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In every aspect of adult life, society demands that people take on responsibility, manage their affairs effectively, and make informed decisions as they take their place in their communities. Seventeen men and 22 women in their 20s described how they met these demands for selfauthorship in annual informal conversational interviews.
As a college sophomore, Lauren was doing what she had been socialized to do and was trying to meet the world's expectations of her. In our annual interview, she reported:
I always say this, but I'll never do it. I always say I'm going to drop out and just get a job. This year is so much pressure, it's unbelievable. It's so much competition because there's so many people in the business school. I hate it. I know I never will. Just from the way I've been brought up, my parents and from what I see from my older brothers and sisters, I feel it's essential to have a college education.
Despite her unhappiness as a business major, she never really considered changing the course of her education. In the 6 years since Lauren graduated from college, she has changed jobs, moved to a new region of the country, married, and built a house. She shared her thinking about adult life:
I'm making decisions as an adult-I'm 28 now. I can foresee as I get older that family is going to be number 1. It used to be having the best job was number 1 priority. That is still important ... but it isn't everything anymore. I used to go to my parents for all the big decisions; I still discuss with them, but I realize they don't always have the answer. I'm adult and decide for [myself] and take responsibility accordingly.
She has realized that her parents and other people she respects no longer have all the answers; she has to figure them out for herself and be responsible for her decisions. Lauren has accomplished more than gaining skills for adult life; she has changed her way of making sense of life and her role in managing it.
Adult life in contemporary America is becoming increasingly complicated. The capacity for lifelong learning is necessary to keep pace with changes in technology, science, the...