Andrew T. Nilsson, Ph.D. Eastern Connecticut State University

1. Andrew T. Nilsson, Ph.D. Eastern Connecticut State University

2. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT A LIFE STAGE PERSPECTIVE (Adulthood in blue) Boy ¨ adolescent ¨ husband/worker ¨ family head/career¨ grandfather ¨ retired ¨ death . Girl ¨ adolescent ¨wife ¨ mother¨ grandmother ¨ widow ¨ death

3. AGE ERIKSONIAN CRISIS DURATION To 18 mo. Trust vs. mistrust 1 ½ yrs. 18 mo.- 3 yrs. Autonomy vs. shame & doubt 1 ½ yrs. 3- 6 yrs. Initiative vs. guilt 3 yrs. 6-12 yrs. Industry vs. inferiority 6 yrs. 12-18 yrs. Identity vs. role confusion 6 yrs. 20-35 yrs. Intimacy vs. isolation 15 yrs. 35-60 yrs. Generativity vs. stagnation 25 yrs. 65+ Ego integrity vs. despair ? ERIKSON’S PSYCHO-SOCIAL CRISES • Developmental periods increase in duration • Individual differences increase as well

4. 20-35 yrs. - Intimacy vs. isolation The quest for intimacy – the ability to share one’s self with another person without being afraid of sacrificing one’s own identity. Love and work – mate selection and career choice 35-60 yrs, - Generativity vs. stagnation The need to be creative and productive in ways which will contribute to future generations; creating one’s legacy for the future. ERIKSON’S STAGES OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT

5. Socializing vs. sexualizing Redefine intimate relationships to value the individual, friendship, and compaionship, rather than sex alone. Value wisdom vs. value physical power Life experience and wisdom replaces phyical ability and attractiveness Cathectic flexibility vs. cathectic impoverishment The ability to shift one’s emotuional investment from one activity to another or from one individual to another Mental flexibility vs. mental rigidity Life-long learning; the ability to seek and adapt to new information and ideas DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF MID-LIFEPeck (1968)

6. LEVINSON’S STAGES OF ADULT LIFE The Seasons of a Man’s Life (1978)

7. Levinson’s sample: Levinson interviewed 40 men in four occupational groups (novelists, biologists, business executives, and factory workers) between the ages of 35-45. Five percent were black. All had been married at least once. LEVINSON’S STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

8. Levinson viewed life as a series of periods formed around developmental tasks, the main goals, objectives, and concerns faced by individuals during each life period. A period ends when its tasks lose significance and new tasks emerge. Developmental transitions: Existing life structure Transition period – period of personal crisis and re-evaluation Life structure questioned; new decisions made Review and evaluate the past Accept loses at the end of a period Explore new options – decide what to keep and what to discard; consider possibilities for the future New life structure Structure building period – relative tranquility Structure based on new decisions LEVINSON’S STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

9. Move from pre-adulthood to adulthood Graduation from school, move out of family home, go to work. Independence from family. Financial and emotional autonomy. College and military are transitional institutions – away from family but not total independence. Make choices about how adult life will be lived Men have a “dream,” a vision of the future usually viewed in terms of career Men have a “mentor,” an older (8-15 years) role model – someone with experience and seniority in the world the young adult wishes to enter. Second important relationship – a woman who supports dream, makes man feel capable of obtaining it. STAGES OF ADULT LIFEEARLY ADULT TRANSITION (17-22)

10. Entering the adult world (22-28) Explore and make commitments to adult roles – establish life style Work leads to career choice Intimate relationships lead to marriage, birth of children Age 30 transition (28-33) Reappraisal of early adult commitments and change Focus on adjustment and enrichment “If I am to change my life, I’d better do it now.” Sometimes crisis; divorce, occupational change common Settling down (33-40) – culminating life structure for early adulthood Apprenticeship over – time to be a successful, competent adult BOOM period – Becoming One’s Own Man – independence from mentor Deeply absorbed in commitments to occupation, family, and activities Desire to get ahead, realize youthful ambitions LEVENSON – STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

11. Midlife transition (40-45) Midlife crisis – “What have I done with my life?” Come to terms with the dreams of one’s youth Work on discrepancy between what is and what will be Life takes on a new sense of urgency 80% of Levinson’s subjects went through personal crisis and re-evaluation Crisis may include divorce, extramarital affair, occupational change LEVENSON – STAGES OF ADULT LIFE Levinson stopped gathering data on his subjects at age 45.

12. Entering middle adulthood (45-50) Living out previously made changes For many, the most satisfying, enriching time of life Age 50 transition (50-55) Time of moderate crisis Men “review where they have come from and make plans for where they are heading.” Culmination of middle adulthood (55-60) Finish framework of life structure for middle adulthood A period of great fulfillment Late adult transition (60-65) Ending middle age and preparing for late adulthood LEVENSON – STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

13. Papulia and Olds (1992) study of dissertations: The mentor - Women substantially less likely to have a mentor Love relationship – Men seek women to support their dreams. Women seek a “special man” but see themselves as supporting his dreams. The dream – Men find themselves by separating from family of origin and pursuing own interests. Women develop identities through responsibilities and attachments of relationships. Men dream of occupational achievement, status accomplishment. Women – less clear dreams; more tentative mix of family and career interests. APPLICATION OF LEVINSON’S THEORY TO WOMEN

14. Levinson interviewed 45 women aged 35-45 years, including 15 homemakers, 15 female executives in major corporate financial organizations, and 15 female faculty members. Women, similar to men, go through age-linked developmental stages, often moving from one stage to the next through painful and turbulent periods of transition. The homemakersdreamed in youth of traditional, family centered life. By mid-life: All but one working outside the home Half were legally divorced; most of the rest, psychologically divorced Motherhood was a less central component of their life structure Increased independence and desire to exist on more equal terms with men Levinson concluded that a traditional marriage is no longer viable in our culture LEVINSON’S STUDY OF WOMENThe Seasons of a Woman’s Life (1996)

15. THE CAREER WOMEN The career women dreamed in youth of modifying the traditional homemaker pattern. At midlife: Intense struggle between the “Traditional Homemaker Figure” and the internal Anti-Traditional figure Attempting to be everything to everyone, seeking to have everything Plagued by exhaustion, worries about their children, and exasperation with their spouses who fail to do their fair share of household responsibilities and child care. LEVINSON’S STUDY OF WOMEN

16. Small, biased samples – Not a random cross-section of men or women. Generational issues – Will future generations follow the same patterns? Practical application: People seek help during periods of crisis Understanding the difficulties of transitions from one stage of life to the next is useful for helping people understand and work through the crises they experience. Tasks of transition periods: Review and evaluate the past Accept loses at the end of a period Explore new options – decide what to keep and what to discard; consider possibilities for the future. LEVENSON – STAGES OF ADULT LIFECRITICAL ASSESSMENT

17. THINK AND SHARELEVINSON’S STAGES OF ADULT LIFE • Locate yourself in Levinson’s stages of adult development. Are you “on task” according to his developmental model? • Envision your “dream.” Does your gender influence your dream in the ways described by Papulia and Olds?