How Emerging Adults Understand Their Worlds: Ethical Values, Meaning-Making, and Worldview Formation in a Contemporary American Context

The mixed-study examines how ethics and values, measured by the Ethical Values Assessment (EVA; Jensen & Padilla-Walker, 2015) shape worldview formation and meaning-making in a sample of 31 emerging adulthood (M = 21.87 years) living in the U.S. Data was collected following the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, creating an important socio cultural political context. Using theories that span the areas of narrative meaning-making, moral development, and worldview formation to ground our interpretations. Findings suggest that the integration of Autonomy and Community ethics was associated with a more expansive and coherent worldview, including the ability to make sense of and find significance in experiences. In contrast, those prioritizing only Autonomy or only Community showed limited engagement with broader societal structures or personal reflection, and those low in both dimensions lacked a developed worldview. Our findings support previous literature but also expand the understanding of worldview formation and emerging adulthood development.