Admiration is a social emotion that is developmentally formative in emerging adulthood; admired adults act as mentors, role models, and sources of inspiration to this age-group. The present study explored who and what emerging adults admire in their elders, across four countries (UK, Iran, China, and Russia). A total of 525 participants provided written descriptions of an admired figure. Across all cultures, care and generativity was the most common theme. Cross-cultural differences emerged for the themes of limitations and difficulties (most prevalent in China), autonomy and assertiveness (most prevalent in Russia), intellect and education (most prevalent in Russia), and religion and spirituality (most prevalent in Iran). Males and females in the UK and Russia tended to select admired figures of their own sex, but in Iran and China both male and female participants selected more male than female figures. The findings suggest a common thematic core to admiration in emerging adulthood combined with culturally specific features.