PSYC 2235 - Chapter 16 Social and Personality Development in Middle Adulthood

Generativity vs. Stagnation Stage

Erikson’s stages where middle adult-aged adults find meaning in contributing to the development of younger individuals

Generativity

A sense that one is making a valuable contribution to society by bringing up children or mentoring younger people in some way

• Generativity does increase in middle adulthood 

• Continues to be important in late adulthood 

• May be more prominent in middle aged women than middle aged men 

Effects of Generativity

Those who are generative:

• Have higher satisfaction in life and work

• Have higher emotional well-being

• Feel less burdened by having to care for elders (Women mainly)

• Are likely to find a way to nurture other people’s children if they don’t have children of their own (Men mainly)

Stage Between Intimacy and Generativity

George Vaillant suggests:

• Career consolidation - can refer to employment or deciding to be a homemaker and/or caregiver

• Involves creating new social network for chosen role

• Needs to include contentment, compensation, competence and commitment

Stage Between Generativity and Ego Integrity

Keeper of the meaning - focus on preserving the institutions and values of their culture that they believe will benefit future generations 

Is the Mid-Life Crisis a Thing?

Popularized this idea in the 60s, specifically for men during a time where their lives followed a fairly predictable pattern (60s started a more unpredictable pattern with various movements)

• They become acutely aware of the gap between ambitions and accomplishment and how much time they have left to achieve, about midway between their lives

• In a time when life is less predictable, it doesn’t show a consistent mid-life crisis affect

• These tend to be more tied to other life situations like divorce but people blame it on their age instead

5 Life Pathways

The Meandering Way

The Straight and Narrow Path

The Downward Slope

The Triumphant Trail

The Authentic Road

The Meandering Way

Low sense of identity, not sure who they are and still exploring themselves

The Straight and Narrow Path

Emphasis on predictability, avoidance of risk, staying on 1 path the entire time (Even if other options seem attractive)

The Downward Slope

Regrettable decisions make a life that started good take a turn for the worse (trying heroin and becoming addicted)

The Triumphant Trail

Inner resilience allows the person to overcome challenges experienced early in life. Starting with challenges like growing up in a lower SES home but building a good life for yourself afterwards. 

The Authentic Road

Characterized by self-examination and redirection to get back on track. Turning their life around after regrettable choices (Trying heroin and becoming addicted, then getting clean and getting better)

Life Events Approach

A theoretical perspective on middle adulthood that focuses on normative (happens to most like needing glasses) and non-normative (happens only to some like the death of a spouse) events and how adults in this group respond to them

• Often a time of converging stressors

Role Conflict

Any situation in which two or more roles are at least partially incompatible, either because they call for different behaviours or because their separate demands add up to more hours than there are in a day (Ex. balancing a full-time job and a full-time student role, or being a manager at work then being a student where you have to listen and not lead). Ability to do each role is not the issue but when it is mixed it is harder. 

Role Strain

The strain experienced by an individual whose own qualities or skills do not measure up to the demand of some new role. Your skills become an issue, not being as good at something that is necessary for the role you are in (Ex. being a salesperson but you are not good at talking to others and persuading them). You may not know that your skill set does not match up or you may not be able to avoid it.

Changes in Partnerships (Couples)

• Showing an increase in marital stability and satisfaction

• Have fewer conflicts over child-rearing (usually figure it out or children get older)

• Share more friends

• Are less likely to divorce than younger couples

Multigenerational Caregivers (Sandwich Generation) 

Meeting demands of their children and parents at the same time 

• Likely giving more help than they are receiving in both relationships with children and parents

• Most are satisfied with their lives but this depends somewhat on the level of care required by parents and children

Caregiver Role

Providing major care for an ailing (sick) parent:

• More likely to be a daughter or daughter-in-law than a son

• Has increased risk of depression

• May have lower marital satisfaction

• May suffer a weakened immune system and thus more illnesses (Added stress and less self-care)

Caregiver Burden

A term for the cumulative negative effects of caring for an elderly or disabled person. When care is light or temporary, the burden isn’t as likely

Emptying the Nest

With higher life expectancies, the empty nest phase is more common and longer

• Parents feelings about children leaving the home are shaped by ethnocultural values, relationship quality, living arrangements, financial circumstances 

What is Failure to Launch and the Revolving Door?

Failure to launch - not moving out after high school or university

Revolving door - moving back in with parents

• Frequent conflict (Parents still viewing them still as a child)

• Feelings of inadequate privacy on both sides

• Parents feeling thwarted in their ability to pursue their own goals

• Usually, parents and children manage to work out good systems for handling potential stresses of their situation (Acting as good support systems)

Common Types of Grandparenting Relationships

• Remote Relationships

• Companionate Relationships

• Involved Relationships

• Custodial Relationships

Remote Grandparent Relationships

Relationships in which grandparents do not see their grandchildren often (Living far away from each other)

Companionate Grandparent Relationships

Relationships in which grandparents have frequent contact and warm interactions with grandchildren (Living in the same city)

Involved Grandparent Relationships

Relationships in which grandparents are directly involved in the everyday care of grandchildren or have close emotional ties with them (Common in 3 generation households)

Custodial Grandparent Relationships

Relationships in which grandchildren live with their grandparents, who are their primary caregivers (Skip generations, parents are young or parents don’t live there)

Friendships in Middle Adulthood

• Have fewer friends

• Are just as close to their close friends

• Have friendships that depend less on frequent contact than on a sense that friends are there to provide support when needed

Personality in Middle Adulthood

Tend to maintain their relative status (comparing to people the same age) on the Big Five traits over time 

• Openness, extraversion and neuroticism decline with age 

• Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase until about age 70 and then begin to decline