Learning to Love, Work, and Live Your Best Life: Mentoring in Emerging Adulthood Predicts Later Flourishing and Subjective Well-Being

Authors

Jordan Boeder, Claremont Graduate University
Veronica Fruiht, Dominican University of CaliforniaFollow
Sarah Hwang, California State University, Northridge
Giovanna Blanco, California State University, Northridge
Thomas Chan, California State University, NorthridgeFollow

Document Type

Article

Source

Emerging Adulthood

Publication Date

5-12-2021

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Mentors that guide young people in their transition to adulthood provide support in a variety of domains that set the stage for happier adult lives. While mentoring during emerging adulthood is associated with shorter-term social and professional success—less is known about whether mentoring for career and committed relationships, specifically, are linked to downstream well-being. This study uses nationally representative data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 6,197) to examine whether receiving mentoring in emerging adulthood is linked to later flourishing and subjective well-being. Structural Equation Models indicate that people with career mentors in emerging adulthood reported higher levels of flourishing and subjective well-being and those with committed relationship mentors reported more flourishing in later life. Findings suggest that emerging adults who receive career supports may have better chances of experiencing well-being downstream.

Rights

Copyright © 2021 Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood and SAGE Publishing

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.