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Developmental Psychology
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Course name: Course code
Date
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Developmental Psychology
Abstract
Autonomy forms an essential stage in infants' development during the emerging
adulthood development stage. Autonomy incorporates parents letting children understand that
they have control over themselves and their decisions based on existing situations-Ranging from
their activities, including interacting and conversing with their peers; autonomy plays a crucial
role in everything emerging adults do while at home and in workplace settings. Embracing the
need to be independent forms a crucial skill for young adults to develop. It helps them
understand how to conduct themselves in their future life as they handle substantial
responsibilities. Psychologists have proved autonomy to be necessary during the emerging
adulthood phases. As the youths develop independence, they explore the world on their own,
thus discovering the ways of expressing themselves. The emerging adults’ understanding of how
actions and choices influence results and gaining knowledge on controllable and uncontrollable
situations is also enhanced. Young individuals' transition to adulthood occurs in numerous ways,
including the ones dominated by employment and academics. The perceived pathways are
influenced significantly by the autonomy and wellbeing developed by young people towards
helping them to handle life realities. The study aims at analyzing the relationship between young
adults’ autonomy and psychological wellness-important factors during the transition to
adulthood-and their perceived impacts on job satisfaction.
The study conducted numerous interviews in a wide range of workplace settings,
including companies and organizations, after which results were collected, analyzed, and
conclusions deduced. The respondents were asked to explain the various ways through which
autonomy has contributed towards their wellbeing and contributed to their excellent performance
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within institutions and company enterprises. The results showed that young adult employees
having significant autonomy levels within workplace settings reported positive impacts on their
general wellbeing and substantial job satisfaction levels. The research outcomes offer a detailed
understanding of young adults' autonomy levels and their contributions to job satisfaction and
delivery of desirable results. They also provide data that employers can utilize in guiding the
potential interventions that can be implemented towards improving autonomy levels and
commanding effective outcomes within workplace settings.
Keywords: Autonomy, Emerging adulthood, Job satisfaction
Introduction
Between ages 15 and 22 marks the end of the puberty stage and the onset of the emerging
adulthood developmental stage. Throughout this stage, social relationships, including peer and
family relationships, play substantial roles in how adults establish their autonomous selves. The
emerging adulthood developmental phase also forms a stage of instability in which adolescents
become autonomous adults through exposure to unfamiliar incidences in both academic and
workplace settings (Bishop et al., 2019). Both eudaimonic wellbeing and hedonic perspectives
can be applied in shedding light on the autonomy's contributing factors in young adults.
Eudaimonic perspectives emphasize self-fulfillment, exploration of one's potential, self-
development, and future planning as autonomous features contributing to desirable job
performance. Hedonic perspectives explain autonomy as the positive evaluation of one's life and
are associated with establishing subjective wellbeing, emotional stability, and a sense of
satisfaction.
The study majorly focuses on autonomy. The autonomous and physiological wellbeing is
examined utilizing the Ryff measurement scale incorporating dimensions of personal growth,
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self-acceptance, positive relations, environmental mastery, and life's purpose. Ryff explains
autonomy as a complex process responsible for individuals' continuous restructuring over a
lifetime through continuous socialization with others. Following a detailed literature review on
past studies, explaining autonomy explains three primary processes; subjective, personal, and
intrasubjective. Intrasubjective further incorporates intersubjective procedures entailing other
individuals and trans-subjective processes explaining the interactions between involved persons
and the surrounding societies (Bishop et al., 2019). The explanation, however, deviates
autonomy's classic notion as individuals' self-sufficiency and the capacity to address situations
on a personal basis. The definition instead emphasizes individuals' interaction with each other
and society, incorporating socio-political engagement and the community.
The perspective, however, poses challenges to the emerging adulthood phase, which
emphasizes personal processes incorporating independent decision making, assuming
responsibility for oneself, and attaining financial freedom. Towards the emerging adulthood
phase, individuals develop self-acceptance traits linked with mature responsibilities, thus
contributing significantly to job satisfaction. Young people approaching adulthood to attain
higher scores than the elderly in terms of positive relations within the workplace as they are
inhibited about developing social contact (Johari, Tan & Zulkarnain, 2018). These individuals
are thus bound to discovering personal goals and interests that afterward command positive work
performance. According to previous studies, young adults' transition from school to colleges and
universities substantially impacts the emerging adult's physiological wellbeing. Its effects are
observed on components such as personal growth and, consequently, self-autonomy.
After completing studies, young adults who land jobs matching their skills are more
likely to attain significant scores in areas incorporating optimism, self-efficacy, resilience.
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Consequently, autonomy, thus deriving life satisfaction that contributes to overall job
satisfaction. The perceived findings emphasize that organizations should train such individuals
on developing and strengthening the available resources that may enhance personal autonomy
and help develop the emotional intelligence necessary for producing desirable results in the
workplace (Liga et al., 2017). Substantial training regarding the acquisition of concrete job-
finding techniques also helps emerging adults understand handling themselves within the
workplace.
Developing self-autonomy during the emerging adulthood phase incorporates numerous
benefits to job satisfaction. The young adults are empowered to be self-performers, offer
stewardship over their responsibilities, enabling them to deliver top-notch work. Employees'
autonomy also increases ownership and loyalty, enhancing flexibility, enabling young adults to
feel accountable and valuable for their responsibilities (Melendro et al., 2020). Autonomy helps
in increasing young adults' productivity while reducing labor costs. Improving autonomy entitles
employees to significant degrees of freedom while working on assigned tasks and helps
managers to focus on more important and lucrative duties.
Additionally, improving autonomy helps in improving workplace adaptability. Based on
the fact that individuals have different ways of handling tasks and solving challenges, allowing
the emerging adults into the workplace to share and exercise their strategies offers numerous
solutions that improve the workplace (Kaniušonytė & Žukauskienė, 2018). The contributions of
autonomy towards enhancing job satisfaction are derived following the utilization of appropriate
research designs, target participants from which researchers interpreted the findings, and
conclusions deduced.
Body
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Research Design
The study utilized the correlational research design, which embraced deductive
reasoning. The design helped determine the extent of the relationship between autonomy in
emerging adults and their contributions towards enhancing job satisfaction. The application of
the design identified factors such as self-acceptance and environmental mastery as contributing
factors to autonomy development in young adults, which later commands desirable job
performance. The research design further recognized trends and data patterns, after which the
study identified the existing relationships. The research also identified the distribution of both
dependent and independent variables regarding autonomy and their impacts on job performance
explained by the findings.
Participants And Measures
The participants chosen were majorly students having graduated from tertiary institutions
and universities. Most of them agreed that adjustment from learning institutions to their field of
work proved ambiguous before adapting to the prevailing workplace conditions. The majority of
the participants chosen were aged 16 to 21 years and portrayed impeccable abilities to read and
write. Potential respondents having mental, physical, and functional disabilities were, however,
excluded from the study. The measures taken to ensure the study's effectiveness included
interviews, surveys, and questionnaires. Surveys carried out identified the existence of previous
surveys in efforts deemed at yielding standardized measures for comparison purposes.
Participants were also required to fill both open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires
depending on the nature of the structured questions.
Findings And Interpretation
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The researchers deduced that autonomy levels differed considerably depending on gender
and occupation types based on the findings. Individuals working in management work settings
reported significant autonomy levels, with about 90 percent reporting more autonomy in work.
The emerging adults who worked in professional workplace settings portrayed less autonomy
due to the work pace and the set working hours. For the emerging adults interviewed,
approximately 40 to 45 percent experienced low autonomy levels, while almost half of less-
skilled employees experienced no autonomy during the set working hours.
The research further found that both men and women were impacted by physiological
wellness differently depending on the type of autonomy experienced. Based on the findings, men
are more likely to be affected by task orders, work pace, and job tasks assigned to them. For a
large number of women, flexibility regarding location and work timing proved beneficial as it
helped in balancing other responsibilities, including family duties (Kaniušonytė & Žukauskienė,
2018). Their control over work schedules and type of works proved relevant to the substantial
wellbeing of female employers, especially the emerging adults. Additionally, autonomy over
work behaviors increases life satisfaction and leisure in most employees emerging to adulthood.
The research also highlighted that despite the increased autonomy levels, most employers
appeared unwilling to assign employees significant psychological wellbeing due to their
autocratic leadership skills. Similarly, the results portrayed that for most emerging adults,
autonomous behavior contributed immensely to their physiological and health wellbeing
(Kaniušonytė & Žukauskienė, 2018). There also exists a correlation between the emerging
adults' life purpose dimensions on their wellbeing and various autonomy scale dimensions. The
results are compatible with most researchers' opinion that autonomy proves significant to life
decisions made by individuals emerging into adulthood regarding employment and education
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concerns. The decision-making process in these adults, which defines their life purpose, is based
on social self-construction processes and individual identity consolidation practices.
Low autonomy levels reported within most workplace settings are contributed by
institutions' dependence, poor academic results, and undesirable working conditions. Individuals
having substantial autonomy levels proved beneficial to the working organizations. They
portrayed desirable skills to research, analyze proposals, and arrive at decision-making on social,
political, and personal matters (Liga et al., 2017). The emerging adults joining new working
environments experience significant challenges in their individuality preservation in numerous
social situations. They felt a need for outside social approval as their personalities developed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, autonomy proves substantial for adolescents transiting into adulthood as it
has desirable outcomes on job performance. Females portrayed more autonomy than males
within similar workplace settings once entitled to flexible working conditions and schedules.
Autonomy levels also differed considerably depending on gender and occupation types.
Individuals working in management work settings reported significant autonomy levels reporting
substantial job performance in work. The emerging adults who worked in professional workplace
settings portrayed less autonomy, attributed to the work pace and the set working hours. The
autonomy levels should be improved by creating desirable work conditions for emerging adults
through decision-making processes. The practical implication of autonomy involves offering
emerging adults opportunities to work in ways that favor them. Employers should embrace
autonomy as it increases the employees' satisfaction, creativity, and motivation. Most employees
are likely to improve significantly and be productive after leaving their micromanaging practices
and focus on self-governance and autonomy.
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References
Bishop, J. L., Norona, J. C., Roberson, P. N., Welsh, D. P., & McCurry, S. K. (2019). Adult
attachment, role balance, and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Journal of
Adult Development, 26(1), 31-40.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10804-018-9295-z
Johari, J., Tan, F. Y., & Zulkarnain, Z. I. T. (2018). Autonomy, workload, work-life balance, and
job performance among teachers. International Journal of Educational Management.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2016-0226
Liga, F., Ingoglia, S., Inguglia, C., Lo Coco, A., Lo Cricchio, M. G., Musso, P., ... & Gutow, M.
R. (2017). Associations among psychologically controlling parenting, autonomy,
relatedness, and problem behaviors during emerging adulthood. The Journal of
Psychology, 151(4), 393-415.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2017.1305323
Kaniušonytė, G., & Žukauskienė, R. (2018). Relationships with parents, identity styles, and
positive youth development transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood.
Emerging adulthood, 6(1), 42-52.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2167696817690978
Melendro, M., Campos, G., Rodríguez-Bravo, A. E., & Resino, D. A. (2020). Young people's
autonomy and psychological wellbeing in the transition to adulthood: A Pathway
Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 11.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7427428/
PSYC 525
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DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY PRESENTATION ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
Description: This assignment requires you to create a narrated PowerPoint presentation that
applies research in developmental psychology to a practical problem during a specific stage in
the lifespan.
Purpose: In the science of developmental psychology, scholars conduct research in both basic
and applied settings. In fact, one of the more important reasons for engaging in developmental
research is the application of findings to practical problems. This assignment will allow you to
practice applying empirical research to help resolve a practical issue in human development. As
a secondary goal, the assignment will give you experience with verbal presentation, which is a
key lifelong professional skill.
INSTRUCTIONS
Details:
1. Select a topic.
a. Pick an issue/problem that is interesting to you (e.g., bullying, character
development, job burnout, etc.).
b. Focus on 1 developmental stage (e.g., early/middle/late childhood, adolescence,
emerging adulthood, etc.).
2. Locate 5 empirical studies in peer-reviewed journals that address the issue identified
above.
3. Create and narrate the presentation (see format below).
4. Students may choose the same topic and use the same material from the research paper
submitted for Week 6 but must address practical problems for this assignment, which
might require further research.
Format:
1. Include a title slide, content slides as needed, and a reference slide.
2. Avoid placing too many words on a slide (no more than 50 words).
3. Start by thinking about what you want to accomplish in your 10 minutes. Make a list of
your presentation goals, and then subdivide the goals into relevant components. Have
modest goals; you do not need to tie up the untidy details in the research literature.
Introduce your listeners to the topic, take them to a moderate depth of understanding,
engage them, and leave them wanting to know more.
4. For the introduction, be sure to set up the importance of this particular issue, situating it
briefly in context.
5. For the body, explain the issue and how the research informs/addresses the issue. Provide
key details (not overwhelming the listener with too many details).
6. For the conclusion, summarize your analysis and note the practical
implications/applications.
7. After creating the slides, narrate the slides as you would if you were standing in front of
an audience. If you need help narrating the slides, there are many tutorials online.
PSYC 525
Page 2 of 2
8. The presentation must be 10–12 minutes.
9. Current APA standards must be followed
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Developmental
Psychology
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Name: Course Code
Professor’s Name
Due Date
Autonomy Introduction
•Notably, autonomy involves parents letting children
understand that they have control over themselves
and the decisions they make
•In essence, it is the need for children to embrace
independence.
•Thus, the transition from childhood to adulthood
provides a significant pathway for development in
terms of life realities, well being, and mindset hence
the narrative development psychology.
Main Development Stage
•The presentation in this case focuses on emerging
adulthood individuals
•These are individuals who have just completed their
university studies
•Most of them are at the age of 21 and 22
respectively
•The individuals in this development stage are also
known as young adults
Cont..
•According to Bishop et al. (2019), young adults in this
phase often process their personal interventions especially
when it comes to role balance and adult attachment.
•In this regard, they have to assume responsibilities to
oneself, make independent decisions, and attain financial
freedom
•Most of these individuals are bound to discover personal
interests and goals to command a positive work
performance
Cont..
•Some of the young adults in this development phase are
likely to get jobs after completing their studies.
•In this prospect, they are likely to acquire significant
scores when it comes to resilience, self-efficacy, courage,
and optimism to achieve desirable results in workplaces
(Liga et al., 2017)
•Therefore, such individuals are likely to achieve the above
mentioned aspect when they are in the right mindset
hence the aspect of autonomy in development psychology
Body
•Developing self-autonomy during the emerging adulthood
phase involves multiple benefits in terms of employment
and job acquisition and satisfaction
•In this regard, young adults are empowered to be
responsible and self-performers to enhance flexibility,
ownership, and top performance (Melendro et al., 2021)
•Therefore, improving autonomy in emerging adulthood
phase improves workplace adaptability from a broader
perspective
Cont..
•The research design used to determine autonomy in
emerging adults in pursuit of job satisfaction entails
correlation research design
•The study design named above identifies factors such
as environmental mastery and self-acceptance as
contributing aspects towards autonomy development
•The study design also identifies the existing
relationship between autonomy in emerging adults
and job satisfaction in workplaces
Cont..
•Most participants that enrolled for the program
demonstrated impeccable abilities to read an write
and were between age 16 to 21 since it is a
development phase age
•The measures taken to determine autonomy in
emerging adults incorporate questionnaires,
interviews, and surveys from a broader perspective
•Both open-ended and close-ended questionnaires
were vital to participants
Cont..
•Based on the findings regarding autonomy in young
adults, the research shows that autonomy differs
based on occupation and gender
•For instance, emerging adults working in professional
area settings showed less autonomy due to their
working hours
•On the other hand, men and women often have
different psychological wellness because of their
surrounding
Cont..
•Therefore, men are likely to be affected by work
space, working hours, and task orders hence leading
to less autonomy
•However, most women are flexible when it comes to
work place location and the work hours they always
have making them to balance their work and other
responsible hence more autonomy to women
compared to men (Johari et al., 2018)
Cont..
•The research also establishes that psychological well-
being contributes immensely to autonomy
•And young adults autonomous behavior is a perfect
reflection of multiple autonomy scale dimension
with regard to the young adult’s psychological and
health well-being (Kaniušonytė &Žukauskienė,
2018).
•Therefore, autonomy levels depends on one’s
psychological well-being from a broader perspective
Conclusion
•Notably, as depicted above autonomy contributes to
employment and job satisfaction hence the emergence of
education concerns.
•In essence, most low level autonomy reported in
workplaces are as a result of unreasonable working or
poor academics
•It is essential to note that autonomy adolescent
transitioning into adulthood and females portray more
autonomy than male especially when it comes to job
satisfaction
References
•Kaniušonytė, G., &Žukauskienė, R. (2018). Relationships with parents, identity styles, and positive
youth development transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood, 6(1),
42-52.
•Melendro, M., Campos, G., Rodríguez-Bravo, A. E., & Resino, D. A. (2020). Young people's
autonomy and psychological wellbeing in the transition to adulthood: A Pathway Analysis.
Frontiers in Psychology, 11.
•Liga, F., Ingoglia, S., Inguglia, C., Lo Coco, A., Lo Cricchio, M. G., Musso, P., ... &Gutow, M. R.
(2017). Associations among psychologically controlling parenting, autonomy, relatedness, and
problem behaviors during emerging adulthood. The Journal of Psychology, 151(4), 393-415.
•Johari, J., Tan, F. Y., & Zulkarnain, Z. I. T. (2018). Autonomy, workload, work-life balance, and job
performance among teachers. International Journal of Educational Management.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2016-0226
•Bishop, J. L., Norona, J. C., Roberson, P. N., Welsh, D. P., & McCurry, S. K. (2019). Adult
attachment, role balance, and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Journal of Adult
Development, 26(1), 31-40.
