Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood

1. Chapter 14 Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood PowerPoints developed by Nicholas Greco IV, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

6. Insert Figure 14.1 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

7. 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) (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

8. 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) (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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) (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

12. 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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

13. The Big Five Factors of Personality • INSERT FIGURE 14.3 HERE (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

14. 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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

15. 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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

16. 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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

19. Friendships • Continue to be important just as they were in early adulthood • Enduring relationships become deeper (Antonucci, 1989) (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

20. 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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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 (c) 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.