However, based on socioeconomic position, these types of connections are used differently due to accessibility and affordability. The prevalence of social networking platforms and communications technology might suggest that young adults have unlimited access to social support over time and distance. The diversity of transitions during this life stage means that people cannot rely on their parents’ experiences for guidance (and may not want to) as they form adult identities. During the transition to adulthood, people are less likely to have stable, physically close relationships. Emerging adults delay marriage (Gerson, 2009) and live with their parents at higher rates than they did at the turn of the century (Payne, 2016). In American society, the de-institutionalization of marriage and the shift to companionate and self-actualizing marriage has made marriage a powerful symbol of individualism and middle-class adulthood (Cherlin, 2004). Swidler also argues that in the dearth of formal institutions, contracts, and government regulation, Americans believe that the voluntary choices of individuals organize action. Swidler considers the explanation that public cultures, consisting of particular beliefs authorized by society, organize action in periods of instability. Keywords: friendship transition to adulthood culture personal communitiesĪnn Swidler’s (2001) Talk of Love: How Culture Matters challenges cultural sociologists to find out what elements of a cultural schema enable it to control and organize other cultural elements. Respondents’ descriptions of friendship in their personal communities reflected a culture of individualism, which helped them to develop adult, middle-class identities. Respondents experienced instability in their personal communities and pursued friendship for its individualized social support and value in addition to marriage and family relationships. Respondents described how friendship externally supported marriage and family relationships and could develop into a distinct relationship bond within marriage and family relationships.
Friendship was a source of support for respondents during relationship, education, and residential transitions. In depth interviews were conducted with a small sample of primarily white young adults from middle-class backgrounds.
This article investigates the meaning of friendship during the transition to adulthood.
* Please address all correspondence to Kara Takasaki, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712.
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