The transition to adulthood in Colombia: A relational reading

Abstract

In last decades, young adults have become in a
matter of debate and social and developmental research,
both in psychology and related disciplines.
This recent interest is justifi ed in the contemporary
trend of industrialized Western societies to prolonged
adolescence and delay the onset of common
adult roles. However, in emerging countries like
Colombia, there are very few studies, mostly based
on surveys. Based on the relational-intergenerational
perspective (set by Vittorio Cigoli and Eugenia
Scabini), this research explored qualitatively by semi-structured
interviews the transition to adulthood
of 40 Colombian young adults: 20 women and
20 men. Results were compared with the dominant
contemporary theory in this fi eld (“emerging
adulthood” in developed countries, proposed by
Jeffrey J. Arnett), which does not predict the results
of a developing country like Colombia. In contrast,
there was a strong presence of family support as a
key characteristic for the transition to adulthood in
Colombia, a phenomenon that arises naturally from
the relational-intergenerational theory