Initiation of the process of adult role entry

Among the most significant events marking the transition to adulthood are role changes involving the assumption of adult responsibilities. These include entry into the adult roles of worker, spouse, and parent. Because entry into one adult role tends to have implications for entry into other adult roles, the ages at which these role changes occur are related. It is therefore instructive to view the process of adult role entry as a process that is initiated when the first of several role changes occurs. The purpose of this paper is to examine initiation of the process of adult role entry. Data from a fifteen-year followup study of high school students originally surveyed in 1957–58 and resurveyed in 1973–74 are analyzed to determine which of several role changes initiated the process of adult role entry and the age at which the process was initiated for cohorts born during the early 1940s. A model predicting the age at initiation of the process is estimated, and the parameters of that model are compared with the parameters of comparable models predicting educational attainment and the timing of exit from the student role.This research was supported by Grant Nos. R01-HD16164 and R01-HD18596 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. I am indebted to Peter H. Rossi and James S. Coleman for their assistance and support during the collection of data on which the research was based. The assistance of Peter J. Hodsdon and Lillian L. Southwick in processing the data and Pamela Navatta in typing the paper is also gratefully acknowledged.