 A number of studies have shown that regarding people in their late teens and early twenties in the United States, demographic qualities such as completing their education, finding a career, marrying, and becoming parents are not the criteria used in determining whether they have reached adulthood.Rather, the criteria that determine whether adulthood has been reached are character qualities, such as being able to make independent decisions and taking responsibility for one's self.In America, these character qualities are usually experienced in the mid to late twenties, thus confirming that emerging adulthood is distinct subjectively.