Exam 17: Seciton 1: Emerging Adulthood: Biosocial Development

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Social norms are the customs for typical behavior within a particular society. Social norms exert a particularly strong influence on college students since they desire peer approval. Some social norms work well for emerging adults, as young adults watch their weight in order to be attractive to others, and based on rates of exercise, young adults join sports teams and gyms partly because norms encourage it. However, some norms push emerging adults in destructive directions such as binge drinking.
The social norms approach uses emerging adults' desire to follow social norms by making them aware of the prevalence of various behaviors within their peer group. The social norms approach seeks to reduce risky behaviors by having students respond to surveys. These surveys ask students to self-identify behaviors; then the results are compiled and reported to the group.
In general, when survey results are reported, and college students realize that most of their classmates study hard, avoid binge drinking, refuse drugs, and are sexually abstinent, faithful or protected, they are more likely to follow these social norms. This is especially true if the survey is conducted and reported on the Web, and if the students do not live with heavy drinkers.

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Drug abuse occurs whenever a person uses a drug that is harmful to his or her physical, cognitive, or psychosocial well-being. Drug abuse can cause harm not only to one's mind and body but also relationships and day-to-day functioning. Drug addiction is a condition of dependence in which the absence of a drug causes intense cravings to satisfy a need. The need may be either physical (e.g., to stop the shakes, settle one's stomach, or sleep) or psychological (e.g., to reduce anxiety or lift depression).
The telltale sign of addiction is the withdrawal symptoms that occur when the person does not have access to the drug.

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There are several reasons for the possible increase in psychological disorders in emerging adulthood. One reason may be sexual freedom, which may cause anxiety, depression, and disease. In addition, parents are less involved in the day-to-day life of their adult offspring than they were earlier, which means that disturbed young adults lack the safety net of parental protection. Further, the age group most likely to be unemployed is emerging adults, who often experience rejection after rejection as they try to find a job they like.