In traditional eastern cultures, adulthood is more clear and prestigious than in the US. The present paper aims at comparing how the principles of emerging adulthood are applied to the traditional culture of India and the modern US culture. India is the second-most populous country in the world, with a population of over 1.3 billion people (Satpathy, 2015). It is home to one of the world’s oldest religions that are based on the Sanskrit scripts (Satpathy, 2015).
India still has the caste system, which is one of the world’s oldest social stratifications, and family is of extreme importance to society (Satpathy, 2015). India is situated in Asia near China, Thailand, and Pakistan. The country is formally a democracy; however, the folk and tribal traditions have remained consistently vibrant (Satpathy, 2015). The US culture does not have such a long history; therefore, the influence of traditional customs is weak (Mitra & Arnett, 2019). The culture supports democracy, and the dominating religion is Christianity. There are significant differences between the two cultures and their understanding of adulthood.
These differences come from various career and educational opportunities and core values of the two cultures. For instance, the majority of jobs in India are low-skilled and low-payed, while in the US, most of the jobs require education after high school (Satpathy, 2015). At the same time, the problem of gender inequality is central in India, while the women’s movement in the US has provided better education and career opportunities for females (Arnett & Jensen, 2019). Moreover, the US culture values individualism, and family is of decreased importance, while the traditional Indian culture is more collectivistic, and family plays a central part in people’s lives (Mitra & Arnett, 2019). The differences described above influence the period of emerging adulthood in these two cultures.
The theory of emerging adulthood states that there is a new life stage between adolescence and adulthood. This stage appeared due to four changes, including the economic revolution, the sexual revolution, the women’s movement, and the youth’s movement (Arnett & Jensen, 2019). However, these changes did not have full force in traditional Indian culture. Women in India are still deprived of career and education opportunities, and their priority is to find a good husband.
The sexual revolution is not as open as in the US, and adulthood is still a privileged class, unlike in the US. Finally, the economy has not moved to the knowledge economy, and people do not have to receive education to earn their living. Therefore, the principles of emerging adulthood cannot be applied in full force, as they can be used to describe the transition to adulthood in the mainstream US culture.
References
Arnett, J. J., & Jensen, L. A. (2019). Human development: A cultural approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Mitra, D., & Arnett, J. (2019). Life choices of emerging adults in India. Emerging Adulthood, 216769681985189. Web.
Satpathy, B. (2015). Indian culture and heritage. Web.