1. Chapter 14 Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood
PowerPoints developed by Nicholas Greco IV,
College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
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2. Erikson’s Middle Adulthood
The crisis of generativity versus 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
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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
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4. 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
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5. Levinson’s Seasons of a Man’s Life
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
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Insert Figure 14.1
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Midlife Crisis
Levinson’s view of the crisis
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)
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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)
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9. Stress and Personal Control in Midlife
Do middle-aged adults experience stress differently than young adults and older adults?
Young and middle-aged adults had more stressful days than older adults
Middle-aged adults experienced more “overload” stressors that involved juggling too many activities at once
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10. 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
(Neugarten, 1986)
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11. Contexts of Midlife Development
Cultural contexts
midlife is unclear and/or absent in many non- industrialized cultures
some cultures even divide the life course differently for males and females
midlife is influenced by degree of modernity and society’s gender roles
Eligibility for certain statuses is influenced by gender
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Stability and Change
Big five factors of personality -- openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
Three longitudinal studies
Costa and McCrae’s Baltimore Study
Personality traits changed most during early adulthood
The Berkeley Longitudinal Studies
Results from early adolescence through a portion of midlife did not support either extreme in the debate whether personality is characterized by stability or change
Valliant’s Studies
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13. The Big Five Factors of Personality
INSERT FIGURE 14.3 HERE
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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 that promote stability
Some people are likely to change more than others
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Close Relationships
Love and Marriage at Midlife
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
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Close Relationships
Divorce in middle adulthood
couples may be alienated and avoidant
marriages may have become “empty” -- lacking laughter, love, and interest in one another
divorce may be more positive in some ways and more negative in others
+ -- often more resources
+ -- children less “damaged” and can cope better
minus -- may be seen as personal failure or as betrayal
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17. The Empty Nest and Its Refilling
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 setback
Parents continue to provide emotional and/or financial support
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18. 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
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Friendships
Continue to be important just as they were in early adulthood
Enduring relationships become deeper
(Antonucci, 1989)
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Grandparenting
Grandmothers have more contact with grandchildren than grandfathers
Satisfaction -- easier than parenting
Styles and roles -- 3 meanings
source of biological reward and continuity
source of emotional fulfillment
remote role
Differing functions in families and in cultures or in situations
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21. The Changing Role of Grandparents
Divorce, adolescent pregnancy, and drug use have contributed to increasing numbers of grandparents assuming parental roles
Grandparents who are full-time caregivers for grandchildren are at elevated risk for health problems, depression, and stress
Grandparent visitation issues in divorced and stepfamilies
Grandparents’ legal rights for visitation
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22. Intergenerational 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
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23. Intergenerational Relationships
Sandwich or Squeeze Generation -- responsibilities for adolescent and young adult children and for aging parents
Relationships between aging parents and their children are usually characterized by ambivalence
When necessary, responsibilities are assumed by daughters
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