Perceptions of Emerging Adulthood: A Study With Italian and Japanese University Students and Young Workers

In this study, we sought to compare perceptions of emerging adulthood of Italian and Japanese youth and we examined, within each national sample, gender and occupational status (students vs. workers) differences on these perceptions. Participants were 2,472 emerging adults (1,513 Italian and 959 Japanese) of age 18–30 (50.8% females; 57.1% university students and 42.9% workers). Findings indicated measurement invariance of the Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-short form) across national groups and across gender and occupational groups within each national sample. Results of latent mean comparisons indicated that Japanese participants scored higher than Italian respondents on dimensions of emerging adulthood with the largest difference being detected on perception of possibilities. Further, within each nation, small gender differences and small to moderate occupational differences in perceptions of emerging adulthood were detected. Overall, this study highlighted that perceptions of emerging adulthood vary across and within national groups.