Exam 3 Human Growth and Development

Happiest memories

when psychological needs rather than material needs were satisfied

Unhappiest memories

when basic psychological needs were left unfulfilled

Social clock

the culturally determined psychological timepiece providing a sense of whether we have reached the major benchmarks of life at the appropriate time in comparison to our peers

Women’s Social Clocks according to Ravenna Helson

• People have several social clocks from which to choose.

• The selection has implications for personality development during early and middle adulthood.

• The particular clock is less important; it is more critical to invest in and focus on a trajectory.

• Social clocks are culturally determined.

Intimacy-Versus-Isolation stage: Erikson

the period from postadolescence into the early 30s that focuses on developing close, intimate relationships with others

Emerging adulthood

the period from the late teenage years extending to the mid-20s in which people are still sorting out their options for the future

Five features of emerging adulthood

• identity exploration

• instability

• self-focus

• feeling in-between

• optimism

Influences on friendship:

proximity, similarity, personal qualities

Passionate (or romantic) Love

a state of powerful absorption in someone

Companionate Love

the strong affection for those with whom our lives are deeply involved

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory: The Three Faces of Love

• Intimacy

• Passion

• Decision/Commitment 

Sternberg’s Intimacy Component

encompasses feelings of closeness, affection, and connectedness

Sternberg’s Passion Component

comprises the motivational drives relating to sex, physical closeness, and romance

Sternberg’s Decision/Commitment Component

embodies both the initial cognition that one loves another person and the longer-term determination to maintain that love

Types of love - Sternberg

• nonlove

• liking

• infatuated love

• empty love

• romantic love

• companionate love

• fatuous love

• consummate love

Nonlove

• Intimacy: absent

• Passion: absent

• Decision/Commitment: absent

• Example: the way you might feel about the person who tables your ticket at movies

Liking

• Intimacy: present

• Passion: absent

• Decision/Commitment: absent

• Example: good friends who have lunch together at least once or twice a week

Infatuated Love

• Intimacy: absent

• Passion: present

• Decision/Commitment: absent

• Example: a “fling” or short-term relationship based only on sexual attraction

Empty Love

• Intimacy: absent

• Passion: absent

• Decision/Commitment: present

• Example: an arranged marriage or a couple who have decided to sat married “for the sake of the children”

Romantic Love

• Intimacy: present

• Passion: present

• Decision/Commitment: absent

• Example: a couple who have been happily dating a few months but have not made any plans for a future together 

Companionate Love

• Intimacy: present

• Passion: absent

• Decision/Commitment: present

• Example: a couple who enjoy each other’s company and their relationship, although they no longer feel much sexual interest in each other

Fatuous Love

• Intimacy: absent

• Passion: present

• Decision/Commitment: present

• Example: a couple who decides to move in together after knowing each other for only two weeks

Consummate Love

• Intimacy: present

• Passion: present

• Decision/Commitment: present

• Example: a loving, sexually vibrant, long-term relationship

Filter explanation

says that people seeking a mate screen potential candidates through successively finer-grained filters, starting with attractiveness

Homogamy

the tendency to marry someone who is similar in race, age, education, religion, and other basic demographic characteristics, its importance is declining

Marriage Gradient

the tendency of men to marry women who are slightly younger, smaller, and lower in status, and for women to marry men who are slightly older, larger, and higher in status

Process of Filtering Potential Marriage Partners

Cohabitation

couples living together without being married

Civil Union

a legal alternative to marriage for providing similar protections to marriage, but not federal benefits

Successful married partners

• Show affection

• Communicate relatively little negativity

• Perceive themselves as part of an interdependent couple

• Experience social homogamy, a similarity in leisure activity and role preferences

Divorce rates are _____, but they are still ______.

declining, high

The ______ is less than the ______.

fertility rate, placement level

Coparenting teamx

parents who work together, adopting common child-rearing goals

Singlehood

living alone without an intimate partner

• increased significantly in the past several decades

• about 20% will live their entire lives this way

Career consolidation

a stage entered between ages 20 and 40, when young adults become centered on their careers

Vaillant’s view

career focus supplanted personal intimacy and bridged Erikson’s intimacy-versus-isolation and generativity-versus-stagnation stages

Millennial Generation

those born after 1980 and who entered young adulthood around the millennium in 2000

Ginzberg’s Career choice theory

a series of three stages in choosing a career:

• fantasy period

• tentative period

• realistic period

Fantasy period

until age 11; choices are made without regard to skills, abilities, or available jobs

Tentative period

adolescents begin to think about job requirements and their abilities and interests

Realistic period

young adults explore specific career options through experience or training

Holland’s Personality Type Theory

personality types are important in career choice

• realistic

• intellectual

• social

• conventional

• enterprising

• artistic

Communal Professions

occupations associated with relationships (traditionally for women)

Agentic professions

occupations associated with getting things accomplished (traditionally for men)

Glass ceiling

an invisible barrier that, because of discrimination, prevents promotions beyond a certain level

Extrinsic motivation

drives people to obtain tangible rewards, such as money and prestige 

Intrinsic motivation

causes people to work for their own enjoyment, not just for the rewards work may bring

Status

the evaluation by society of the role a person plays

Senescence

naturally occurring declines related to age

Osteoporosis

women are more prone to a decline in height because this condition causes bones to become brittle, fragile, and thin

Visual Acuity

the ability to discern fine spatial detail in both close and distant objects; begins to decline around age 40

Glaucoma

pressure in the fluid of the eye increases

Presbycusis

loss of the ability to hear sounds of high frequency

Sound localization

problems identifying the direction and origin of a sound

metabolism

holds steady during middle adulthood

Sex challenges for men in middle adulthood

• they typically need more time to get an erection

• the volume of fluid that is ejaculated declines

• the production of testosterone also declines

sex challenges for women in middle adulthood

• the walls of the vagina become thinner and less elastic

• the vagina begins to shrink, potentially making intercourse painful

Female climacteric

the transition from being able to bear children to being unable to do so; begins around age 45 and lasts 15 to 20 years

Menopause

the cessation of menstruation

• hormone production changes and symptoms can include “hot flashes”, headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, and aching joints

Perimenopause

the period beginning around 10 years prior to menopause when hormone production starts to change

Hormone Therapy (HT)

estrogen and progesterone are given to alleviate menopause symptoms

• can reduce some problems, like hot flashes, the thinning of bones, and risks of stroke and colon cancer

• may also lead to a greater sex drive

• can increase risks of breast cancer, blood clots, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and heart disease

Male Climacteric

the period of physical and psychological change relating to the male reproductive system that occurs during late middle age

• the production of testosterone and sperm decreases, but men can still father children

• the prostate gland often enlarges, leading to problems with urination

• erectile dysfunction, the inability to achieve an erection, becomes more common

Chronic diseases that appear during middle adulthood:

• Arthritis (after age 40)

• Type 2 diabetes (between 50 and 60)

• Hypertension (high blood pressure) (middle age)

Psychoneuroimmunologists note three main consequences of stress

• it has direct physiological outcomes

• it leads people to engage in unhealthy behaviors

• it has indirect effects on health-related behavior

Direct Physiological effects of stress

• elevated blood pressure

• decrease in immune system functioning

• increased hormonal activity

• psychophysiological conditions

Harmful behaviors from stress

• increased use of nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs

• decreased nutrition

• decreased sleep

Indirect health-related behaviors from stress

• decreased compliance with medical advice

• increased delays in seeking medical care

• decreased likelihood of seeking medical advice

Risk factors of heart disease

• some people are genetically predisposed

• men are more likely to have it, risk rises with age

• environmental and behavioral factors like cigarette smoking, diet high in fat and cholesterol, lack of exercise, psychological factors like stress

Type A behavior pattern

includes competitiveness, impatience, frustration, and hostility

• links between this type and heart disease are correlational; no evidence supports causation

Type B behavior pattern

includes non competitiveness, patience, and lack of aggression

• this type men have half the risk of heart disease

Type D behavior

“distressed” includes insecurity, anxiety, related to risk for heart attacks

Cancer is the ______ leading cause of death in the US

second

Treatment options for cancer

• radiation therapy

• chemotherapy

• gene therapy

• surgery