Chapter 12: Young Adulthood; Physical & Cognitive Development

Slide 2
ü Adulthood is not the final destination in the development journey

o You don’t stop developing when you “get there”

o We have divided the first 20 years or so into 4 distinct stages [infancy & toddlers, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence].

o Adulthood generally lasts much longer…3,4, or even 5 times longer; it only reasonable that there are distinct stages of development continues. Early adulthood [20’s & 30’s] is just another beginning; similar to toddlers and young children.

ü Developmental changes in thinking, personality & behavior during
adulthood is very different from child development

o Generally, based much less on chronological age or biological changes - More on personal, social or cultural influences

o Adult role & responsibility for decision-making and problem-solving

o Leads to greater differences among adults than children; adults have less in common with one another than children have in common with one another

Slide 3
ü Culturally defined markers or “social milestones” of development rather than physical markers like walking or pubescence

o Normative: getting your first job, moving out of parent’s home, marriage, career choice & advancement, parenting, etc.
Timing differs from individual to individual & culture to culture but generally occur at “relatively” specific times for most people in a particular group

o Idiosyncratic: unanticipated “life-changing events”; getting fired, death of a spouse, winning the lottery

Slide 4
Age Clocks & Social Norms: concepts that help study & categorize adult development; since it is mainly based on individual behavior & judgement

Slide 5
o Age clocks are a sort of “internal timing” regarding life events, in relation to one’s culture
Example: birth of first child

o Cultural changes in last couple of decades “blurring of traditional life periods” ; we are becoming an “age-irrelevant” society

Slide 6
o Contextual Paradigm: very complex idea of integrating various “contexts”.
Focus on development as a whole, as opposed to looking at one perspective at a time.
Everything influences everything else

Slide 7
Strength & Stamina
o Most young adults at peak of physical development: strength, endurance

o Generally physical functioning on the whole reaches its prime

o Gradual decline in functioning in most areas between 20 & 30 [see table page 372]

Slide 8
o Health & fitness habits important & often those developed in early adulthood often carry over through later years. FORM GOOD HABITS YOUNG!

o Historical changes based on improvements in exercise, medicine & nutrition. Example of Olympic performance [not to mention use of steroids]

Slide 9
Causes of death among young adults
o Accidents, HIV/AIDS, Cancers (among women)

Slide 10
Sex & sexuality: Attitudes & behavior
o Monogamy

o 1/3 2X week; 1/3 several X month, 1/3 none to a few X year

o Married couples have more sex & more orgasms.

o Only very minor differences in frequency across ethic groups

o Major changes in past few decades
>Duration has increased markedly
>Suggests greater relaxation, enjoyment & mutuality
>Maximize pleasure vs. get it over with

Cognitive Changes: Adult thinking referred to as “Post Formal Thought”
o Goes beyond Piaget’s Formal Operations which is simpler, logic-driven
o Uses cognitive & emotional aspects in problem-solving
o Takes into account social context

Slide 11
Goleman’s 4 areas of Emotional Intelligence
Developing emotional self-awareness
Managing emotions
Reading emotions
Handling relationships

Slide 12
Major Tasks of Early Adulthood ( Table 12-7; p. 395)
Erikson -

Gould – Overcome dependency assumptions, develop competence, acknowledge limitations, accept responsibility

Havighurst – Start a Family & establish a career
Slide 13
Schaie - using intellectual & cognitive abilities to accomplish personal & career goals
Slide 14
Levenson – develop “early life structure”, which includes establishing a career & an intimate relationship with a special partner
o Different for men & women – pages 391& 392

Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 13 – Young Adult Personality & Sociocultural Development

Chapter 13 – Young Adult Personality & Sociocultural Development

As we enter adulthood, we become socialized into new roles

Ø Maslow’s Self-Actualization Theory
Ø Carl Rogers

Facets of Self
Family member
Worker – intrinsic; extrinsic
Youthful “ideal”
Must be integrated into self-identity

Close Relationships: Friendships & similarity to Love

Ericson: Intimacy vs. Isolation

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Components:
1. Intimacy
2. Passion
3. Decision to commit/commitment

Taxonomy:
1. liking
2. infatuated love
3. empty love
4. companionate love
5. fatuous [foolishly self-satisfied] love
6. consummate [perfect] love

Mate selection & marriage
Why & how people choose mates - various theories
Freud: acceptable focus for oedipal feelings

Instrumental theory of mate selection – based on gratification of needs,
attraction based on similar or complementary needs

Stimulus-Value- Role Theory: stimulus stage, value-comparison stage, role stage [determine if marriage/relationship roles can/will endure]

Family Systems perspective: focus on boundaries & redefining relationships with friends & family, as well as couples own relationship

Marriage vs. cohabitation
90% of men & women marry at some point in their lives
Cohabitation - overtly focus that they are not married.
1/3 of cohabitating couples eventually marry

Parenting & development
Family cycles
Transition to parenthood
1. changes in identity & inner life
2. shifting roles & relationship in the marriage
3. shifts in general roles & relationships [grandparent factor]
4. Changing roles outside of family [work, friends, etc.]
5. new parenting role & relationship – navigating new responsibilities

Parents’ developmental stages
1. Image-making stage [conception to birth, what kind of parent will I be?]
2. Nurturing stage – birth to 2 [until the kid says “NO”]
3. Authority stage – 2-5 [often question their parenting skills, know they aren’t perfect]
4. interpretive stage – middle years 6-12 [parents reexamine & test out their ideas about parenting
5. Interdependence stage – adolescence [redefine their authority relationship]
6. departure stage – letting go & accepting experiences as a parent

Single Parenthood
Tremendous change – in 70’s one in 7 kids lived in a home with no father
Single –parent families have increased 10X faster than 2-parent families since then. 1995 1/3 (33.3%)of all families headed by single mother.

why?
1. In the 70’s & early ‘80’s – divorce was at its peak. That was why then. In ‘99 it was 12% lower than in ’79. In ’95 2 out 5 [40%] of marriages expected to fail. Most divorces happen during early adulthood
2. Now: large increase in unmarried mothers [in ’98 almost 1/3 of births were to unmarried women – nearly 70% among black women]
3. increase in # of mothers separated but not divorced

Single fathers & Gay & Lesbian families
Single fathers still rare but getting more common. 10% gain custody after
divorce; 16% joint custody]

Gay & Lesbian very new phenomenon


Occupation / career cycles
Stages of vocational life:
1. id. with. a worker [5-10]
2. acquiring “habits of industry” [10-15]
3. Develop Id. as a worker [15- 25
4. becoming productive person [25 –40]
5. maintaining/contributing to productive society [40 – 70]
6. contemplation of productive & responsible life [70 - ]

Women in the workforce
Myths