1. Middle Adulthood: Social and Emotional Development
CHAPTER 16
Middle Adulthood: Social and Emotional Development

2. Theories of Development in Middle Adulthood

3. Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
Believed major psychological challenge of the middle years is generativity versus stagnation
Generativity
ability to generate or produce; based on instinctual drive toward procreativity (bearing and rearing children)
can consist of parenting one’s own children, helping others with their children, being engaged in projects that will influence future generations
Stagnation
rejection of generativity drive can result in a life stripped of meaning and purpose

4. Daniel Levinson’s Seasons
Midlife transition
The years from 40 to 45
Psychological shift into middle adulthood often accompanied by a crisis during which people fear they have more to look back upon than forward to
Midlife crisis
Time of dramatic self-doubt and anxiety during which people sense the passing of their youth and become preoccupied with concern about the imminence of their own mortality
May be imposed from external factors such as downsizing

5. Entering Midlife: Crisis, Turning Point, or Prime of Life?
Midlife usually identified around age 35 for women and age 40 for men; women reach it about five years earlier mostly due to reproductive awareness
Due to unrealized dreams and life losses, psychotherapy during this time should not be overlooked.
Midlife can be prime of life if the person has continued to develop in an area of expertise or interest
Little if any fluid intelligence lost and crystallized intelligence growing

6. Entering Midlife: Crisis, Turning Point, or Prime of Life? (cont’d)
Middle-aged adults, especially professionals, are often earning more money than young adults.
Tend to be geographically and vocationally settled
Most have built systems of social support and may be involved in endearing romantic and social relationships as well as have children
Flip side of middle adulthood
The overwhelming responsibility of taking care of your own family, helping with your aging parents, and remaining in the workplace all at once

7. The Life-Events Approach
Focuses on the particular challenges that are likely to face people at this time of life rather than phases or stages
Stressful life events in middle adulthood
Death of a spouse, child, parent, or sibling
Changes in health
Caring for one’s parents
Financial difficulties
Concern about one’s appearance, weight, or aging
Moving
Change in employment; changes in relationships; changes in responsibilities at work

8. The Life-Events Approach (cont’d)
Many middle-aged women do not experience “empty nest syndrome”.
Instead, they take advantage of their new time by being in the workplace and finding life satisfaction in other activities besides childrearing and homemaking
Supportive social network, positive attitude, and a sense of control help to mitigate the effects of stress and foster feelings of well-being among midlife adults.

9. Stability and Change in Middle Adulthood

10. Stability and Change in Middle Adulthood
Personalities tend to mature rather than be shaped by environmental conditions.
Expression of personality traits is influenced by culture.

11. Are There Sudden Shifts in Personality?
The “big five” personality traits tend to show stability over time.
Some trends of group personality changes over the years, but introverted tend to remain introverted, extroverted tend to remain extroverted
Neuroticism declines over time; agreeableness and conscientiousness increase over time; extraversion and openness to new experience decline slightly over time

12. Table 16-1, p. 336

13. Personality Themes among College-Educated Women
Women in their 40’s scored higher on personality scales than women in their 20’s.
Higher for women in their 60’s in the areas of identity certainty, confident power, and concern about aging
Personal distress toward aging decreases with age, suggesting older women have become more settled.

14. Work in Middle Adulthood

15. Job Satisfaction
Only 45% of American workers are satisfied with their jobs.
Job satisfaction increases steadily throughout adulthood.
Increased expertise and income
Workers are more realistic in middle adulthood
Blue collar workers
Report feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction due to supervisors treating them disrespectfully especially when supervisor is younger than them
Women balance work and home but still feel effects of “glass ceiling”

16. Career Changes in Middle Adulthood
Most changes in careers occur during young adulthood due to responsibilities of middle adults’ life.
Most career changes in middle adulthood are shifts into related fields.
Radical shifts in career can be successful.
Crisis such as divorce, conflict with a coworker, or getting fired may force the middle adult to take any job he/she can find.

17. Unemployment
Unemployed adults display lower physical and psychological well-being than their employed counterparts.
Unemployed middle-aged adults have lower well-being than unemployed young adults.
Unemployed middle-aged adults for whom work was more important, had fewer financial resources and social supports, and blamed themselves for the unemployment, fared the worst.
Older women will take lower-paying jobs as long as they like the work.

18. Relationships in Middle Adulthood

19. Evolving Parent-Child Relationships
Parents are stressed when adolescents do not exert self-control and they have to direct them in multiple areas of their life.
Children who are young adults may still be financially reliant upon their parents.
Some still live at home
Parents balance between staying in touch with the young adult and interfering with their life choices.
Living at home as a young adult differs according to culture as well as location.
Married children present new family members (in-laws) who may or may not enrich their parents’ lives.

20. Grandparenting
Grandparents have to choose between reckless interference or painful neglect.
Having grandchildren is viewed as a positive life event.
Grandparents spend a higher proportion of their time with their grandchildren in recreational and educational activities.
Grandchildren tend to spend more time with their grandmothers than with their grandfathers all the way through adolescence.
Grandchildren tend to be more involved with maternal grandparents than paternal grandparents.

21. Grandparenting (cont’d)
Grandparents tend to have resources such as trips available for grandchildren, but parents do the caretaking.
Grandparents have less influence on their grandchildren when they live with them.
Conflicts between adult children and grandparents ensue over parenting
Some grandparents end up the custodial parent to their grandchildren.
Changes the lifestyle of the middle adult and introduces emotional challenges as well as balancing issues

22. Middle-Aged Children with Aging Parents
Most elderly parents live near one of their middle-aged children.
Most burden of taking care of the elderly parents falls on the middle-aged daughter
Sandwich generation refers to middle-aged daughter taking care of her own children and/or grandchildren as well as her aging parents
Middle-aged female may also be working, causing more stress; if lucky, she will have a sibling living nearby to help out
There are cultural differences in who, how and where elderly parents live and reside

23. Siblings
Most people in middle adulthood have at least one living sibling.
Nature of sibling relationships reflect the childhood relationship
Some sibling relationships get better as they take care of aging parents together.
On the other hand, sibling relationship may suffer if only one of the siblings is taking care of the elderly parent.

24. Friends Adults in middle adulthood tend to have fewer friends.
Middle-aged adults place value on the friends they do have.
Their friends tend to mirror them in interests, activities, and years of mutual experiences.
Male friends tend to be more competitive and less likely to be intimate than female friends.
Loss of a friend is felt very deeply.