Adulthood is often inferred from age and milestones such as marriage, parenthood, and career. This study tested whether perceptions of adulthood – subjective adult status and perceived importance of markers of adulthood – are associated with personality traits in a UK sample (N = 714, age 18–77 years, MAge = 39.30). Regression analyses indicated that subjective adult status, or feeling like an adult, was associated with lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness. Personality independently explained 27
Lifestyle factors have been linked to cognitive functioning, but their relative contributions to distinct cognitive constructs remain unclear, particularly in non-Western populations. This study examined associations of sleep quality, sleep duration, sedentary behavior, and physical activity with two latent cognitive factors—cognitive efficiency (CE) and working memory (WM). A total of 235 Arabic-speaking adults aged 18–46 (mean age = 26.48; 172 females) completed online cognitive tasks (Stroop, Flanker, Corsi block-tapping, digit updating) and self-report sleep and physical activity measures. The EZ-diffusion model was used to derive drift rates as indicators of CE. A structural equation model specified CE (indicated by Stroop and Flanker drift rates) and WM (indicated by Corsi span and updating) as parallel outcomes regressed on lifestyle predictors and covariates (age, sex, device type, and socioeconomic status). The model demonstrated excellent fit (χ²(39) = 28.97, p = .880; CFI = 1.000; RMSEA = 0.000; SRMR = 0.030). Sleep quality (β = 0.265, p = .018) and age (β = −0.258, p = .032) significantly predicted WM, whereas sedentary behavior showed a marginal association (β = 0.198, p = .070). Predictors explained 21.0
This longitudinal study spanning three decades tested the hypothesis that positive family relationships during childhood and adolescence positively relates to psychological capital for work in early and middle adulthood. Psychological capital is a positive psychological resource comprising self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience that has important relevance for performance and well-being in the work setting. Family systems theory, life course and positive psychology frameworks, as well as conservation of resources theory furnished the conceptual basis. This research is based on the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation initiated in the United States in 1979, from infancy through adulthood (2017). Using a cross-informant methodology, when children were ages 9 to 17 years, both children and mothers annually and independently completed the Positive Family Relationships (PFR) scale, which measures how well family members get along and support each other. When the children reached adulthood, they completed the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PsyCap) for work at ages 29 and 38 years. The major finding from the structural equation models revealed that children’s and mothers’ PFR during childhood and adolescence each predicted PsyCap in early adulthood (age 29 years), which in turn, related to PsyCap entering middle adulthood (age 38 years). These findings supported the study hypothesis and indicated that positive family relationships during individuals’ upbringing may provide a foundation for workplace psychological capital across decades of development.
In lifespan developmental psychology (Baltes, 1987), development is conceptualized as a lifelong process that occurs from conception to death. Every life phase has its own challenges and opportunities. End of life has been largely neglected as a separate life period. Our ultimate goal is to define and synthesize the experience of end of life in order to establish a theoretical understanding of end of life as a developmental life phase. We first explore the challenges with defining end of life; next, we propose a subjective approach to examine end of life: the Self, Health, and Future-Time (SHiFT) model; and finally, we provide limitations and future directions for our SHiFT model. End of life is a complex, dynamic process that is shaped by an individual’s context. We recognize the end of life is a shared experience among people who are dying; we acknowledge this phase is a unique, meaningful part of the lifespan. We encourage further exploration of our model and empirical investigation of the three components (i.e., self, health, and future-time).
This study examined how caregiver and close friend emotion socialization relate to prosocial behavior among 309 emerging adults. Participants completed measures of retrospective caregiver emotion socialization, current friend emotion socialization, and six dimensions of prosocial behavior. Regression analyses revealed that both supportive and unsupportive caregiver responses were positively associated with most prosocial behavior dimensions, challenging traditional deficit-based models. Friend supportive responses showed independent positive associations with five prosocial dimensions, whereas unsupportive responses showed limited associations, with a significant negative association only for dire behavior. Moderation analyses showed that supportive caregiver responses did not buffer the associations between peer unsupportive reactions and any prosocial dimension. Friend supportive responses moderated the relation between caregiver unsupportive responses and anonymous prosocial behavior, such that individuals with unsupportive caregiver histories were more likely to help anonymously when close friends also tended not to respond supportively. These findings suggest that early caregiver experiences may establish enduring templates for prosocial engagement persisting into emerging adulthood, while friend emotion socialization may contribute independently through norm-based and situationally responsive pathways. The positive associations observed for unsupportive caregiver responses may reflect adversity-based learning processes that become channeled into other-oriented motivation by emerging adulthood. The peer relational context may further shape how this adversity-based prosocial motivation is behaviorally expressed.
