comingofage

Coming of age refers to the process of growing up and achieving maturity, typically understood as the transition from adolescence to adulthood. It involves physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes and can be marked by personal milestones, rites of passage, or legal definitions of adulthood. While the specifics vary across cultures and eras, the core idea is a shift in status, responsibilities, and self-perception as an individual enters adulthood.

Cultural practices around coming of age often include rites of passage that symbolize the new status, such as ceremonies, education milestones, or family and community expectations. In modern societies, the transition is often informal, tied to finishing school, entering work, achieving financial independence, or obtaining legal rights and responsibilities associated with adulthood.

From a developmental perspective, coming of age involves identity formation, autonomy, and the ability to navigate social roles. The concept is central in adolescence research and is linked to theories of stage-based development and moral growth, with the idea that individuals craft a stable sense of self as they assume adult roles.

In arts and media, coming-of-age is a genre and narrative theme that centers on growth, self-discovery, and moral choices faced by a young protagonist. Such works explore autonomy, belonging, and the tension between personal values and social expectations across different cultures and time periods.

Note: The term is commonly hyphenated as coming-of-age; the unhyphenated or concatenated form comingofage appears in informal usage and indexing.