Adulthood and Old Age

Chapter 10

ObjectivesDescribe the physical, sexual, and intellectual changes that occur during adulthoodIdentify recent research related to older adultsIdentify, describe, and critique the stages of dying

Key TermsAgeism

Closed awarenessDecremental model

of agingGenerativityMenopause

Mutual pretense

awarenessOpen awareness

StagnationSuspected awareness

Thanatology

IntroductionWhat is over the hill?

What does middle age bring?

Does everyone want to look young?

IntroductionIs middle age a time of physical and mental deterioration?

Are there stereotypes about getting older?

AdulthoodWhat is adulthood like?

ChangeSamenessSuccess FailureCrisis StabilityJoySadness

AdulthoodAdulthood can be a time when a person matures fully into what he or she is

OR

It can be a time when life closes in and what was once possibility is now limitation

AdulthoodStudy of adulthood was not always a strength in society. Psychologists focused on childhood and adolescence

Today, a growing number of psychologists are studying adult psychology.

Focus on a period of changes and transformationsIdentifying & performing well in occupationSocial & civic responsibilitiesRelating to significant otherSatisfying leisure activitiesHelping kids become responsibleRelating to one’s aging parents

Physical ChangesHumans peak between 18-25

Period where they are strongest, healthiest, & quickest reflexes

Look at pro athletes

Read page 244, last paragraph

Physical ChangesHealth problems

Natural process of agingDiseasesDisuse and abuse

Someone who is 30 pounds overweight, the chance of dying during middle age increases by 40%

Smoking: Cancer of mouth, throat, and lungs, respiratory and heart problems

Cardiovascular disease leading cause of death during middle ages

Physical ChangesA person who eats sensibly, exercises, avoids cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol, and is not subjected to severe emotional stress will look and feel younger than someone who neglects his or her health

MenopauseBetween ages 45-50 in a woman’s life is a stage called climacteric, which represents all of the psychological and biological changes occurring at that time

Menopause: When a woman’s production of sex hormones drops sharply

Woman stops ovulating (producing eggs) and menstruatingCannot conceive children

Men do not go through menopause or a biological change equivalent to women

Social & Personality Development

For a long time, psychologists commonly applied theories of childhood and adolescent development to the middle years

Now only are we beginning to find out how age affects personality

An individual’s basic character-his or her style of adapting to situations- is relatively stable over the years. Researchers are also convinced, however, that personality is flexible and capable of changing as an individual confronts new tasks

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Daniel Levinson & Yale colleagues 1976Mentioned in book Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life

Levinson interviewed 4 groups of men between ages 35-4510 executives10 Hourly workers in industry10 novelists10 University biologists

A life structure was developed for each man based on the interviews

Major periods of man’s life based on activities, associations, relationships

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

See handout

Model shows the development sequence of a man’s life that Levinson proposed. The scheme emphasizes the development is an ongoing process that requires continual adjustment

Similarities between Levinson theory and last 3 stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 1: Early Adulthood (17 to 40)

Age 22-28Young man is considered (by himself & society) to be a novice in the adult world. Not fully established as a man, but no longer an adolescentDuring this time, must attempt to resolve the conflict between

The need to explore the options of the adult world and need to establish a stable life

Needs to sample different kinds of relationshipsKeeps choices about career and employment openNeeds to begin a career, but may not be fully committed Establish a home and family of his ownLacks a full sense of stability or permanence

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 1: Early Adulthood (17 to 40) continuedAge-thirty crisis

Some years ago, the motto of the rebellious, politically oriented young people who sought to change American society was “NEVER TRUST ANYONE OVER 30”

Man feels that any parts of his life that are unsatisfying or incomplete must be attended to now, because it will soon be too late to make major changes

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 1: Early Adulthood (17 to 40) continuedSettling down

Questioning and searching part of age-thirty crisis

Firm choices about (Making it in the adult world!!)CareerFamilyRelationships

Boom phase36-40Becoming one’s own manFully independent

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 2: Middle Adulthood (40 to 60) Mid-life transition (40-45)

Man begins to ask questionsWhat have I done in my life?What have I accomplished?What do I still have to accomplish?

Resurgence in sex interestsHusband and wife more time alone

Stagnation can occurStagnation: A discontinuation of development and a desire to recapture the past, characteristic of some middle-aged people

Play same sports?

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 2: Middle Adulthood (40 to 60) Late 40’s

True adulthood achievedUnderstands and tolerates othersDisplays a sensitivity and concern for other peopleBalance between friends and privacy

Others are as fortunateExtreme frustrationUnhappinessIsolation

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 3: Late Adulthood (beginning at about age 60)Golden agersSenior citizens

Decremental model of aging: Holds that progressive physical and mental decline is inevitable with age

Decremental view from societyDrivers…Most of use know people or are 80 but act 50

Levinson’s Theory of Male Development

Stage 3: Late Adulthood 65 and older are in reasonable good health80% can carry out normal activitiesSenses do decline40% have a chronic disease

Female DevelopmentMen experience a mid-life crisis, married women at mid-life are facing fewer demands in their traditional task as mother.

Career and familyWomen now start a family after a career

Regardless of change, women still are the ones who typically are responsible for both housework and child care

Female DevelopmentPhysical attractiveness in mid-life

Tend to be more conscious of the aging process than menTend to be considered less attractive with age

Different image of one’s self

Empty-nest syndromeA significant event in many women’s lives is the departure from home of the last child

Need not be traumatic, many women express happinessNew interests and activities

Not all psychologists agreeStable marriage plays a roleWidow or divorced can make it more difficult

Female DevelopmentDepression in mid-life

Women 2-6 times more likely than men to suffer depressionSome experience a loss of personal worth

Death and DyingClosed awareness: The situation in which the medical staff and the family are aware of the patient’s terminal condition but the patient is not

Suspected awareness: The situation in which some patients begin to sense that their illness is terminal and endeavor to find out from a medial staff or from their families whether suspicions are true

Mutual pretense awareness: The situation in which both the medical staff and the patient pretend they do not know that the patient’s disease is terminal

Open awareness: The situation in which the medical staff and the patient publically admit to the knowledge of the patient’s terminal disease

Death and DyingThanatology: Study of death and dying

Stage 1: DenialPeople’s most common reaction to learning that they have a terminal illness is shock and numbness, followed by denial

Stage 2: AngerWhy me?They feel anger-at fate, at the powers that be , at every person who comes into their life

Stage 3: BargainingPeople change their attitude and attempt to bargain with fate

Death and DyingStage 4: Depression

Aware of the losses they are incurringLoss of everyone and everything

Stage 5: AcceptanceThe struggle is overExperience a sense of calmPeaceful

Read Hospices page 261

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