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Purpose: Emerging adulthood (EA) theory has been proposed as a distinct developmental period between adolescence and adulthood by Arnett in 2000. This construct is promptly embraced by contemporary scholars, and research on emerging adulthood increased over the past decade in many countries, but yet questions remained about the universality of emerging adulthood. This article is extracted from a pioneer research on emerging adulthood theory in Iran. The purpose of this study was to investigate applicability of the theory and its five characteristics in Iranian society. Methodology: Participants included six hundred ninety four undergraduate students, aged 18 to 25. The Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) was used. Findings: Results showed that a majority of Iranian university students viewed themselves as being emerging adults. The five characteristics of emerging adulthood predominantly endorsed by Participants. Some gender and age differences were observed in endorsement of emerging adulthood characteristics. Discussion: These findings support existence of the new life stage in Iran. As a result, the applicability of the theory and its dimensions confirmed in this community.

In recent years, the completion of the value chain and increased exportation of petrochemical products have been utilized to offset oil and gas export losses. As a result, this may have created various challenges and complexities within the oil and gas industry. The study aims to identify key challenges confronting Iran's petrochemical industry, with a particular focus on regulatory issues. It seeks to distinguish and prioritize the most critical regulatory factors necessary for establishing an effective regulatory framework in the petrochemical sector. For this study, data was collected through several interviews and questionnaire with Iran's petrochemical experts. With the collected data, the Delphi method was utilized to help identify the most critical challenges. The impact and significance of each challenge were determined through statistical analysis. The research findings indicate that the most important challenges are the weakness of laws to attract foreign and domestic investors, the lack of trust and lack of integration in this industry from upstream to downstream sector, respectively. Also, based on the research results, it show that it is essential for Iran's petrochemical industry to have two regulatory agencies. The "Competition Council" and the "Securities and Exchange High Council" as regulators of the physical and financial markets are considered, however, for them to regulate effectively the overall structure of these councils must first be dramatically reformed. The important effective regulating factors which should be emphasized by the regulator in Iran's petrochemical industry were indicated and ranked as allocation, responsiveness, financial independence, legal independence and political independence.