Socio-emotional Development in Middle Adulthood Chapter 16 Socio-emotional Development in Middle Adulthood ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Adult Stage Theories Erikson’s Stage of Generativity versus Stagnation Levinson’s Seasons of a Man’s Life How Pervasive Are Mid-Life Crises? Individual Variations ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Erikson’s Stage of Generativity versus Stagnation Erikson believes generativity encompasses adults’ desire to leave a legacy to the next generation. Through generativity, adults achieve a kind of immortality by leaving their legacy. Stagnation or self-absorption develops when individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation. Through generativity, adults promote and guide those who follow by parenting, teaching, leading, doing things to benefit the community. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Levinson’s Seasons of a Man’s Life Daniel Levinson extensively interviewed 40 middle-aged men and compiled information from the biographies of famous men. His major interest and focus centred around mid-life change; however, he described a number of stages and transitions in the life span. Levinson emphasizes that development tasks must be mastered at each of these stages. Although his original data included no females, Levinson claimed his theory also held for women. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

The Four Major Conflicts Levinson claimed that middle adulthood is the time for men to come to grips with four conflicts that have existed since adolescence: Being young versus being old Being destructive versus being constructive Being masculine versus being feminine Being attached to others versus being separated from them ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

How Pervasive Are Mid-life Crises? Levinson views midlife as a crisis—a time when the adult is suspended between the past and the future, trying to cope with this gap that threatens life’s continuity. A recent study has indicated that the idea of midlife crises have been exaggerated. Many studies have shown that middle-aged adults have a greater sense of control in their work, greater sense of environmental mastery, more autonomy, more power, and greater financial security. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Individual Variations The stage theories focus on the universals of adult personality development and do not address individual variations. An extensive study of 500 men at midlife showed that a tremendous amount of individual variation characterized the men. George Vaillant’s Grant Study also yielded findings that showed variations in individual functioning. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

The Life-Events Approach The contemporary life-events approach emphasizes that how life events influence the individual’s development depends not only on the life event, but also on mediating factors, the life-stage context, and the socio-historical context. Drawbacks of the approach include its overemphasis on change and its failure to recognize that the primary sources of stress may not be major life events but rather our daily experiences. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Contexts of Mid-life Development Some believe that changing historical times and different social expectations influence how different cohorts move through the life span. Our values, attitudes, expectations, and behaviours are influenced by the period in which we live. Trying to tease out universal truths and patterns about adult development from one cohort to another is complicated. Neugarten believes that the social environment of a particular age group can alter its social clock. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. The Social Clock The timetable according to which individuals are expected to accomplish life’s tasks—marrying, having children, establishing themselves in a career. Social clocks provide guides for our lives. Individuals whose lives are not synchronized with these social clocks find life to be more stressful than those who are on schedule. There is much less agreement today on the right age or sequence for the occurrence of major life events. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Gender Contexts As the roles of women have become more complex and varied, defining a normative sequence of development for them has become difficult, if not impossible. Basic changes in social attitudes regarding labor force participation, families, and gender roles have begun to broaden the opportunities available for women in middle adulthood. Midlife is a diversified, heterogeneous period for women, just as it is for men ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Cultural Contexts In many cultures, particularly nonindustrialized cultures, the concept of middle age is not very clear, or in some cases is absent. Nonindustrialized cultures tend to describe individuals as young or old, but not middle-aged. Movement from one status to the next in these cultures is due primarily to life events, not age. Middle age tends to be more advantageous to women in many nonindustrialized societies. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Longitudinal Studies Neugarten’s Kansas City Study Costa and McCrae’s Baltimore Study Berkeley Longitudinal Studies Helson’s Mills College Study ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Neugarten’s Kansas City Study This study looked at individuals 40 to 80 years of age over a 10-year period. Subjects were given personality tests, questionnaires, and were interviewed. Neugarten concluded that both stability and change characterized adults as they aged. The most stable were: styles of coping, being satisfied with life, and being goal-directed. As individuals aged, they were found to become more passive and were more likely to be threatened by the environment. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Costa and McCrae’s Baltimore Study Costa and McCrae focused on the big five factors of personality: Emotional stability Openness to experience Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness The study followed approximately 1000 college-educated men and women aged 20–96 over many years. They concluded that considerable stability occurs in the five personality factors. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Berkeley Longitudinal Studies This series of studies is by far the longest-running longitudinal inquiry, and initially included more than 500 children and their parents. The most stable characteristics were found to be the degree to which individuals were intellectually oriented, self-confident, or open to new experiences. The characteristics that changed the most included the extent the individuals were nurturant or hostile and whether they had good self-control or not. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Helson’s Mills College Study This study distinguished three main groups among the women studied: family oriented career oriented those who followed neither path Despite these differences, women in all three groups experienced some similar psychological changes over their adult years. Those in the third group changed less than the others. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Conclusions Humans are adaptive beings. We are resilient throughout our adult lives. We do not develop entirely new personalities. Amid change is some underlying coherence and stability. Some people change more than others. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Love, Marriage, and Other Intimate Relationships at Mid-Life Affectionate Love Marriage and Divorce ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Affectionate Love Affectionate or companionate love increases during middle adulthood. Security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest become more important as relationships mature. A relationship is believed to mature when partners: share knowledge with one another assume responsibility for each other’s satisfaction share private information that governs their relationship ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Marriage and Divorce For married individuals in midlife, most voiced considerable satisfaction with being married. A recent large scale study found that 72% of married midlife individuals reported that their marriage was either “excellent” or “very good.” Getting married in midlife lowered men’s anxiety, depression, and feelings of vulnerability. Women who married in midlife felt more positive emotions than they had previously. Couples who divorce in midlife tend to be cool, distant, and have suppressed emotions. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

The Empty Nest and Its Refilling Characterized by a decrease in marital satisfaction due to the children’s departure which leaves parents with an empty feeling. Parents who live vicariously through their children are more likely to experience the empty nest syndrome. Most parents do not experience less marital satisfaction, in fact for many it increases after their children have left home. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Parenting Conceptions Middle-aged parents felt as their children became adults they gained a new sense of appreciation for their commitment and influence as parents. Many parents of adult children regret not having had more involvement and better relationships with their children. Research findings suggest that during middle adulthood we restructure our perceptions of our own parents, viewing them more as unique individuals. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Sibling Relationships and Friendships The majority of sibling relationships in adulthood have been found to be close. Siblings who are close to each other in adulthood tended to be that way as children. It is rare for sibling closeness to develop for the first time in adulthood. Friendships continue to be as important in midlife as they were in early adulthood. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

Intergenerational Relationships For the most part, family members maintain considerable contact across generations. A consistent finding is that parents and their young adult children differ in the way they describe their relationship. Gender differences exist, as mothers and daughters tend to have closer relationships. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Family Caregiving Middle-aged adults are often described as the “sandwich” generation, caught between aging parents and their young adult children. Approximately 47% (almost 1 in 2 Canadian adults) spend an average of two hours per week in caregiving-related situations. Balancing work, family, and caregiving is putting extra stress on the affected individuals. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.