Emerging adulthood is a time of life characterized by decision-making in romantic relationships. Most emerging adults 18 to year-olds utilize this time for romantic and sexual exploration with ambitions and expectations for marriage see Millennial Marriage or The Marriage Paradox.
Scholars such as Drs. Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades have argued that the pathway to marriage has become increasingly ambiguous with fewer clear markers of relationship progression and commitment. In recent years, we have seen increasing ambiguity about romantic relationship formation, along with a decrease in clear signals to clarify intentions of commitment. Unfortunately, current ambiguity in emerging romantic relationship transitions may make it difficult for partners to agree on when the relationship actually began due to multiple types of soft beginnings during which commitment is not clarified.
Consequently, the pathways to sexual and romantic partnership have diversified, giving rise to several types of causal sexual relationships and experiences, such as hooking up, friends with benefits , and situationships. I have continually heard this statement, or something similar, spoken by my students and therapy clients over the years.
In , while I was a doctoral student at Kansas State University, I taught two large sections of the course Introduction to Human Development with students per semester.
This just talking stage of romantic relationship formation was not unique to Kansas State University, and for the past 10 years at Northern Illinois University, I have continued collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. Instead of asking and being asked out on dates, most emerging adults seem to be focused on communicating through text messages, Snapchat, and other forms of social media.
