Chapter 16Social and Personality

Development in Middle Adulthood

I. Personality Development

Normative –Crisis vs. Life Events

Traditional views of personality development in adulthood are normative-crisis models.

It means that personality development is based on fairly universal stages tied to a sequence of age-related crises.

Other models follow a life events approach to personality development, explaining that it is the particular events in a person’s life, more so than age, that determines personality development.

Generativity vs. StagnationErikson explains that during middle

adulthood, people begin to seek out ways to contribute to future generations and thereby for their own lives to continue on through the lives of Others.

The focus of people in this phase is on that which is beyond Themselves.

If people do not resolve the crisis of this phase, they become stagnant and focus on their own triviality.

Erikson's Theory

Stagnation – Unable to

contribute to society's welfare

– Self-centered and self-indulgent

Generative – Tend to be

fulfilled

Building on Erikson’s Views: Gould

Gould explains that there are seven stages of personality development associated with specific age periods.

During middle adulthood, there is a period of urgency to attain one’s life goals, an awareness of the limitations of time, and a realignment of life’s goals.

Acceptance of one’s life propels one to adult maturity.

Building on Erikson’s Views: Levinson

Levinson offered one of the first theories to explain the stages of personality development of the adult years.

His theory explains that during early adulthood, people build a "dream" of the future encompassing one’s goals and aspirations.

Throughout the early adulthood period, people make choices and commit to long term decisions that lead them closer to their "dream" vision.

Building on Erikson’s Views: Levinson

In middle adulthood, Levinson explains people move towards a midlife transition which is a time of questioning their fundamental assumptions about life, they confront the fact that time is limited and they may not accomplish all their goals.

This period may lead to a midlife crisis which Levinson claims tends to be fairly profound.

The Midlife CrisisThere is little evidence for the

widespread occurrence of a midlife crisis.

Middle age is in fact a peaceful time of life as children are more independent and careers tend to be established

Middle-aged adults focus on the present and try to maximize their involvement with friends and family.

Most middle-aged adults feel younger than they actually are.

Individual Differences in Personality

“Big five" personality traits • Neuroticism : moody, anxious, self-critical• Extroversion : outgoing • Openness to experience : level of curiosity/ interest

in new experiences• Agreeableness: how easygoing and helpful• Conscientiousness: tendencies to be organized

• The "Big Five" traits, although relatively stable after age 30, do show some variation—neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience decline a bit in middle adulthood and agreeableness and conscientiousness increase a bit.

II. Relationships: Family in Middle Age

Marriage

During middle adulthood, nowadays more people are single than in generations past.

Single people may live alone, with someone else, be a partner in a gay relationship.

By middle adulthood, some have married, divorced, lived alone or remarried.

Many couples live in blended families.

MarriageMany people experience the peak of

satisfaction with their marriage during the long period of adulthood and remain married for their lifetimes.

Middle-aged married adults tend to describe their spouse as their "best friend" and report that they like their spouse as a person.

Successful marriages in middle adulthood consist of partners who believe marriage is a lifetime commitment and who have grown increasingly fond of their partner over time.

When couples agree about their sex lives, both members of the couple feel satisfaction.

Divorce

The divorce rate during middle adulthood is higher than it has been in generations past.

People are more individualistic than they used to be and often choose their own personal happiness over their marriage.

Divorce is more accepted now than it used to be.Couples in Western cultures often divorce when

passionate love subsides as romance and passion are highly valued in our society.

Societal stresses on families is another reason made for divorcing during middle adulthood.

Remarriage

75 to 80 percent of divorcees tend to get remarried, usually within 2 to 5 years after a divorce.

Men are more likely to remarry than women as a result of the marriage gradient and double standards about male and female attractiveness and aging.People remarry for a variety of reasons such as to avoid feeling alone and the social stigma related to being divorced.

People entering into second marriages tend to be more mature, less romantically idealistic and more cautious, they show more flexibility in role assignments and share household chores more equitably.

Second marriages are even more susceptible to divorce than first due, in part, to the unique stresses related to second marriages.

Family Evolutions: The Empty Nest

Major transitions occur for parents during middle adulthood such as the departure of children which can be particularly difficult for some women such as traditional homemakers.Some women feel liberated when their children leave the home—some pursue a job for the first time and/or engage in activities that there was no time for when the children were at home.

The empty nest syndrome is largely a myth as those who do struggle (men and women can experience the loss) with transitions when children leave the home, tend to adjust and rebound fairly quickly.

Family Evolutions:Boomerang Children

There has been an increase in the number of young adults who return to live with their parents, mostly as a result of economic challenges or the breakup of a marriage.

Parents reactions to their boomerang children can be both positive and negative: when children return home because they are unemployed, parents, especially fathers, are less sympathetic and more easily irritated by the child’s return.

Family Evolutions: The Sandwich Generation

Many middle-aged adults feel squeezed between caring for their grown children and their aging parents.

The sandwich generation is a new experience caused by converging trends.

People are marrying and having children later and, at the same time, their parents are living longer.

Despite the stresses of being sandwiched between two generations, there can be benefits to all involved.

Becoming Grandparent

Many middle-aged adults become grandparents.

Grandparenting is thought to fall into different styles—involved grandparents are actively engaged in and have influence over their grandchildren’s lives, they hold clear expectations about the behavior of their grandchildren.

Companionate grandparents tend to be more relaxed and act as supporters and buddies to their grandchildren.

Remote grandparents tend to be aloof, detached and distant, showing little interest in their grandchildren.

There are gender and racial differences in the extent to which grandparents enjoy being a grandparents.

Family Violence

Close to 15 percent of all marriages in the United States are marked by continuing, severe violence.

Spousal abuse is not particular to one race, SES, or gender (although the majority of abusers, are men who abuse women).

Families of low SES in which there is verbal aggression, concerns over finances, and a large number of children are more likely to exhibit instances of spousal abuse than other families.

The Cycle of ViolenceAbuse by husbands tends to occur in three

phases:The tension building stage is

characterized by anger, dissatisfaction and verbal abuse by the husband and efforts to soothe the husband by the wife which often makes things worse

The acute battering stage (the explosion) is characterized by physical abuse.

The loving contrition stage (which does not always occur) is characterized by remorse and apologies by the husband and some feelings of responsibility by the wife. This stage explains why many wives stay in abusive relationships.

The Cultural Roots of Violence

The cycle of violence hypothesis explains that abuse and neglect of children leads them to be predisposed to abusiveness as adults. However, growing up in an abusive home does not invariably lead to abusiveness as an adult and therefore the cycle of violence theory does not explain the full story of abuse.

In some cultures, particularly in those cultures in which the power structure between men and women is traditional and strictly upheld, violence by husbands on wives is acceptable.

III. Work and Leisure

Jobs at Midlife

Some middle-aged adults feel content with their careers and what they are able to achieve while others are less pleased as a result of failing to live up to their career goals.

Factors that contribute to job satisfaction change from being focused on advancement and recognition and approval to more daily work-related issues.

Overall, middle-aged workers are satisfied with their jobs.

Challenges of Work: Burn OutDuring middle adulthood, some

professionals tend to experience job burnout, especially in those jobs that involve helping others and who were originally idealistic about their job.

Burnout can lead to a growing cynicism about work and indifference about how well work is done.

Unemployment

People who are unemployed tend to suffer from psychological and often physical consequences such as insomnia and anxiety.

Unemployment rates are related to rates of suicide.Unemployed people tend to isolate themselves from the

community and are more likely to be late to scheduled appointments.

Those who lose a job in middle adulthood have a harder time finding a job than younger people.

Those forced into early retirement often become pessimistic and cynical.

Switching Careers

It is increasingly common for middle-aged adults to switch careers and/or return to the job market after years of being away.

Reasons for career changes are motivated by a dissatisfaction with a previously held job, a need for a greater challenge or status, and/or a desire to return to the workforce after rearing children.

For most who change careers during this period of life, the rewards are great.

Leisure Time

During their leisure time, most middle-aged people watch television and socialize with people and activities outside the home.