Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Chapter 16 Emotional and Social Development in Middle Adulthood

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Generativity  Reaching out to others in ways that give to and guide the next generation  Extending commitment beyond self and partner  May be realized through parenting or other family, work, and mentoring relationships Stagnation  Self-centered, self- indulgent, self-absorbed  Lack of interest in young people  Focus on what one can get from others, not what one can give  Little interest in being productive at work or developing talents Erikson’s Theory: Generativity vs. Stagnation

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Aging, Generativity, and Self-Perceptions Figure 16.1 (Adapted from Stewart, Ostrove, & Helson, 2001.)

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Well-adjusted:  low in anxiety, depression  high in autonomy, self-acceptance, life satisfaction Highly Generative Adults © Anneka/Shutterstock

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Levinson’s Four Tasks of Middle Adulthood Young–Old Seek new ways of being both young and old Destruction– Creation Acknowledge past hurtful acts, try to leave legacy for future generations Masculinity– Femininity Balance masculine and feminine parts of self Engagement– Separateness Balance engagement with and separateness from external world

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  “Keepers of meaning”: older people as guardians of their culture  “Passing the torch” to next generation  Focus on longer-term, less-personal goals © Blaj Gabriel/Shutterstock Vaillant’s View of Midlife

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Wide individual differences in response  Gender differences in work-related turning points:  women: early adulthood  men: midlife  Sharp disruption uncommon  Differences in handling life regrets:  making life changes or not  role of interpretation, acceptance in well-being © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock Is There a Midlife Crisis?

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  What one hopes to become or fears becoming  Become fewer in number, more modest and concrete with age  Rely more on temporal than on social comparisons  Can be redefined by the individual, permitting affirmation of the self  Play protective role in self-esteem Possible Selves

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Gains in expertise, practical problem solving  More complex, integrated self-descriptions  Increase in  self-acceptance  autonomy  environmental mastery  Factors contributing to well-being differ among cohorts © Marie C. Fields/Shutterstock Self-Acceptance, Autonomy, Environmental Mastery

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Good health and exercise  Sense of control and personal life investment  Positive social relationships  Good marriage  Mastery of multiple roles © michaeljung/Shutterstock Factors in Midlife Psychological Well-Being

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Effective coping strategies:  identifying positives  postponing action while evaluating alternatives  Personality changes that support coping:  complex, integrated, coherent self-descriptions, blending strengths and weaknesses  gains in emotional stability and confidence Coping Improvements in Middle Adulthood

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Women increase in “masculine” traits  Men increase in “feminine” traits  Theories:  parental imperative  cohort effects: women’s career experiences  demands of midlife © Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Gender Identity in Middle Adulthood

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Neuroticism  Extroversion  Openness to experience  Agreeableness  Conscientiousness © Christine Langer-Pueschel/Shutterstock Big Five Personality Traits

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Changes in Big Five Personality Traits with Age  Basic, enduring individual dispositions persist  Changes occur in overall organization and integration of personality:  agreeableness and conscientiousness increase  neuroticism declines  extroversion and openness to experience remain the same or decrease slightly

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Often, more close relationships than in any other period:  ties to both older and younger generations  well-established friendships  For many people, a liberating time:  sense of completion  opportunity to strengthen social ties, rekindle interests © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock Relationships at Midlife

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Middle-aged households typically well off compared with other age groups  Contemporary view of midlife marriage: expansion, new horizons  Need for review and adjustment of marital relationship  Marital satisfaction predicts psychological well-being © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock Marriage in Middle Adulthood

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Rate for U.S. 50- to 65-year-olds has doubled over past 20 years  Midlifers adjust more easily than young adults:  practical problem solving  effective coping strategies  Contributes to feminization of poverty Divorce in Midlife

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Launching: culmination of “letting go” process:  decline in parental authority  continued contact, affection, support to children  adjusting to in-laws  kinkeeper role, especially for mothers  Affected by  investment in nonparental roles, especially work  children’s characteristics: “off-time” children stress parents  cultural variations in social clock Parenting in Middle Adulthood

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  On average, begins in early fifties; can spend one-third of life as a grandparent  Significant milestone for most  Grandparenting styles influenced by proximity, age, gender, SES, ethnicity  Trends in grandparenting:  extended-family household  skipped-generation family  response to divorce of grandchildren’s parents Grandparenthood © Olesia Bilkei/Shutterstock

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  Increasingly likely to have living parents  Reassess relationships with parents  In collectivist cultures, parents typically live with married children  Children provide more help to parents:  financial and household aid  caregiving as parental health problems increase  helping based on quality of earlier relationships Middle-Aged Children and Their Aging Parents

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk  “Sandwich generation”  Factors include finances, location, gender, culture  Highly stressful:  time devoted to care averages 10 to 20 hours per week, more for women  emotional strain of witnessing parent’s decline  greatest stress for those sharing a household with ill parent Caring for Aging Parents

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Baby Boomers Caring for Aging Parents Figure 16.2 (Adapted from The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents, June 2011, Figure 3. Reprinted by permission of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, New York, NY.)

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Exploring Lifespan Development Third Edition  Laura E. Berk Ingredients of Effective Retirement Planning  Finances  Fitness  Role adjustment  Where to live  Leisure and volunteer activities  Health insurance © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock