Some people are getting worried. ―Robert De Niro’s Irishman seeking to intimidate Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa

I don't want any trouble. —Basil, from Zorba the Greek

Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and look for trouble. —Alexis Zorba

Years ago, at a New Year’s Eve party on the Portuguese coast, my hosts roped me into what might be called a practical joke. As guests continued to arrive, my job was to say hello to every young woman and inquire, with heavily accented diction: “Vive na casa dos seus pais?” I played along, the women looked astonished and aghast, and my friends laughed uproariously. I knew that my question meant “Do you live in your parents’ house?” I, too, thought the little charade was funny, and a good time was had by all.

Around the world, many emerging adults live with their parents. Globally speaking and historically speaking, such co-residence may well be normative. Contexts and meanings are variable, however. I recall, for example, that back in East Germany, where apartments were scarce, many young people would get married in order to be favored by the state-run housing authority. They felt they had to wed so they could get away from mom and dad.

Before the onset of modernity, multi-generational residences were the norm, and normative expectations were tightly regulated. Many young men learned their father’s craft or trade. Many young women prepared for a life as a wife and mother. There were few old people, and the weight-bearing generation in the middle was, I estimate, between 25 and 45 years old.

Modernity has brought increased individualism, a thawing of social ties, an increase in autonomy, and a will to........

© Psychology Today