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Friendship and Romantic Relationship Qualities in Emerging Adulthood: Differential Associations with Identity Development and Achieved Adulthood Criteria

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Abstract

This study examined how emerging adults’ identity development and achievement of adulthood criteria were related to qualities of their friendships and romantic relationships. Participants included 710 emerging adults (ages 18–26). Results indicated that identity achievement was related positively to four romantic relationship qualities, but not to any friendship qualities. Several achieved adulthood criteria were related positively to romantic relationship qualities; however, achieved adulthood criteria were related negatively to friendship qualities. It appears that progress on salient developmental tasks of adulthood carries important implications for emerging adults’ social relationships, but in ways that are more differentiated than commonly assumed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express appreciation to the instructors and participants at all Project READY data collection sites for their assistance. We also are grateful for the junior faculty sabbatical grant given to the first author by Loyola College in Maryland and the grant support of the Family Studies Center, which were invaluable for this manuscript to come to fruition. Finally, we thank Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck and Laura Padilla-Walker for their helpful comments on this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Loyola College in Maryland, Beatty 212, 4501 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD, 21210, USA

    Carolyn McNamara Barry

  2. Department of Psychology, McDaniel College, Westminster, MD, USA

    Stephanie D. Madsen

  3. School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Larry J. Nelson, Jason S. Carroll & Sarah Badger

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  1. Carolyn McNamara Barry
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  2. Stephanie D. Madsen
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  3. Larry J. Nelson
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  4. Jason S. Carroll
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  5. Sarah Badger
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Correspondence to Carolyn McNamara Barry.

Additional information

Portions of this study were presented at the 2nd Conference on Emerging Adulthood in Miami, FL, February 2005.

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Barry, C.M., Madsen, S.D., Nelson, L.J. et al. Friendship and Romantic Relationship Qualities in Emerging Adulthood: Differential Associations with Identity Development and Achieved Adulthood Criteria. J Adult Dev 16, 209–222 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-009-9067-x

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