this period as an age of possibilities and identity exploration, as a self-focused age, as an age of feeling in between, and of instability. Regarding important criteria for feeling adult, it was found that age groups (adolescents, emerging adults, adults) differ in individualism, family capacities, norm compliance, role transitions, and other. Thus, as was shown for other Western cultures, emerging adulthood seemed to constitute a distinct stage of life in Austria also.

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