Relative Age in the Transition to Adulthood

In order to build a better understanding of age identity in the transition to adulthood, this study examines variation in young people's self-understandings of their relative age. We examine both role transitions and character qualities and how their relationships to relative age vary by chronological age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Based on a national sample of 18–28-year-olds, we find that Blacks feel relatively older and Asian Americans feel relatively younger than others their age. While the former is attributable to family background differences, the latter is a function of the later timing with which Asian Americans make major adult role transitions. Both roles and character qualities are associated with relative age, though the strength of association varies by chronological age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. To some degree, roles and character qualities also act as substitutes for one another – one becomes more important in the absence of the other. Overall, the study demonstrates that young people's self understandings of their relative age are grounded in socially structured experience.