ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly points out the ways modern researchers have built upon the findings of earlier 'pioneers' in adolescent research, and made many research contributions to various aspects of young people's transitions to adulthood in Western cultures. It has been pointed out in many publications that the de-standardized life course in modern society offers a variety of choices, which sometimes can be overwhelming. This has led to prolonged moratoria, and has been mentioned by J. J. Arnett as one of the reasons for the appearance of 'emerging adulthood' as a developmental stage in modern Western societies. An interesting example of modern times is the possibility to create a range of 'online identities', which might or might not be similar to the individual's 'offline' identities. Identity achievement is not an overall state, but is highly domain-specific. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
