#Adulting: Insight from Social Media on the Construct of Adulthood
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Cara Ray
Subject Area
Psychology
Description
As the term “adulting” is used to refer to doing things adults do or acting grown up (Brown, 2017), Gross (2017) argued that using the term “adulting” to refer to doing things that adults do is offensive and claimed that women tend to use the term in a negative context. This research analyses social media posts that use the keyword “adulting” against a set of different codes, including Norman’s markers of adulthood (role transitions, independence, legality, and relative maturity). Through the analysis, we answer the following questions: (1) Is “adulting” used more frequently on social media by women than men? (2) Do women use “adulting” more negatively than men? (3) Are the aspects of “adulting” mentioned in social media captured by Norman et al.’s (2023) framework? and (4) Are there aspects missing from the framework? Data were collected from a search for the term “adulting” in public social media content. Our findings highlight that women use the term “adulting” more than men, emotional tone did not differ between genders. Findings also show that a majority of the posts included at least one of Norman’s markers of adulthood, yet many posts referenced experiences not represented in the framework.
Recommended Citation
Gerges, Rana T. and Ferguson, Camden, "#Adulting: Insight from Social Media on the Construct of Adulthood" (2026). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 22.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2026/all/22
#Adulting: Insight from Social Media on the Construct of Adulthood
As the term “adulting” is used to refer to doing things adults do or acting grown up (Brown, 2017), Gross (2017) argued that using the term “adulting” to refer to doing things that adults do is offensive and claimed that women tend to use the term in a negative context. This research analyses social media posts that use the keyword “adulting” against a set of different codes, including Norman’s markers of adulthood (role transitions, independence, legality, and relative maturity). Through the analysis, we answer the following questions: (1) Is “adulting” used more frequently on social media by women than men? (2) Do women use “adulting” more negatively than men? (3) Are the aspects of “adulting” mentioned in social media captured by Norman et al.’s (2023) framework? and (4) Are there aspects missing from the framework? Data were collected from a search for the term “adulting” in public social media content. Our findings highlight that women use the term “adulting” more than men, emotional tone did not differ between genders. Findings also show that a majority of the posts included at least one of Norman’s markers of adulthood, yet many posts referenced experiences not represented in the framework.