Conceptions of the Transition to Adulthood in Koreans, Asian-Australians and European-Australians

Abstract

Relatively little research has examined conceptions of the transition to adulthood in young people from Asian backgrounds. Korea is of particular interest as it has experienced rapid economic growth and social change. We compared perceptions of adulthood in relatively collectivist Koreans and Asian-Australians in comparison to more individualistic European-Australians. Participants were comprised of 188 Korean, 272 European-Australian and 118 Asian-Australian university students aged between eighteen and twenty- nine years. Young Koreans embraced criteria related to interdependence, norm compliance, and role transitions congruent with their traditional collectivist perspective. At the same time, they also embraced individualistic values as reflected in their endorsement of independence criteria. The Asian-Australians also highly rated criteria related to interdependence, role transitions and family capacities in comparison to the European-Australians but also embraced individualism to some extent, which could be due to the effects of acculturation and influences of the majority individualistic culture.