Past work in China has revealed that approximately 60% of young people in China consider themselves to be adults. However, no work, prior to this study, has been done examining either the views of Chinese parents regarding their children's adult status or the criteria that Chinese parents use in determining whether or not their children have reached adulthood. Participants included 92 unmarried college students, ages 18 to 25, and at least one of their parents (83 fathers, 84 mothers). Results revealed that (a) the majority of children and their parents did not yet view their children as adults, and (b) there was disagreement between emerging adult children and their parents in the emphasis they placed on various criteria for adulthood. Discussion will focus on how the traditional Chinese notion of "face" may play an important role in the criteria young people and their parents endorse as necessary for adulthood.

The present research explored the importance of shyness and communication-related variables (self-disclosure and expressions of empathy) in the prediction of romantic relationship satisfaction. Couples in established romantic relationships (N = 4,298) completed RELATE (RELATionship Evaluation), a questionnaire designed to evaluate the relationship between romantically linked partners. We hypothesized there would be a direct, inverse relationship between shyness and relationship satisfaction mediated by communication behaviors. We found shyness was associated with lower levels of self and partner relationship satisfaction for both males and females; however, this relationship was mediated by communication behaviors. Clinical implications for couples and therapists are discussed.

The beginning of adulthood may well be the most nebulous transition of the life course. It is fair to say that no clear-cut universal marker indicates the beginning of adulthood, leading to widespread cultural and individual diversity in the beliefs of young people aged 18–29 regarding what it means to be an adult and how the transition into adulthood should occur. This chapter examines this complexity. The authors review the literature exploring the conceptions of adulthood of young people beginning at age 18 and continuing through the third decade; examine how these conceptions have been linked to beliefs, behaviors, and relationships during the third decade of life; (c) recommend numerous areas of inquiry needed to better understand factors related to young people’s conceptions of adulthood; and (d) provide some thoughts on the implications of the extant research for those who work with young people.

Numerous studies have shown how shyness affects individuals in childhood and adolescence; however, little is known about the effects shyness may have in emerging adulthood. This study addressed how shyness may be associated with sexual attitudes and behaviors of emerging adult men and women. Participants included 717 students from four college sites across the United States, who were largely female (69%), European American (69%), unmarried (100%), and living outside their parents' home (90%). Results suggested that shyness was positively associated with sexual attitudes (reflecting more liberal views) for men whereas shyness was negatively associated with sexual attitudes for women. Shyness was positively associated with solitary sexual behaviors of masturbation and pornography use for men. Shyness was also negatively associated with relational sexual behaviors (coital and noncoital) and number of lifetime partners for women. Implications for these findings are discussed.

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