socioemotional development in middle adulthood
TRANSCRIPT
Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood
The crisis of generativity versus stagnation Generativity -- adults’ desire to leave legacies of
themselves to the next generation Stagnation -- develops when individuals sense
that they have done nothing for the next generationo also known as self-absorption
Commitment to continuation and improvement of society as a whole
Biological generativity -- bearing offspring Parental generativity -- nurturing children Work generativity -- skills to pass on Cultural generativity -- creating, renovating, and
conserving some aspect of culture
Results of extensive interviews with middle-aged men
20s -- novice phase of experimentation and testing
28 to 33 years -- transition and adoption of goals 30s -- BOOM -- becoming one’s own man phase
40 to 45 years -- transition to middle adulthood requires facing four main issueso being young versus being oldo being destructive versus being constructiveo being masculine versus being feminineo being attached to others versus being separated
40s -- middle age
Levinson’s view of the crisiso being suspended between past and futureo trying to cope with threats to continuity
Vailliant’s “Grant Study”o a time of reassessing and recording the truth about
adolescence and adulthoodo only a minority of adults actually experience a crisis in
midlife(Levinson, 1978; Vailliant, 1977)
Some events tax ability to cope and force personality change
Contemporary life events approach emphasizes considering event as well as mediating factors, adaptation to the event, the life-stage context, and the historical context
May overemphasize change and discount the importance of everyday stressors
(Holmes & Rahe, 1967)
Do middle-aged adults experience stress differently than young adults and older adults?o Young and middle-aged adults had more stressful days
than older adultso Middle-aged adults experienced more “overload”
stressors that involved juggling too many activities at once
Historical contexts -- cohort effectso cohort -- individuals born in the same year or time
periodo cohort and context influence values, attitudes,
expectations, and behavior o social clock -- timetable according to which individuals
are expected to accomplish life’s major tasks; provides a guide for life
(Neugarten, 1986)
Cultural contextso midlife is unclear and/or absent in many non-
industrialized cultureso some cultures even divide the life course differently for
males and femaleso midlife is influenced by degree of modernity and
society’s gender roleso Eligibility for certain statuses is influenced by gender
Big five factors of personality -- openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
Three longitudinal studieso Costa and McCrae’s Baltimore Study
• Personality traits changed most during early adulthood
o The Berkeley Longitudinal Studies• Results from early adolescence through a portion
of midlife did not support either extreme in the debate whether personality is characterized by stability or change
o Valliant’s Studies
Evidence does not support the view that personality traits become completely fixed at a certain age in adulthood
Cumulative personality model -- with time and age, people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways that promote stability
Some people are likely to change more than others
Do you think the idea of “gender convergence” occurs earlier than what was first hypothesized?
Have the concepts of what makes an ideal man and woman changed from previous generations?
What characteristics/behaviors have changed and what has remained constant?
Love and Marriage at Midlifeo affectionate, companionate love increases in middle
adulthoodo security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest become
more important as relationships mature• even difficult marriages become better adjusted in middle
adulthood• married people express satisfaction
Divorce in middle adulthoodo couples may be alienated and avoidanto marriages may have become “empty” -- lacking
laughter, love, and interest in one another o divorce may be more positive in some ways and
more negative in others• + -- often more resources• + -- children less “damaged” and can cope
better• minus -- may be seen as personal failure or as
betrayal
Empty nest syndrome -- decline in marital satisfaction after children leave the home; a time for pursuit of other interests, career, and time for each other
Refilling of the nest when young adult children return home to save money or recover from career setback
Parents continue to provide emotional and/or financial support
Sibling relationships persist over the entire life span
Majority of adults have at least one living sibling Most have been found to be close Siblings who were not “close” tend not to become
closer in midlife
Continue to be important just as they were in early adulthood
Enduring relationships become deeper
(Antonucci, 1989)
Grandmothers have more contact with grandchildren than grandfathers
Satisfaction -- easier than parenting Styles and roles -- 3 meanings
o source of biological reward and continuityo source of emotional fulfillmento remote role
Differing functions in families and in cultures or in situations
Divorce, adolescent pregnancy, and drug use have contributed to increasing numbers of grandparents assuming parental roles
Grandparents who are full-time caregivers for grandchildren are at elevated risk for health problems, depression, and stress
Grandparent visitation issues in divorced and stepfamilieso Grandparents’ legal rights for visitation
Middle-aged adults share experiences and transmit values to the younger generation
As children become middle aged, they develop more positive perceptions of parents
Family members maintain contact across generations
Most common conflicts are interaction style, habits and lifestyle choices, child-rearing practices, and values
Sandwich or Squeeze Generation -- responsibilities for adolescent and young adult children and for aging parents
Relationships between aging parents and their children are usually characterized by ambivalence
When necessary, responsibilities are assumed by daughters
Retiremento Average age is 62 in the U.S.o Have you thought about it?o At what age do you want to retire?o What are we giving up when we retire?o How does retirement affect the individual? Is it all fun
and games?o Are we really “retired” or just “slowing down”?