He also authored a textbook entitled Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach (Prentice Hall).
It primarily applies to young adults in developed countries who do not have children, do not live in their own home, or do not have sufficient income to become fully independent in their early to late 20s.
Arnett says emerging adulthood is the period between 18 and 25 years of age where adolescents become more independent and explore various life possibilities.
Emerging adulthood is a new demographic, is contentiously changing, and some believe that twenty-somethings have always struggled with "identity exploration, instability, self-focus, and feeling in-between".
[11] Terms like "late adolescence" and "young adulthood" have been used before, however, Arnett explains that these terms don't work because "the lives of persons in their late teens and 20s are vastly different from the lives of most adolescents", and "young adulthood has been used already to refer to such diverse age periods.
Arnett argues that a significant share of the job market is dominated by the information and technology industry.
Arnett states that this increased emphasis on continuing education has led to a delay in completing other benchmarks of adulthood, such as marriage.
Arnett theorizes that the invention of birth control pills and more efficient contraceptives have resulted in a separation of sex and marriage.
The goal of prolonging youth and holding onto the wild and fun era of life added to the decrease in age for sexual experiences.
Arnett states that women are being considered for more employment positions in fields that have historically been open only to men.
These increased opportunities have led to more women spending their 20s pursuing their education and their careers, and thus delaying marriage and childbearing.
While these behaviors may create lifelong destructive habits, most emerging adults report feeling "in control" and that they have the ability to redirect their lives.
Arnett suggests that there are a few reasons why the term young adulthood is not fit to describe the developmental period of the late teens and early twenties.