Running Head : PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD 1 Helping Others Helps Me : Prosocial Behavior as a Function of Identity Development and Self-Regulation in Emerging Adulthood

Many people believe that today’s young people are narcissistic and self-involved (e.g., Twenge, 2006), but research has suggested that emerging adults are engaging in explorations of positive behaviors as well. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between identity development, self-regulation, and prosocial behavior in emerging adulthood. Data from 182 undergraduate students (17 to 22 years old) at a small, private Midwestern liberal arts college indicated that self-regulatory style predicted prosocial tendencies and behavior more strongly than identity development variables of exploration, commitment, self-focus, and other-focus. Emerging adults are choosing to engage in prosocial behaviors and internally regulate positive aspects of their behavior even as there are continuing to progress in their identity development. PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD 3 Helping Others Helps Me: Prosocial Behavior as a Function of Identity Development and SelfRegulation in Emerging Adulthood Perceptions that contemporary Americans have of today’s young adults paint a pessimistic picture of society’s future. The Baby Boomer generation tends to see today’s young people as selfish, irresponsible, and narcissistic; this view has permeated much of American society and the popular media as well (Chapman, 2007). Some social scientists have supported these opinions with empirical research. In her 2006 book Generation Me, Jean Twenge argues that those born in the late 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s are “a generation unapologetically focused on the individual” who have been “taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves” (p. 2; p. 7). Twenge (2006) also has found evidence of increases in narcissism, self-focus, and entitlement in recent generations. She asserts that these changes have created a belief system that places little value on following social rules or putting the needs of the group above the needs of the individual (Twenge, 2006). Other researchers have raised concerns about Twenge’s negative conclusions regarding today’s young adults. Trzesniewski, Donnellan, and Robins (2008) criticized the methodology employed by Twenge and her colleagues, arguing that conclusions drawn from convenience samples of college students are not representative of the whole population and cannot be generalized to an entire generation of young people. They also argue specifically against the conclusion that the overall rise in narcissism is uniformly problematic. Instead, they contend that there are several components of narcissism which could contribute to changes in overall narcissism scores. Some of these facets, such as entitlement/exploitativeness and vanity, are maladaptive, but there are others, such as self-sufficiency, that do not have an appreciable “dark side” (Trzesniewski, Donnellan, & Robins, 2008, p. 911). PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD 4 Similar to Trzesniewski et al. (2008), the current study looks beyond the selfish, negative images put forth by Twenge (2006) and others and instead focuses on positive aspects of the behavior of today’s young people. The purpose of the present study was an examination of how developing identity and self-regulation are related to prosocial behavior in emerging adults.