1. Psychosocial Development in (Middle) Adulthood
Chapter 22
Human Development & Learning

2. Erikson’s Middle Adulthood
The crisis of generativity vs stagnation
Generativity -- adults’ desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation
Stagnation -- develops when individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation
also known as self-absorption
(Petersen, 2002)
Malignancies: Overextension & Rejectivity

3. Generativity
Commitment to continuation and improvement of society as a whole
Biological generativity -- bearing offspring
Parental generativity -- nurturing children
Work generativity -- skills to pass on
Cultural generativity -- creating, renovating, and conserving some aspect of culture

4. Continuity and Change, Again
Maslow’s Stages
Abraham Maslow (1954) described five stages, which occur in sequence.
Movement occurs when people have satisfied their needs at one level and are ready for the next step.
In his later years, Maslow reassessed his final level, self-actualization.
He suggested another level after that, called self-transcendence, not attained till late in life.

5. Major Theories: Erikson and Maslow

6. Levinson’s Seasons of a Man’s Life
Results of extensive interviews with middle-aged men
20s -- novice phase of experimentation and testing
28 to 33 years -- transition and adoption of goals
30s -- BOOM -- becoming one’s own man phase

7. 40 to 45 years -- transition to middle adulthood requires facing four main issues
being young versus being old
being destructive versus being constructive
being masculine versus being feminine
being attached to others versus being separated
40s -- middle age

8. Midlife Crisis Levinson’s view of the crisis Vailliant’s “Grant Study”
being suspended between past and future
trying to cope with threats to continuity
Vailliant’s “Grant Study”
a time of reassessing and recording the truth about adolescence and adulthood
only a minority of adults actually experience a crisis in midlife
(Levinson, 1978) (Vailliant, 1977)

9. Critique of Stage Theories
Stage theories place too much emphasis on crisis, especially in midlife
They focus on universals and do not account for individual differences
Some individuals experience crisis in one context of their lives but not in others

10. Life Events Approach
Some events tax ability to cope and force personality change
Contemporary life events approach emphasizes considering event as well as mediating factors, adaptation to the event, the life-stage context, and the historical context
May overemphasize change and discount the importance of everyday stressors
(Holmes & Rahe, 1967)

11. Stress in Midlife
Do middle-agers experience stress differently than at other points in the life span?
middle-aged adults experience fewer stressors that they cannot control
frequent stressor is interpersonal tension and “crossover stressors” (simultaneous demands of multiple roles)
(Clarke-Plaskie & Lachman, 1999)

12. Contexts of Midlife Development
Historical contexts -- cohort effects
cohort -- individuals born in the same year or time period
cohort and context influence values, attitudes, expectations, and behavior
social clock -- timetable according to which individuals are expected to accomplish life’s major tasks; provides a guide for life
Variable clock?
(Neugarten, 1986)

13. Personality Throughout Adulthood
Genes, parental practices, culture, and adult circumstances all contribute to personality.
Of these four, genes are probably the most influential, according to longitudinal studies.
Since genes do not change from conception through death, it is not surprising that every study finds substantial continuity in personality.

14. Personality Continued
The Big Five
Openness
Imaginative, curious, artistic, creative, open to new experiences
Conscientiousness
Organized, deliberate, conforming, self-disciplined
Extroversion
Outgoing, assertive, active
Agreeableness
Kind, helpful, easygoing, generous
Neuroticism
Anxious, moody, self-punishing, critical

15. Stability and Change
Evidence does not support the view that personality traits become completely fixed at a certain age in adulthood
Cumulative personality model -- with time and age, people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways the promote stability (ecological niche)
Ages 30 to 50 are marked by more stability of personality than are other periods of life, though some people are likely to change more than others
(Caspi & Roberts, 2001) (Mroczek, Spiro & Griffin, 2006)

16. Intimacy Intimacy needs are lifelong.
Adults meet their need for social connection through their relationships with relatives, friends, coworkers, and romantic partners.
Social convoy
Collectively, the family members, friends, acquaintances, and even “strangers” who move through life with an individual.

17. Friends and Acquaintances
The most crucial members of the social convoy
Often able to provide practical help and useful advice when serious problems—death of a family member, personal illness, loss of a job—arise.
Consequential “strangers“
People who are not close but do have an impact

18. Family Bonds
Over the years of adulthood, parents and adult children typically increase in closeness, forgiveness, and pride as both generations gain maturity.
Familism
The belief that family members should support one another, sacrificing individual freedom and success, if necessary, in order to preserve family unity.

19. Family Bonds Family closeness can sometimes be destructive.
Some adults wisely keep their distance from their blood relatives.
Fictive kin
Someone who is accepted as part of a family to which there is no blood relation
Adults need kin, fictive or otherwise.

20. Intergeneration Relationships
Middle-aged adults share experiences and transmit values to the younger generation
As children become middle aged, they develop more positive perceptions of parents
Family members maintain contact across generations
Most common conflicts are interaction style, habits and lifestyle choices, child-rearing practices, and values
(Bengtson, 2001; Miller-Day, 2004)

21. Sibling Relationships
Sibling relationships persist over the entire life span
Majority of adults have at least one living sibling
Most have been found to be close
Siblings who were not “close” tend not to become closer in midlife
(Teti, 2001; White, 2001) (Cicirelli, 1991) (Dunn, 1984)

22. Committed Partners
Adults everywhere seek committed sexual partnerships to help meet their needs for intimacy as well as to raise children, share resources, and provide care when needed.
Less than 15 percent of U.S. residents marry before age 25, but by age 40, 85 percent have married.

23. Close Relationships Love and Marriage
affectionate, companionate love increases in middle adulthood
security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest become more important as relationships mature
even difficult marriages become better adjusted in middle adulthood
married people express satisfaction

24. Empty Nest
Empty nest syndrome -- decline in marital satisfaction after children leave the home; a time for pursuit of other interests, career, and time for each other
Refilling of the nest when young adult children return home to save money or recover from career set-back
Permaparenting -- reluctance to let go of adult children
Parents continue to provide emotional and/or financial support

25. Fewer middle-aged adults are sandwiched than the media portrays
Sandwich or Squeeze Generation -- responsibilities for adolescent and young adult children and for aging parents
Fewer middle-aged adults are sandwiched than the media portrays
When necessary, responsibilities are assumed by daughters
(Hoyer & Roodin, 2003)

26. Changing Jobs
One recent change in the labor market that impedes generativity is an increased frequency of hiring and firing.
Between ages 25 and 42, the average U.S. worker has five separate employers.
Older workers find job changes particularly difficult (loss of seniority, lack of new skills, relocation).

27. Variable Schedules
Schedule not fitting traditional 9-to-5, Monday-through- Friday work-week.
Flextime
An arrangement in which work schedules are flexible so that employees can balance personal and occupational responsibilities.

28. Variable Schedules Telecommuting
Working at home and keeping in touch with the office via computer, telephone, and fax.
About one-third of all working couples who have young children and nonstandard schedules save on child care by having one parent at home while the other is at work.

29. Variable Schedules
A major problem is that flextime and telecommuting are less available to those in certain jobs, such as construction.
Part-time work is usually underpaid and offers no benefits.
Shift work often creates sleep deprived people who are often cranky, impatient, and not clear thinkers.