Adulting: Anxiety and Fear of Responsibilities Faced by Emerging Adults in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures

Emerging adults are at a distinct stage where they go through internal and external changes that can be challenging. The purpose of the study is to find the difference in anxiety faced by emerging adults, and the role of fear of responsibilities, between two distinct cultures (117 from collectivistic culture – India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China; 88 from individualistic culture – USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland).  The tools used in the study were AnTI – Anxious Thought Inventory (Wells, 1994) and ASA-27 – Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (Manicavasagar, 1997). The researcher devised a few statements based on reviving literature to assess Fear of Responsibility, for which internal consistency was established (α = .83). Results indicated a significant positive correlation between all the variables among both cultures; additionally, significant difference between the two cultures was observed in the social worry dimension of AnTI and ASA. Preliminary qualitative analysis showed the recurrent themes on the qualities considered to be an adult as, being independent, self-sufficient and responsible for individualistic culture; while taking responsibility, being independent, taking care of family, and being mature for the collectivistic culture.