Abstract:The purpose of this study was (a) to identify the criteria Italian and Dutch emerging adults consider important to achieve adulthood; (b) to compare Italian emerging adults' criteria with the criteria espoused by Dutch emerging adults; and (c) to examine how these criteria might differ on the basis of the working status (temporary job contract vs. permanent job contract) of the participants. Participants included 111 Italian (M age = 25) and 151 Dutch (M age = 22) university working students. Results revealed that (a) on average, Italian and Dutch emerging adults agreed upon the same order of importance for the criteria of adulthood presented to them; (b) Italian participants, more than Dutch participants, considered particularly important for defining the adult status the criteria related to family capacities; and (c) taking into account the working status of the participants, the answers differed only approaching significance. These findings have important implications for future research as they evidence that emerging adults experience their path to adulthood differently depending on their nationality. Specifically, the main contribution of this study is to have tested such hypotheses in a cross-national manner where contextual and individual differences are both taken into account. Oddelek za psihologijo, Laboratorij za razvojno psihologijo, Univerza v Torinu, Italija 2 Center za razvojne raziskave, Šola za pravo, psihologijo in socialno delo, Univerza v Örebru, Švedska Povzetek: Namen pričujoče raziskave je bil (a) v identifikaciji kriterijev, ki jih italijanski in nizozemski mladi odrasli dojemajo kot pomembne za doseganje odraslosti; (b) v primerjavi italijanskih kriterijev mladih odraslih s tistimi od nizozemskih; (c) v proučevanju tega, kako so ti kriteriji povezani z zaposlitvenim statusom (začasno delovno razmerje proti stalnemu delovnemu razmerju). Udeleženci so bili italijanski (M = 25 let) in nizozemski (M = 22 let) študenti v delovnem razmerju. Rezultati so pokazali, da (a) se v povprečju italijanski in nizozemski mladi odrasli strinjajo o pomembnosti kriterijev za doseganje odraslosti; (b) so italijanski mladi odrasli, v primerjavi z nizozemskimi, večjo pomembnost pripisovali kriterijem, ki so povezani z zmožnostjo ustvarjanja družine; (c) da so razlike v povezavi z zaposlitvenim statusom bile zgolj na meji statistične pomembnosti. Dobljeni rezultati imajo pomembne implikacije za prihodnje študije, saj dokazujejo, da mladi odrasli različno dojemajo kriterije za doseganje odraslosti v odvisnosti od narodnosti. Natančneje je glavni doprinos raziskave v preverjanju naših domnev v dveh državah, kjer smo hkrati upoštevali tako kontekstualne kot individualne razlike.Ključne besede: prehod v odraslost, merila odraslosti, zaposlitveni status, Italija, Nizozemska