Adult Development and Aging test 3

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from chapters 1 and 2 lecture notes covering adult development stages, research methodologies, biological theories of aging, physical and sleep changes, and individual aging differences.

Socioemotional selectivity theory

A life-span theory of motivation proposing that as individuals age and perceive time as limited, they shift priorities toward emotionally meaningful relationships and positive experiences rather than knowledge acquisition.

Social relationships

Dynamic, recurrent patterns of interactions between individuals over time.

Four major theories of social relationships

Attachment Theory, the Convoy Model, Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, and Evolutionary Psychology.

Attachment theory

A developmental framework addressing the enduring affectional bond formed between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Attachment (developmental psychology)

A strong affectional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver that is inferred through observable behavior.

Internal working model

A cognitive framework of beliefs and expectations about interpersonal connections that guides relationship behavior.

Attachment orientation

An individual's characteristic pattern of expectations, needs, and behaviors regarding emotional closeness and security.

Caregiving orientation

A person's characteristic style of attending to, supporting, and comforting others when attachment needs arise.

Secure attachment

A relational pattern characterized by mutual trust, emotional comfort, and confidence that a partner will provide support.

Avoidant attachment

A relational pattern characterized by emotional discomfort with intimacy, self-reliance, and reluctance to depend on others.

Anxious or ambivalent attachment

A relational pattern characterized by intense fear of abandonment, doubts about a partner's love, and hypervigilant demands for reassurance.

Disorganized attachment

A relational pattern marked by contradictory, fearful, or disoriented responses toward an attachment figure.

Influence of early attachment on adult relationships

Early experiences establish expectations regarding interpersonal trust, vulnerability, and responsiveness in romantic partnerships.

Lifespan plasticity of attachment patterns

Attachment orientations can evolve over time through transformative life experiences and supportive relationships.

The Convoy Model

A lifespan perspective proposing that individuals navigate life surrounded by dynamic, protective social networks of varying closeness.

Primary function of a social convoy

Providing multifaceted instrumental, informational, and emotional support across changing life circumstances.

Dynamic shifts in a personal social convoy

The membership composition and types of support provided adapt as age, social roles, and physical needs evolve.

Core premise of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

People increasingly prioritize emotionally meaningful relationships and prune peripheral ties as future time is perceived as limited.

Evolutionary psychology perspective on social bonds

An approach viewing human behavioral patterns and attachments as adaptive mechanisms selected to promote survival and reproductive fitness.

Survival advantages of group affiliation in evolutionary theory

Protection against predators, cooperative food foraging, collective child care, and shared defense against environmental extremes.

Need to belong

A fundamental, pervasive human motivation to form and sustain durable, positive interpersonal connections.

Common forms of adult intimate partnerships

Marriages, non-marital cohabitations, civil unions, and committed dating partnerships.

Helen Fisher's ($2004$) mate selection model

A neurobiological model proposing three distinct emotional systems underlying mating: lust, attraction, and attachment.

Lust (Fisher's model)

The biological sex drive that motivates mating seeking, mediated primarily by androgens in both men and women.

Freud's proposition regarding libido and relationships

The view that libidinal energy serves as the foundational drive underlying all forms of intimate human attachment.

Distinction between lust and romantic love

They are biologically independent systems; sexual longing can operate entirely in the absence of romantic attachment or affection.

Attraction (Fisher's model)

The neurochemical state of intense romantic passion, intrusive thinking about a partner, and selective mate focus.

Neurotransmitters associated with romantic attraction

Elevated activity of dopamine and norepinephrine.

Attachment (Fisher's model)

The long-term emotional bonding system facilitating mutual security, calm, and parental cooperation.

Three major theoretical frameworks of interpersonal attraction

Filter Theory, Exchange Theory, and the Evolutionary Perspective.

Filter Theory

The concept that prospective mates pass through sequential screening criteria (e.g., proximity, values, compatibility) that narrow the dating pool.

Exchange Theory

The perspective that relationship formation depends on reciprocal evaluations of the tangible and intangible assets each party brings.

Evolutionary perspective on attraction preferences

The theory that mate preferences reflect adaptive reproductive strategies selected over ancestral evolutionary history.

Cross-cultural mate characteristics prioritized more by men on average

Physical attractiveness, youth, markers of health, and interest in domestic life or children.

Cross-cultural mate characteristics prioritized more by women on average

Socioeconomic status, earning potential, and access to material resources.

Broad categories of marital dissolution risk factors

Individual background history, maladaptive personality traits, and divergent visions regarding future goals.

Personal-history predictors of divorce

Early teen marriage, poverty, unemployment, low educational attainment, premarital cohabitation, previous divorce, and parental divorce.

Predictive accuracy of John Gottman's marital assessment

Approximately $94\%$ accuracy in identifying couples at risk for dissolution through interaction coding.

Gottman's Four Horsemen of relationship dissolution

Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling.

Criticism (Gottman)

Attacking a partner's enduring personality or character rather than addressing a specific contextual behavior.

Contempt (Gottman)

Projecting superiority and disgust through insults, sarcasm, hostile humor, or dismissive body language.

Defensiveness (Gottman)

Reacting to complaints by deflecting responsibility, offering counter-accusations, or framing oneself as an innocent victim.

Stonewalling (Gottman)

Shutting people out/ refusing to acknowledge ( one of the 4 horsemen)

Social roles

Expected behaviors and attitudes associated with different positions or statuses in society.

Lifespan pattern of social role changes

With few exceptions, roles are neither gained nor lost permanently; they change as life circumstances evolve.

Social role expectations

Societal standards and beliefs regarding how individuals should behave and think while carrying out particular positions.

Example of contrasting social role expectations

A student behaving formally in a classroom setting versus casually when spending time with friends.

Social role transitions

Reallocations or changes in an individual's life positions, especially during major developmental events.

Example of a social role transition

Moving from being a full-time student to becoming an independent adult balancing a career and family.

Biological clock

Age-related physiological and physical changes over time, including reproductive alterations.

Social clock

Cultural and societal expectations concerning the appropriate ages at which individuals should reach specific developmental milestones.

Example of social clock expectations

Societal pressure to graduate college, establish a career, marry, or have children by specific chronological milestones.

Transition to adulthood

The developmental period when individuals take on new responsibilities, career paths, and independent living.

Life stage associated with adding the greatest number of new social roles

Young adulthood (approximately ages $20\text{--}30$), when individuals typically graduate, launch careers, marry, have children, and establish autonomy.

Emerging adulthood

A developmental period (around ages $18\text{--}25$) during which individuals explore personal identities and navigate the transition between adolescence and full adulthood.

Reason emerging adults often feel in-between

The perception of having outgrown childhood while not yet having fully achieved the status, stability, or responsibilities of adult life.

Identity exploration (emerging adulthood)

Examining personal values, beliefs, and worldviews to decide how they align with or diverge from family values.

Instability (emerging adulthood)

Frequent shifts and disruptions across romantic partnerships, residences, educational paths, and employment.

Self-focus (emerging adulthood)

Cultivating autonomy, self-reliance, and independent decision-making skills before committing to enduring obligations.

Feeling in-between (emerging adulthood)

The subjective sense of occupying an intermediate state of being neither an adolescent nor fully an adult.

Possibilities (emerging adulthood)

The optimistic outlook that many future paths remain open and that personal circumstances will transform or improve.

Common social role transitions in young adulthood

Departing from or returning to the parental home, entering marriage or committed cohabitation, and transitioning into parenthood.

Empty nest

The household phase that occurs when all adult children have moved out of the family residence.

Full nest

The living situation in which adult offspring continue to reside with or return to live with their parents.

Reason returning to the parental home is common in young adulthood

The transition to independent living is complicated and non-linear, leading many young adults to boomerang back home.

Late leavers

A demographic classification for adult children who remain residing in the parental household substantially longer than average peers.

Findings of Leopold's ($2012$) study on late leavers

In a study of over $6{,}000$ people across $14$ European countries, adult children who stayed home longer showed greater solidarity with their parents than siblings who moved out earlier.

Cohabitation

Living together in an intimate, domestic union without legal or formal marriage.

Demographic trend in marriage and cohabitation rates

Marriage rates are decreasing while cohabitation rates are increasing.

Egalitarian roles

Relationship structures in which domestic labor, financial contributions, and family responsibilities are shared equally.

Situationship

A romantic or sexual connection characterized by companionship and physical intimacy without formal definitions, labels, or commitment.

Research findings on situationships

Evidence indicates they are generally characterized by lower relationship quality and rarely develop into official, committed relationships.

Marital selection effect

The proposition that individuals who marry differ systematically from unmarried peers in baseline physical health or psychological traits.

Marital resources effect

The perspective that marriage promotes well-being by conferring combined financial, social, and emotional assets that benefit health.

Marital crisis effect

The proposition that the acute trauma, conflict, and stress of marital dissolution impair physical and mental health.

Methodological limitation of studying only long-lasting marriages

Marriages that ended earlier are overlooked, introducing survivor bias and failing to represent all marital outcomes.

Verbal conflict in marriage

Hostile, critical, or dismissive communication patterns between spouses that correlate with poorer health outcomes.

Becoming a parent

Assuming the social role, obligations, and day-to-day responsibilities of raising a child.

Percentage of U.S. adults who eventually become parents by age 40 (step-children included)

Approximately $85\%$.

Trajectory of marital satisfaction during active child-rearing

Satisfaction typically declines after the birth of children and remains suppressed while children reside at home, including through the teenage years.

Economic exchange theory of parenthood

A framework positing that partners trade specialized contributions, traditionally dividing labor into female childbearing and domestic care, and male paid employment.

General impact of parenthood on marital satisfaction

Associated with decreased marital satisfaction across age groups, socioeconomic levels, and countries, though not experienced by every couple.

Key factor associated with sustained marital happiness during parenthood

Marital friendship, mutual fondness, and respect.

Nature of social roles in middle adulthood

Existing roles are redefined and renegotiated as life circumstances, careers, and family structures evolve.

Work role changes in middle adulthood

Advancing from entry-level or junior positions into senior responsibilities and stepping into mentorship roles.

Changes in relationships with aging parents during middle adulthood

Adult children typically take on greater responsibility and caregiving duties as their parents age.

Postparental role

The status of a parent whose children have launched from the home, involving altered role dynamics rather than an end to involvement.

General parental appraisal of the empty-nest transition

The transition is experienced more positively than negatively by most parents.

Grey divorce

Marital dissolution taking place among adults aged $50$ and older.

Percentage of divorcing adults who are age $50$ or older

Approximately $36\%$.

Divorce trend among adults over age $65$

They represent the fastest-growing demographic group experiencing divorce.

Becoming a grandparent

Assuming the developmental and family role of a grandparent, commonly occurring during middle adulthood.

Surrogate parenting by grandparents

An arrangement where grandparents assume primary, day-to-day legal and physical parenting duties for their grandchildren.

Grandfamilies

Kinship living arrangements in which grandparents assume full responsibility for raising grandchildren without parental co-residence.

Demographic most likely to care for an aging parent in poor health

Daughters and daughters-in-law.

Caregiver burden

The multifaceted physical, emotional, and financial strain experienced from providing sustained assistance to an impaired individual.

Documented psychological and relational effects of eldercare

Caregivers frequently report more depressive symptoms, lower marital satisfaction, chronic fatigue, and elevated role strain.

Sandwich generation

Adults who navigate concurrent caregiving obligations for both aging parents and dependent or growing children.

Research perspective on stress in sandwich caregiving

It is not universally distressing; research indicates many people caring for both generations do not report their dual responsibilities as a source of stress.

Diversity of social roles in late adulthood

There is no single typical pattern of adaptation; trajectories vary from autonomous solo living to becoming care receivers.