Early Adulthood: Changes and Challenges

For this Research paper, the topic that has been chosen is the early adulthood stage. There are many changes that occur during this time, and affect the majority of today’s society. A few characteristics someone would have going on in their lives are physical, social, and mental changes during this stage. They are going through these changes due to a leap from the adolescence stage to the early adulthood stage. During this time period, it brings many changes to one’s life such as what they are going to do in life, where they are going to college, and how they are going to present themselves to others.

The theory being related to the topic chosen is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In this theory, he explains the different stages we go through to finally reach a concept called self-actualization. The concepts Maslow discusses are very important in the early adulthood stages. When going through this stage of early adulthood, one has to make many life-changing decisions.

This creates a lot of stress for young adults because, in a way, this is going to be shaping out the rest of their life. At the core of this theory, it talks about how we need to fulfill our basic needs in life before we can pursue higher levels of needs that we have.

The first stage Maslow discusses in his theory is our physiological needs. These are human survival needs such as food, water, air, and shelter. Once they are taken care of, then we can go onto the next stage which is our safety needs.

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In the safety needs stage, we need to feel protected from injury and death. Without this security, we are held back from being able to move to the next stage of the pyramid. Next is love and belonging, this is where personal connections are made. For example, friendships, bonds with family members, and becoming a part of your society.

Stage number four in the pyramid is your esteem needs which brings you to what Maslow calls your higher needs. Higher level needs are met once all the lower level needs are satisfied. This is when you create your own reputation and become comfortable with yourself. The esteem stage is very important in life because this makes you the person you want to be and also what you want others to see. There’s nothing worse than someone wanting to do something but they cannot because of low self-esteem issues. This can set a person back and make them constantly have regrets. Finally, once a person has fulfilled all of these stages, the highest stage is met, Self-actualization. Self-actualization is when one truly become their self. Meaning you have fulfilled your unique potential while you continue to appreciate the life you are living. You learn this while completing all of the steps we covered in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This theory shows how our life is made up of many different steps. Self-actualization is a major step we need to reach to understand who we are and what our plan and purpose are in life.

The social topic that has been chosen for this paper is fitness. Fitness was chosen as a social topic because it is something that is very important in today’s society. The definition of fitness is the condition of being physically fit and healthy. Not only does it help our body look good but it also helps with our mental health. Some of the benefits fitness create in today’s society are jobs, stress relievers and boosts overall health.

Jobs in today’s society are very important and fitness is helping to provide the world’s population with jobs. Research shows that the majority of professional trainers are the happiest people. Being a physical trainer can be very satisfying by seeing people change in many different ways. This not only benefits the trainer but it also benefits the client. Fitness also creates a way to cope and deal with stress. The majority of people deal with stress in very unhealthy ways. Statistics show the majority of people use drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, smoking and many other unhealthy things to deal with stress. Instead of choosing to hurt your body, people should become more aware of how fitness can positively help with stress while also increasing your overall health.

When someone thinks of going to the gym, most of the time its correlated with being tried and too much work is involved to make it happen. But exercise on a daily or weekly basis can really boost your energy levels. This happens because our body gets accustomed to the force and effort we use when we exercise. Another benefit fitness can lead to is a social activity. Many people go to the gym with their family members and friends. This creates a time where you can help each other in positive ways while bettering yourselves. Also, the gyms always packed with people so there are numerous friendships that can be made while working out.

When someone is in the early adulthood stage they are going through a lot of changes. Something that is very important during this time is your esteem needs. The reason esteem needs are so important is because this shape’s you as an individual. As an early adult, you have so many important decisions to make, people to impress, and obstacles to overcome. Fitness can help your esteem needs in many ways. When someone is having trouble with self-esteem and continues to feel like they cannot change anything that’s happening in their life, Fitness can be the first step they take to change their negative esteem mindset. Imagine taking a picture of yourself in the mirror and thinking to yourself ‘I look HORRIBLE’!! So then you start to read, learn and become a member at a fitness center.

Fitness is not something that takes minimal effort, it’s a sport where you have to put dedication into. After being dedicated to something and seeing results, its proven that it’s a self-esteem booster. Setting a goal and achieving it is one of the best feelings out there. So many different articles and people explain this life-changing experience. Even if the body doesn’t look like a supermodel, the person is still aware that they have the power to make changes on their own.

References

1. https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/self-actualization/
2. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=630549b4-04c0-4c6a-8708-b64556a6c475%40sessionmgr4009
3. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=b567c070-a84e-4fa8-92d9-9e75341ad330%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=123952035&db=a9h
4. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=30&sid=b567c070-a84e-4fa8-92d9-9e75341ad330%40sessionmgr4008