Lecture Notes/Outine: Chapter 15 Middle Adulthood - Personality & Socio-Cultural Development

Chap. 15 Middle Adulthood: Personality & Socio-Cultural Development

I. Personality Continuity and Change

A. The tasks of middle adulthood
1. The stage of middle adulthood is defined as much by tasks as it is by age

2. Friendships are established with people who are in the same stage even though they may not be the same age

3. Erikson
a. GENERATIVITY VERSUS SELF ABSORPTION – for Erikson, the overarching task of middle age where adults develop either the feeling that they have contributed in worthwhile ways or that their lives have not been worthwhile

b. People act within three domains
i. Procreative – giving and responding to the needs of their children
ii. Productive – integrating work with family life or by caring for the next generation
iii. Creative – contributing to society on a larger scale

c. When a sense of generativity fails to develop, stagnation and boredom are often the result

4. Extending Erikson’s view
a. Peck argued that Erikson’s eight stages placed too much emphasis on earlier stages of life
b. Peck developed new ideas about the conflicts that each person goes through
c. His ideas were focused on middle and older adulthood

B. Personal reactions to middle adulthood
1. Men’s reactions
a. Men have developed routines that allow them to successfully cope with problems
b. Men now realize that family relations are important and they don’t focus on their job roles
c. They have to cope with the idea that they may have not lived up to the standard that they wanted to

2. Women’s reactions
a. The types of adjustment women experience depends on the roles they adopt
b. The timing of key life events also defines their status, lifestyle, and options at middle adulthood
c. ROLE STRAIN – an overload of demands within a given role, such as being a mother or father

3. Goals and choices
a. Reassessment of priorities occurs and they reflect on whether their original goals have been met
b. Finding a way to contribute to other people allows a healthy adjustment

II. Family and Friends: Interpersonal Contexts

A. The generation that runs things
1. This new responsibility means people have to view their lives in a realistic focus
2. They must live in the present
3. KINKEEPER – the role assumed by middle aged people that includes maintaining family rituals, celebrating achievements, keeping family histories alive, reaching out to family members who are far away, and gathering the family together for holiday celebrations – all of which helps keep the family close

B. Relationships with adult children
1. Launching of adolescents and young adults
a. LAUNCHING OF ADOLESCENTS – parents letting go of older adolescent children so that they can assume responsible adult roles
b. Some families are better at letting go than others
c. Parents must learn to accept who their children are
d. This can sometimes violate parents’ expectations and lower their satisfaction, thus straining the relationship
e. It is often harder for single parents

2. Empty nest
a. EMPTY NEST – the period in the family life cycle that occurs after the last child has left home
b. This stage can be difficult if the partners have grown apart over the years
c. They still rely on each other for emotional support
d. Marital satisfaction is not based on the same things as earlier phases of the family phases

3. Mutually reciprocal relationships
a. As children reach adulthood they establish a reciprocal relationship with their parents
b. Children need to distance themselves to see their parents in a realistically; this can hurt parents

C. Relationships with aging parents
1. The reciprocal exchange of assistance
a. Data have revealed lasting social, emotional, and material exchanges between adult children and their parents
b. How children behave toward their parents depends on their stage in the family life cycle, life expectancy, gender, ethnicity, social class, and family history

2. Role reversals
a. Middle aged adults become the generation in charge
b. Their parents may be in poor health, retired, or in need of financial aid
c. Resentment can occur on both sides if realization that this role reversal is common and inevitable

3. caring for elderly parents
a. Most people think that care of the elderly is relegated to nursing homes, but only about 10% of caregivers use formal services
b. Middle aged caregivers hold the responsibility of parent care
c. This can create tension between the child and parent
d. Daughters are more likely than male family members to care for aging parents

D. Becoming a grandparent
1. Majority of people in the U.S. become grandparents during middle age
2. Grandparents can help raise a new generation without the daily responsibilities of being a parent
3. Grandparents are no longer the old person in a rocking chair, but are involved family members
4. Important roles of grandparents include:
a. Being there – they can be a calming presence in the face of disruption
b. Family national guard – actively managing the grandchildren in times of emergency
c. Arbitrator – imparting and negotiating family values, maintaining family continuity, and assisting in times of conflict
d. Maintaining the family’s biography – teaching grandchildren about the heritage and traditions of the family

E. Friendship: a lifelong perspective
1. Friends can serve as a central part of the lives of people who do not marry or have children by providing intimacy
2. Most complex friendships occurred in the late middle aged group
3. People at this stage are likely to appreciate the unique characteristics of their friends
4. Sex differences are also apparent since women are more deeply involved with friends and consider reciprocity to be their most important dimension

III. The Changing Family

A. Divorce and remarriage
1. Why couples divorce
a. When people at any stage of life want more from their marriage, divorce appears preferable to an unhappy relationship
b. Usually a gradual process of emotional distancing
c. Women are usually the initiators of divorce

2. Coping with life after divorce
a. Financial hardship affects both men and women
b. Women must enter the workforce if they were not already working
c. Men may need to work longer hours
d. Grief and mourning over the loss of an intimate relationship occurs
e. Disruption of normal routines also occurs
f. If it occurs in middle adulthood they may have to do things that were considered more appropriate for people in early adulthood like dating, going back to school or finding a new job

3. Starting a new life
a. May feel like they have a new chance at life after divorce
b. May have problems relinquishing their previous roles
c. May be unready to manage financial and legal matters
d. Within 2 or 3 years many individuals experience considerable improvement in well being
e. Men are 3 times as likely to remarry

4. Marriages that succeed
a. Both males and females list “my spouse is my best friend” as the primary reason for happiness
b. They are usually satisfied with their sex lives though it is not a primary factor
c. Marriage helps older people deal with stressful life events

B. RECONSTITUTED / BLENDED FAMILY – a family in which partners with children have remarried or formed a cohabiting relationship; also called a step family

1. Reconstituted families in perspective
a. Now a result of marriage-divorce-remarriage instead of marriage-death-remarriage
b. Contact with the former spouse can make it difficult to maintain appropriate distance between the parents
c. Characterized by more open communication and greater acceptance of conflict

2. Learning to live in a reconstituted family
a. Most parents list discipline as the greatest difficulty in being a stepparent
b. The stereotype of the stepchild as being neglected is widespread, but inaccurate
c. Taking time to develop mutual trust, affection, and closeness to the child helps form a workable relationship
d. Stepparents who try to compete with the stepchild’s biological parent are more likely to fail

IV. Occupational Continuity and Change

A. Job change and stress
1. It is difficult to find another job with comparable pay and benefits
2. Career changes are not welcome and may not go smoothly
3. This can increase stress and conflict both at home and on the job

B. Job loss
1. People who are forced to leave their job experience problems that may outweigh the loss of income
2. Emotional responses include anger, protest, bargaining, and depression
3. More difficult for middle aged adults
4. Those who cope best take loss in stride and don’t turn their anger inward

C. JOB BURNOUT – the emotional exhaustion that often affects people in high stress professions and trades
1. People in helping professions who experience job burnout are generally idealistic, highly motivated, extremely competent workers who realize they can’t make the difference they wanted to
2. General cause is lack of rewards
3. It is not the result of incompetence or personal failings

D. Midcareer reassessment
1. Occurs when workers find out they are not being promoted as rapidly as expected or a job is less desirable than expected

2. Since there is a greater tolerance for deviations from social norms, it has become easier for a wife to support her husband

3. As children grow older and more independent, people in middle adulthood may make changes to reduce their income or transform their way of living





V. Continuity and Change in the Structure of Personality

A. The five factor model
1. Personality can be well described by assessing five traits
2. Emotional stability
3. Extraversion
4. Openness to experiences
5. Agreeableness
6. Conscientiousness

B. Stability or change?
1. Personality seems to be established early in life
2. Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase through adulthood
3. Emotional stability increases more for women than men
4. Personality can be shaped by life events

Lecture Notes/Outine: Chapter 14: Middle Adulthood Physical & Cognitive Development

Chapter Chapter 14: Middle Adulthood Physical & Cognitive Development

I. Development in Middle Adulthood

A. Prime time or the beginning of the end?
1. Theorists cannot agree on whether or not it is a time of new fulfillment or a period of dissatisfaction
2. COMMAND GENERATION – a term for the generation of middle aged people; reflects the idea that this age group makes most of the policy decisions that affect our lives
3. Most people experience a sense of ambivalence since they are keenly aware of their mortality

B. Midlife crisis: is it real?
1. CRISIS MODEL – the view that changes in midlife are abrupt and often stressful
2. According to Levinson it occurs between the ages of 40 and 45 and it occurs in 75% of males
3. TRANSITION MODEL – the view that changes in midlife are gradual and midlife crisis is not the norm
4. Longitudinal studies do not support the occurrence of midlife crisis
5. Major transitions can occur in life but they do not have to occur in any specific time period
6. This is the period when people begin to take stock of their lives

C. Perceptions and realities at midlife
1. Some data show that middle age is the best time in life since the rates of general distress are low
2. Research also suggests that the midlife crisis is the exception and not the rule
3. Those who are likely to experience midlife crisis are less introspective and use denial to avoid thinking about their changing lives

II. Physical Continuity and Change

A. Changes in capabilities
1. Sensation
a. Decline in visual acuity
b. Hearing loss
c. Decline in taste

2. Reaction time
a. Slow decline in reaction time
b. Motor skills decrease
3. Internal changes
a. Slowing of the nervous system
b. Stiffening and shrinking of the skeleton
c. Loss of elasticity in the skin
d. Accumulation of subcutaneous fat
e. Decrease in heart and lung capacity

B. CLIMACTERIC – the broad complex of physical and emotional symptoms that accompany reproductive changes in middle adulthood, affecting both men and women

1. MENOPAUSE – the permanent end of menstruation; occurs in middle adulthood and may be accompanied by physical symptoms and intense emotional reactions, more so in women and in some cultures than others

2. Physical changes
a. Generally occur between 45 and 55
b. Ovulation becomes erratic and then stops
c. Hot flashes and night sweats occur due to the decrease in estrogen levels

3. Emotional effects
a. Feelings of depression and a sense of being less feminine
b. Most women do not respond negatively in either the short term or the long term
c. Many women feel freer and more in control of their own lives

4. Long term effects
a. OSTEOPOROSIS – the loss of bone mass and increased bone fragility in middle adulthood and beyond
b. Vaginal atrophy
c. There could also be a link between menopause and heart disease

5. Hormone replacement therapy
a. Estrogen or progesterone supplements
b. alleviates unpleasant symptoms of menopause
c. Could increase chance of heart disease
d. May prevent onset of Alzheimer’s
e. It is now recommended that women only use these drugs for the short term relief

6. Changes in men
a. Nothing comparable to menopause
b. May experience erectile dysfunction (impotence)
c. Originally thought of to be primarily a psychological problem but new research indicates a physiological basis
d. Prescription drugs can remedy it in 80% of men

C. Sexuality in the middle years
1. Frequency generally slows down in middle adulthood
2. Lack of opportunity and physical problems lead to this decrease
3. Men experience an increase in sexual anxiety
4. Women experience a decrease due to menopause
5. More emphasis placed on sensuality
6. SENSUALITY – hugging, touching, stroking, and other behaviors that may or may not lead to sex

III. Disease and Health

A. The cumulative effects of health habits
1. Good health habits
a. Longevity is attributable to good health
b. A balanced diet, exercise, and health care can extend adulthood
c. Exercise is especially important

2. Poor health habits
a. Most chronic disorders begin to develop before they are diagnosed since they show symptoms long after they begin
b. Smoking is one dangerous activity
c. Smoking can contribute to cancer, emphysema, arteriosclerosis, and hypertension
d. Long term effects are often compounded by other bad habits
e. Being overweight is also a significant contributor to poor life quality in adulthood

B. Stress and health

1. Stress plays a role in many diseases of middle adulthood
2. Stress is a normal part of life
3. How an individual perceives an event can dictate how stressful it becomes
4. Increased stress is connected to heart disease, diabetes, stomach ulcers, and some cancer

C. Ethnicity, poverty, and health
1. Since some groups of people live in more stressful conditions, their life quality is different
2. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to die from heart disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, and aids than whites
3. This could be due to lack of health care, increased exposure to stress, and a high rate of poverty

IV. Cognitive Continuity and Change

A. Fluid versus crystallized intelligence
1. CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE – accumulated knowledge and skills based on education and life experiences; also referred to as cognitive pragmatics
2. FLUID INTELLIGENCE – abilities involved in acquiring new knowledge and skills; also referred to as cognitive mechanics
3. Crystallized remains unaffected by age
4. Fluid begins to diminish in adulthood and gets worse with age
5. Implications for intellectual functioning
a. A decline is most likely to be seen in tasks involving speed
b. General slowing is not noticed since adults compensate by an increase in efficiency and general knowledge
c. A major influence on cognition in adulthood is the wealth of past life experience

B. Experience and Expertise
1. DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE – factual knowledge; knowing what
2. PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE – action oriented knowledge; knowing how to
3. The accumulation of knowledge can compensate for cognitive declines
4. Experience cannot reverse age related declines, but it can compensate for them
5. One skill declines and another improves

C. Cognitive skill in the workplace
1. People who are intellectually challenged in their work have a higher degree of intellectual flexibility
2. Adults have more time to spend in the work place and can therefore have more intellectual flexibility
3. Engaging in complex tasks is key to maintaining high levels of intellectual functioning