4 statuses: 

identity achievement

moratorium

foreclosure

identity diffusion

continues throughout lifespan 

six stages and three levels:

preconventional moral reasoning

conventional morality

postconventional morality

coorelated with age, develop is specific order, appear the same in all cultures

based on self-chosen principle. 

interactions become conflicted in early adolescence, could be linked to puberty. Strong attachments are predicted of good peer relations. 

Authoritative is the optimal style 

What are the characteristics of adolescents' friendships?

• Electronic communications gives teens more acquaintences than their parents had.
• Friendships become intimate and stable.
• Value loyalty, intimacy, and faithfulness and form friendships with people who share the same interests and social skill development 

• early years: Same sex cliques
• 13-15: cliques comine with  male and females (time when teens are most susceptible to peer influences)
• crowds break down into mixed-gender and then small groups of couples 

• Primary:consequence of bilogical factors that are uncontrollable
• Secondary: can be influenced by lifestyle changes  

• Reaches a stable size and weight 
• a spurt occurs between ages 17 and 21
• second spurt occurs in late 20s
• sex differences are apparent in adult brain

habits and personal factos influence good health

avoid: smoking, drinking, overeating, undereating, and a sedentary lifestyle(exercise, regular sleep, low BMI)

personal factors: social support, self-efficacy, internal locus of control, optimisim 

• more common in young adults than old
• chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis can be treated
• viral are incurable: herpes, HPV(has vaccine), HIV/AIDS

factors: cultural beliefs about gender roles, and personal variables (alcohol and drug use)

Women who are abused develop anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem

• higher in early adulthood than middle
• young adults: depression, anxiety, or be lonely 
• early adulthood is when personality disorders and schizophrenia are usually diagnosed

• cognitive development goes beyond Piaget's fomal operational stage
• postformal thought is a 5th stage of cognitive development and includes types of thinking:
• relativism
• dialectical thought
• reflective judgment

Levinson's concpet inculdes all the roles a person occupies, his or her relationships, and the conflicts among them.

Audlt development involves alternating periods of stability and instablility. 

• decision making and self-control parts of the brain mature between late teens and early 20s
• use skills acquired in earlier life to accomplish tasks in academic, conduct, and friendship domains
• new skills are required for work and romance

sex differences in mate preferences and mating behavior are the result of natural selection

social role emphasizes gender roles, similarity, and economic change 

• people who cohabit before marriage are likely to divorce.
• if woman has had no prior cohabitation experience, divorce is no more likely than couples who live together before marriage 

monogamy is not important to gay male couples as it is to lesbian or heterosexual couples

power relation

people with no intimate partners rely on family and friends for intimacy

after a while "singleness" becomes part of their personal identity

singles are more likely to have a positive adult developmental path than divorced or widowed

It's stressful and leads to decline in relationship satisfaction

Factors such as devision of labor between mom and ada, individual personality traits, and the availibilty of help from extended family members contribute to satisfaction

young adults and parents relationships are steady and supportive 

Each adult creates a network of relationships with friends, partner, and family members

Early childhood contributes to quality of attachment 

education, intellegence, family background and resources, family values, personality, and gender

choose a job that fit cultural norms for their social class and gender