Exploring the Role of Satisfaction With Love, Education, Work, and Leisure in Flourishing During Emerging Adulthood and Early Established Adulthood

Using data from 857 young adults (18 to 35 years-old), we explored how satisfaction with education, work, romantic, and leisure experiences were associated with flourishing. We found associations between satisfaction and flourishing, even when accounting for having completed salient developmental tasks related to education, work, romantic relationships, and leisure. Although we did not find that gender (cisgender women compared to cisgender men) or developmental stage (emerging adult compared to early established adult) moderated associations between developmental domain satisfaction and flourishing, we did find gender and developmental stage differences in education, work, and leisure satisfaction as well as developmental task completion within those domains. By incorporating subjective satisfaction, this study offers nuance for understanding the transition to adulthood and the diverse ways individuals experience it.