Contemporary culture tells us the twenty-something years don’t matter. Clinical psychologist Dr Meg Jay argues that this could not be further from the truth. The Defining Decade weaves the latest science of the twenty-something years with real-life stories to show us how work, relationships, identity and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood. Smart, compassionate and constructive, The Defining Decade is a practical guide to making the most of the years we cannot afford to miss. Included in this updated · Up-to-date research on work, love, the brain, friendship and technology · What a decade of device use has taught us about looking at friends – and looking for love – online · A social experiment in which ‘digital natives’ go without their phones · A reader’s guide for book clubs, classrooms or further self-reflection
Author
She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Virginia and maintains a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Jay’s book, The Defining Decade, was a 2012 Slate.com Staff Pick and her 2013 TED talk “Why 30 Is Not the New 20″ has been viewed more than 2 million times. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Forbes, Psychology Today, and NPR. Dr. Jay earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and in gender studies, from the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, Dr. Jay was a research associate on the Mills Longitudinal Study, one of the longest-running studies of female adult development in the world. Her research on women, depression, and gender was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, and was published in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association and as the Symonds Prize article in Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Her work on the assessment of depression has been published in Psychological Assessment. An award-winning lecturer, Dr. Jay served as adjunct faculty at Berkeley where she taught Clinical Psychology, Personality Psychology, Social Psychology, and Psychology of Gender. Dr. Jay currently supervises doctoral students in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia. Dr. Jay has served as a fellow for the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Center for the Study of Sexual Cultures, and the Robert Stoller Foundation. Dr. Jay earned a B.A. with High Distinction in psychology from University of Virginia. She spent her own early twentysomething years as an Outward Bound instructor.
