Abstract
The main goal of this study was to compare Northern and Southern Italian emerging adult university students, regarding the importance attributed to criteria for adulthood and the levels of life and education satisfaction. Self-report questionnaires were filled by 475 Northern and Southern Italian University students (Age M = 22.91, 76% females, n = 359). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that Southern emerging adults were more likely to place importance on family capacities, norm compliance, interdependence and role transitions as criteria for achieving adulthood than Northern emerging adults. Regarding gender differences, females were more likely to believe in the importance of norm compliance than males, while males were more likely to espouse the importance of legal transitions. Finally, emerging adults from the North reported higher levels of life satisfaction than their Southern counterparts. We interpreted these findings in light of socio-economical and gender socialization differences among Northern and Southern Italian emerging adults.
Highlights
The main analyses consisted in multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and post-hoc univariate analyses of variance (ANOVA) were carried out to look at differences in importance addressed to the criteria for adulthood, life satisfaction and education satisfaction depending on participants’ provenience (North vs. South) and gender
Two MANOVAs were conducted to determine whether importance addressed to the criteria for adulthood and life satisfaction and education satisfaction differed as a function of sub-group membership (North vs. South) and gender
A series of one-way ANOVA’s on each of the six dependent variables was conducted as a follow-up test to the MANOVA
Summary
The sample used in the current study consisted of 475 Italian native graduate and undergraduate University students (76% females, n = 359) recruited from the University of Turin in Piedmont a North-western region of Italy and the University of Palermo in the Southern region of Sicily. The criteria to include participants in this research was age, in a range of 18 to 30 years old, the condition of University student at the time of data collection, and being born in the same macro-region where the University was located (i.e., North or South of Italy). Most participants came from middle class families, with 56% of Northern participants and 59% of Southern participants considering the general economical conditions of their families of origin as belonging to the national average
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