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Females' Perspectives on Emergence to Adulthood: The View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ASU Digital Repository Females’ Perspectives on Emergence to Adulthood: The Role of Information Communication Technologies by Megan Lindsay A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved February 2016 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Judy Krysik, Chair Walter LaMendola Ann MacEachron ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2016 ABSTRACT Young women ages 18-29 are the highest users of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the United States. As a group, they curate and create more online content than any other adult user group (Duggan, 2014). Throughout the research literature, scholars claim that the high rate of technology use among young people is related to their developmental stage (boyd, 2014; Kuper & Mustaki, 2014; Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008; Turkle, 2010). The primary developmental tasks of young adults include forming an adult identity, and sustaining intimate relationships. Developmental psychologists and sociologist hypothesize that ICT’s influence developmental trajectories and outcomes (Jensen & Arnett, 2012). Given the breadth of discussion in the literature about development, and ICT use, there is relatively little research focusing on how young women interpret and internalize these experiences. The primary purpose of this study was to understand the interaction between young adults frequent online use and developmental tasks — identity formation and intimate relationships. Interviews were conducted with young women (18-29) who qualified as high users (N=22). Participants’ were interviewed twice; the initial interview used a structured schedule, providing uniformity across participants. The second interview was an informal conversation personalized to the participant’s’ interests, experiences, and opinions about the topic. Participants were recruited from across the country, and the diversity in the sample mirrors the heterogeneous nature of the emerging adult population. Two forms of qualitative analysis were used, open thematic coding and narrative analysis. i Findings demonstrated the shift of the networked culture creates a highly individualized life trajectory for young people. Identity and intimacy are still the salient developmental tasks for young adults, but continue evolve throughout the life course. Narrative analyses were used to show strengths of the critical realism theory, especially the reflexive modes, by using case examples. Lastly, the role of ICT are discussed using four primary themes— augmented relationships, disruptive networks, defining moments, and driven agency. Ultimately, this research study helps provide evidence that online spaces are relational and the interactions a part of sociality. For social workers ability to understand development experiences and other facets of social life, further research is needed. ii For Charles, Beckie, and Bob. Thank you for the unconditional support. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To begin I would like to thank my chair, Judy Krysik. You have done so much to help with my dissertation, and go far beyond that. Thank you for being a professional mentor, friend, and world-class travel guide as you brought me into a whole new life. My work will always be indebted to your generosity and kindness. Dr. LaMendola you have helped to walk me through places in the literature that no one else could have done. You are a true expert and philosopher in the area of social work and technology. Mostly, thank you for pioneering as a social work researcher and imagining a place for this type of work. Dr. MacEachron, you have been a wonderful support and cheerleader throughout my PhD studies. I appreciate your insight and encouragement; you had a unique way of encouraging me to dream big, and helping to keep my feet firmly planted. Thank you to my committee, I sincerely appreciate your time and expertise. Next, I want to acknowledge the many important people I connected with through the PhD program. I was fortunate to have an extraordinary cohort making our first years of PhD life bearable, thank you to Jana, Marcos, Elisa, Jyl, Jaime and Jonel. An extra debt of gratitude for Jonel’s time and efforts helping to work through my data collection and analysis as a debriefing partner. I have been fortunate to work closely with other PhD students, especially Alex, Heidi, Jen, Andrea, Meredith, John, and Chris. Both Mary Lutes and Laura Orr have helped me to survive; I can never pay back the multiple favors you two bestowed over the years. Dr. Jill Messing has been gracious enough to let me come onto her research team and work for her the past 3.5 years. Jill, thank you for keeping the lights on in my house and offering mentorship when no one was watching. Dr. Hodge and Dr. Segal, I know it was your job to help; I appreciate all you have done. iv Lastly, I want to thank my friends from the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program 2014. Thank you Dr. Nash, Angela, Crystal, Kelly, Renee, and many more. Thank you to the 22 amazing young people who shared a part of their world, you all told amazing personal stories and this work honors those experiences. Each of you knows how and why our time together was special, thank you for being a part of this process. For my family and friends, thanks for sticking by me even though there are times you did not know what I needed or how long this would take. To the Lindsay crew, you all make life what it is. Thank you Mom and Dad for a long-list of reasons, the main one being your love and patience. To my dear siblings, Russ, Adria, Beth, Josh, Rachel, Mari, Levi, Laura, and William, please call me Dr. from now on. Cali Ann and James Jr., thanks for the smiles— your pictures and videos do help! To my friends Tori, Vanessa, Amanda, Natalie, Sara, Natasha M., Notosha W., and LaShawn, let us all go celebrate. Lastly, to my dear husband and new family, Charles. No doubt, I would not be here without you. For the past 3 years, you have listened to me theorize, helped me to transcribe, worked as my personal editor, bought me office supplies, cooked meals, and provided endless encouragement. Thank you my heart. Thank you to the Graduate College for the Doctoral Completion Fellowship, Graduate Professional Student Association, OneLove Foundation, the School of Social Work, and the Dean’s Office in the College of Public Programs and Community Solutions. Through your generosity and financial support, I have been fortunate to focus on my studies and have the experiences that shaped my scholarship. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Transition to Adulthood 2 Theoretical Framework 10 Research Questions 12 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 17 Development Theories 17 Emerging Adulthood 19 Critical Realism 21 ICT Use & Development Research 27 Identity 28 Intimacy 38 Summary 53 3 METHODS 56 Ethics 58 Record Storage 60 Sample 60 Eligibility 61 Data Collection 65 Phase One 67 vi CHAPTER Page Phase Two 68 Analysis 69 Steps for Rigor 72 Summary 75 4 EXPERIENCES OF IDENTITY & INTIMACY 77 Identity 78 Generational Identity 78 Living Independently 82 Customized Moral Commitments 86 Intimacy 92 Adjusted Womanhood 94 Authentic Relationships 99 Summary 106 5 EXPLORING THE REFLEXIVITY FRAMEWORK 107 Communicative: Contextual Continuity 110 Carly 112 Stephanie 115 Autonomous Reflexives: The Entrepreneurs 118 Brooke 119 Olivia 122 Meta-Reflexive: The Analytical Voice 126 Holly 127 Tina 130 vii CHAPTER Page Fractured Reflexive: Disoriented Transitions 134 Brianna 135 Jennifer 139 Complicating Reflexive Modes: Challenging the Analysis 142 Summary 147 Disruptive Networks 148 Defining Moments 150 Driven Agency 152 6 THE ROLE OF ICT 156 Augment Personal Relationships 157 Family Relationships 158 Dating Relationships & ICT 161 Intimate Relationship Communication & ICT 166 Disruptive Networks 170 Daily ICT routine 171 Pluralist Societies 174 Multifaceted Social Media Use 177 Defining Moments 181 Influential ICT Use 181 Abuse experiences 185 Driven Agency 189 Online Presence 189 Social Justice Causes 192 viii CHAPTER Page Summary 201 7 CONCLUSION 202 Key Findings 202 Identity & Intimacy 203 Theoretical Implications 204 Role of ICT 206 Study Limitations 207 Grappling with data 207 Determining Rigor 209 Implications for Social Work 210 Practice 210 Policy 211 Research 212 REFERENCES 215 APPENDIX Page A IRB SUBMISSION 226 B CONSENT FORM 233 C PERFORMANCE RELEASE 236 D STUDY PROCEDURES 239 E INITIAL INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 240 F INTERVIEW TWO OUTLINE 243 G RESEARCH SOCIAL MEDIA SITES INSTRUCTION SHEET 245 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Sample Demographic Information 74 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Reflexive Processes Before ICT 109 2. Reflexive Processes After ICT 110 3. Carly’s Reflexive Style 113 4. Lea’s Reflexive Style 147 5. Traditional Network Interactions 159 6. Augmented Relationships 170 7. Disruptive Networks 181 8. Defining Moments 189 9. Agency through Online Interaction 201 xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Taylor is a 22-year-old woman who lives in San Francisco. Today she woke up, and like any other day, the first thing she did was check her text messages to see if Anthony had contacted her. They met two weeks ago on Tinder, a smartphone dating application, and since then they have communicated regularly. Their communication started off promising; a few days ago Anthony started following her on Instagram and added her as a Facebook friend. However, several days have passed since she last heard from him, and Taylor is unsure if she did something wrong. Perhaps she appeared too opinionated; she often posted blogs and comments about the upcoming Presidential election. Or maybe he did not like one of the pictures on her Instagram page. Taylor is unsure whether she should contact Anthony again or wait to hear from him. Eventually, Taylor decides her best option is to focus on her studies and avoid using Tinder for the time being.
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