For many in the United States, emerging adulthood is a highly exploratory phase of life characterized by experimentations in love, work, and ideology. While research has highlighted significant differences in these trends among various sub-groups and cultures, we know little about how people’s experiences of established adulthood build upon and connect with the experiences and opportunities of emerging adulthood. In this study, we qualitatively investigated the lived experience of established adult women from LDS backgrounds, for whom the transition from youth to adulthood is typically highly structured. Twenty-one LDS women aged 30–45 (mean age = 38.6) participated in semi-structured interviews lasting one to two hours. Participants described experiencing a period of retrospective reevaluation of their early adulthood wherein personal alignment with cultured gender norms over individualized exploration had been encouraged. Participants contrasted these early experiences with a variety of more recent life transitions characterized by increased personal exploration, introspection, and shifting family responsibilities. Our research suggests that for women from conservative religious US-subcultures, limited exploration during emerging adulthood may lead to a period of increased identity, career, and ideology exploration during established adulthood, resulting in an increased sense of autonomy and personal authority.

对于美国的许多人来说，成年初期是一个高度探索性的生活阶段，其特点是在爱情、工作和意识形态方面进行实验。虽然研究强调了不同子群体和文化之间这些趋势的显着差异，但我们对人们成熟的成年经历如何建立在新兴成年的经历和机会之上并与之联系起来知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们定性地调查了来自 LDS 背景的成年女性的生活经历，对她们来说，从青年到成年的过渡通常是高度结构化的。21 名年龄在 30-45 岁（平均年龄 = 38.6 岁）的 LDS 女性参加了持续一到两个小时的半结构化访谈。参与者描述了一段对他们成年早期进行回顾性重新评估的时期，其中鼓励个人与文化性别规范保持一致，而不是个性化探索。参与者将这些早期经历与最近的各种生活转变进行了对比，这些转变的特点是增加了个人探索、内省和转移家庭责任。我们的研究表明，对于来自保守宗教美国亚文化的女性来说，在新兴成年期有限的探索可能会导致在成熟的成年期增加身份、职业和意识形态探索，从而增强自主感和个人权威。参与者将这些早期经历与最近的各种生活转变进行了对比，这些转变的特点是增加了个人探索、内省和转移家庭责任。我们的研究表明，对于来自保守宗教美国亚文化的女性来说，在新兴成年期有限的探索可能会导致在成熟的成年期增加身份、职业和意识形态探索，从而增强自主感和个人权威。参与者将这些早期经历与最近的各种生活转变进行了对比，这些转变的特点是增加了个人探索、内省和转移家庭责任。我们的研究表明，对于来自保守宗教美国亚文化的女性来说，在新兴成年期有限的探索可能会导致在成熟的成年期增加身份、职业和意识形态探索，从而增强自主感和个人权威。