Communion Among Community-Recruited Emerging Adults: Testing Descriptive and Inferential Questions

Abstract

Communion reflects motivations for social connectivity and intimacy in life stories. We tested the ways communion may differ among emerging adults and may inform psychosocial adjustment. We rated 300 US adults’ (M age = 24.3 years; 60% women) high point and low point narratives for communion, testing a) differences in communion by demographics (i.e., gender, ethnicity), b) direct associations between communion with psychosocial adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction, stress), and c) moderation of communion’s ties with adjustment by demographic factors. Women expressed more high point communion. European Americans expressed more communion across narratives. Low point communion had direct ties with psychosocial adjustment. The effects of communion on adjustment differed by ethnicity and event valence: African Americans showed larger benefits with high point communion; and Asian Americans showed larger benefits with low point communion. Findings reinforce the importance of communal values and emphasize research needs in accounting for cultural upbringing.