Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. HOMEPAGE

There's one huge difference in 'being an adult' in China and the US

oldest twins chinese women Centenarian
Chinese 104-year-old twins Cao Xiaoqiao (R) and her elder sister Cao Daqiao look at each other on the outskirts of Shiqiaozi town in Zhucheng, Shandong province June 18, 2009. Born in 1905, they are now the oldest pair of twin sisters in China, local media reported. Picture taken June 18, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer REUTERS/Stringer

The criteria of what makes someone an "adult" is surprisingly consistent across cultures. 

Advertisement

In hundreds of interviews conducted by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett and other psychologists, people from China to Argentina to Israel to the US have said that people become adults when they take responsibility for themselves, make independent decisions, and are financially self-sufficient. 

But there's one additional factor that's a big part of Chinese life, yet notably absent from American life. 

In a 2004 study of Chinese university students lead by Brigham Young University psychologist Larry J. Nelson, 89% of respondents said that being able to financially support your parents was seen as necessary for being an adult. 

In a 2003 study of American students by Nelson, only 16% of respondents thought that being able to take care of your parents financially was a condition of adulthood. 

Advertisement

Seen together, the studies suggest that "adulthood" is a deeply cultural idea: In individualist America, your parents are thought to be on their own; in collectivist China, they're your responsibility. 

Nelson and his colleagues trace the emphasis on taking care of parents back to Confucious, the 2,500-year-old sage whose philosophy animates Chinese culture

They say that Confucian doctrine "places great importance on putting the needs and interests of the family before one's own, as well as constraining the self and controlling one's own emotions."

It's about putting your family before yourself. 

Advertisement

"As a result, Chinese young people may give greater weight to criteria that have connotations of self-control and obligations to others, such as entering marriage, becoming a parent, and caring for parents," Nelson and his colleagues argue.

For more on what people think turns people into adults, read Jensen Arnett's "Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties." 

Psychology China
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account