psych exam #3 ch 7-9

Adulthood- Late Adulthood

Emerging Adulthood

Period between the late teens and early twenties; ages 18-25,

Identity Exploration

Identity formation occurs mostly in late teens/early twenties.

Instability

Exploration leads to uncertainty

Self- Focus

Few obligations; time to prioritize personal life goals. (Not self-centered).

Feeling In-Between:

60% of 18-25 year-olds feel partially adult, partially not.

Possibilities/Optimism

Belief that they will achieve their desired life goals.

Extended Identity Exploration

Jeffrey Arnett's "emerging adulthood" concept highlights a prolonged transition where young adults spend more time exploring identities, potentially sustaining egocentric patterns

Delayed Milestones

Delaying traditional milestones (marriage, parenthood, stable employment) may also extend self-focused thinking

Social Media

 Self-presentation platforms (Instagram, TikTok) heighten the imaginary audience, increasing the feeling of constant evaluation.

Individualism/Self-Esteem

Cultural emphasis on uniqueness may reinforce the personal fable

Economic/Social Instability

Uncertain futures and changing norms may encourage young adults toward more inward, self-focused orientations.

Enhanced Critical Reflection

Encourage intentional reflection on social realities, responsibilities, and community connections.

Social-emotional Education

Programs to foster empathy, perspective-taking, and interpersonal maturity.

Mentorship and Role Models

Exposure to adult role models with balanced self-concept and communal values.

SES

Emerging adulthood exists wherever there is a period between the end of adolescence and entry into adult roles, but acknowledging social, cultural, and historical contexts is also important.

Cultural Variations

• Seems to exist with variability in all developed countries

  • Longest in Europe

  • Financial independence = Adulthood in US and Europe

  • Being capable of being able to support parents = adulthood in Asian countries

Historical

Adulthood begins at marriage/parenthood

Current

Financial independence and accepting responsibility for oneself.

Traditional/Collectivist Views

 Emphasize role transitions as markers of adulthood.

Recent Trends to Emerging Adulthood

adults aged 18-34 lived with parents than with a spouse/partner in their own household. Young Americans are delaying romantic commitment before age 35.

Physiological Peak

Average peak physical performance is between ages 19 and 26 (under 30), and this includes athletes.

Most college students know what behaviors will  prevent illness and promote health.

This is a time when most pleasures involve
physical sources

Senescence (Aging)

• Begins in this stage

• The body gradually loses strength, efficiency and recovery rates 

• Sensitivity to sound decreases; this happens twice as quickly for men as for women.

• First visible changes are in skin

  • loses elasticity

• Graying hair and male pattern baldness begin around age 30

• Variability in senescence appears between:

  • Genders, ethnicity, SES, geography

Obesity

70.7% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2012 and by 2016, 39.8% were considered obese

BMI (Body Mass Index) Regarding Obesity

• Overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9)

• Obese (BMI greater than or equal to 30.0)

• Extremely obese (BMI greater than or equal to 40.0)

lbs/in² x 703

Causes of Obesity

• Originates from a complex set of contributing factors, including one’s environment, behavior, and genetics

  • Does not appear to be a single gene responsible for obesity

  • Mismatch between today’s environment and "energy-thrifty genes"

    • Genes that helped our ancestors survive occasional famines are now being challenged by environments in which food is plentiful all the time

Aerobic

Being active (excerise)

• Running, swimming, etc.

• Elevate HR for at least 30 minutes

Temperament

the innate characteristics of an infant (mood, activity, emotional reactivity), noticeable soon after birth. It remains stable through adulthood for many, but the environment can impact it.

Personality

• Characteristic manner of thinking, feeling, behaving, and relating to others

• Integrates one’s temperament with cultural and environmental influences

• Signs in childhood but particularly evident in adulthood

Openness to Experience

a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, imagination, curiosity and variety of experience

Conscientiousness

a tendency to show self discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement.

Extraversion

the tendency to to experience positive emotions and to seek out stimulation and the company of others.

Agreeableness

the tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspcisous and antagonistic toward others,

Neurotism

the tendency to experience negative emotions

Attachment-related anxiety

Worry about a partner's love.

Attachment-related avoidance:

Difficulty opening up, trusting, or depending on others.

Secure Attachment

Comfortable trusting partners; minimal worry about their love.

Dismissing

 Downplays relationships; trusts self, distrusts others; uncomfortable depending on others.

Preoccupied

Prone to jealousy; worries partner's love is insufficient.

Fearful-avoidant

Desires closeness but uncomfortable with emotional intimacy.

Erikson’s Intimacy vs Isolation

• The sixth stage of development.

• Establishing identity precedes the pursuit of intimate relationships.

• Focus is on forming close relationships (acquaintances, friendships, long-term romance), or risking social isolation.

Attraction

The Factors that Lead to Liking and Love

Proximity

Physical closeness to others.

Perceived Similarity

Believing we share common traits with others.

Consensual Validation

The feeling of affirmation we get when others share our beliefs and values.

Self-Disclosure

Open and frequent communication, characterized by acceptance and empathy, and without fear of judgment.

Friendships

• In the U.S., people are delaying long-term relationships.

• Differences between women and men:

  • Men: Friendships often revolve around sharing information, providing solutions, or engaging in mutual activities. They tend to discuss opinions or factual information rather than deep emotional problems.

  • Women: Friendships involve discussing difficulties in other relationships and expressing feelings like sadness, frustration, and joy.

Love (Stenberg’s Theory)

• Passion - the intense, physical attraction partners feel toward one another

• Intimacy - the ability the share feelings, psychological closeness and personal thoughts with the other

• Commitment - the conscious decision to stay together

Healthy Marriages

• Positive Interaction & Influence:

  • Let your partner influence you.

  • Nurture fondness and admiration.

  • Share power and responsibilities equally.

• Conflict Resolution:

  • Solve conflicts that are manageable (solvable conflicts).

  • Maintain realistic expectations.

• Adaptation & Connection:

  • Continual adjustment is necessary for growth.

  • Share interests, roles, and responsibilities.

  • Communication is vital.

• Behaviors to Avoid:

  • Contempt, criticism, defensiveness, and stonewalling undermine the respect and politeness required for a healthy relationship.

Primary Aging

Biological factors, such as molecular and cellular changes, and oxidative damage

Secondary Aging

occurs due to controllable factors, such as an unhealthy lifestyle including lack of physical exercise and poor diet

Physical Developments of aging

• Wrinkling and sagging of skin

• Appearance of aging spots

• Hair becomes thinner and grayer

• Sarcopenia: The loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with aging

• Nails become thicker and more brittle with ridges

• Yellowing of teeth

Midlife Crisis

• age 38

• A decline of physical skills

• Increasing responsibility

• Transmitting knowledge to the next generation

• Reaching and maintaining career satisfaction

• Balancing work and relationships

• A reassessment of life’s priorities

Vision Changes with Aging

• Lens becomes less flexible

  • Presbyopia “old vision” - loss of elasticity in the lens of the eye that makes it harder for the eye to focus on objects that are closer to the person

• Rods and cones diminish in numbers

Hearing Changes with Aging

• especially for high pitched sounds

  • Cilia thin out

  • Less flexible inner ear

• Environment also plays a role

Health Concerns

Heart Disease

Hypertension

Cancer

High Cholesterol

Nutrition and Weight

Health habits are relevant through all of life, but most crucial during 35-65 

Mid Adulthood Reassessment

• Many middle-agers  improve their health habits

• Individual and environmental variations can affect who gets healthier

  • Choice on continued habits are a crucial variable

Exercise

• Needed to attain and maintain a healthy weight

• Burns calories, decreases appetite, and increases metabolism

• Reduces ratio of body fat to body weight

• Enhances cognitive functioning

Nutrition

• Metabolism slows 

• Require fewer calories

• Should avoid 

  • Excess sodium, fat, and sugar

Climacteric

The decline towards infertility

Menopause

• Occurs in women between ages 39 and 59

• Marked decrease in the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone

• Generally, the age of onset genetic

  • But health habits, particularly cigarette smoking and malnutrition, can prompt an earlier onset

Male Menopause

• Andropause (late-onset hypogonadism)

• Decline in sperm production and motility, as well as lower testosterone levels

• However males maintain their reproductive viability

• Even with the help of new drugs, like Viagra, most men will experience a decline in sexual desire and frequency of intercourse as they age

  • 10% experience headaches

  • 3% experience temporary vision problems

    • Blurred vision

  • Small percent experience blackouts

  • Correlation with increase in STI’s over 60 

Brain Development

• Equal and/or better functioning than early adulthood

• White matter increases into the 50’s and then declines

• Better emotionally and socially functioning

Fluid Intelligence

the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems and performing activities quickly and abstractly

Peaks in adulthood and declines

Crystalized Intelligence

the accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives

continues to increase throughout life.

Flow

mental state of being completely present and fully absorbed in a task; well developed in middle adulthood

Tacit Knowledge

knowledge that is pragmatic or practical and learned through experience rather than explicitly taught; increases with age

Expertise

specialized skills and knowledge that pertain to a particular topic or activity

Expert

 someone notably more skilled and knowledgeable than average person is about a specific intellectual topic or practical ability

Intuitive

• Compared to novices, actions of experts are intuitive and less stereotypic 

• Experts rely on accumulated experiences and immediate context

Automatic

• Many aspects of expert performance are automatic

• Incoming information is processed more quickly and analyzed more efficiently

• Experts then act in well-rehearsed ways that make their efforts seem non-conscious

Strategic

• Experts distinguished by use of strategies

• Have better strategies and more of them

Flexible

• Experts are more flexible

• Derives from their actions being intuitive, automatic, and strategic

• Also comes from their being creative and curious, deliberately experimenting and enjoying the challenge when things don’t go as planned

Work

• Job satisfaction peaks 

  • More expertise

  • More authority

  • Acceptance of profession

• Dissatisfaction can occur

  • Pursue new challenges

  • Glass ceiling (women)

Burnout

unsuccessfully managed workplace stress

Work in the U.S.

• United States has no guaranteed paid vacation

• Average work week in US is 47 hours

  • 39% work >50 hrs/wk

• 55% of U.S. workers in 2015 did not take all of their paid vacation and holiday leave

Working life as a Middle Age

• Globalization of work has increased some work instability

• Shift away from organizational careers

  • Same job and same field for years

  • Shift towards protean career

    • Changeable and less linear

• Middle adulthood more difficult to obtain these types of jobs

• Middle aged adults who find themselves unemployed are likely to remain unemployed longer than those in early adulthood

Stress

The psychological and biological response to a stimulus that alters one’s state of equilibrium

Stressor

Stress related stimuli

Acute Stressor

Short term stress

ex. traffic jam

Chronic Stressor

Long term stress

ex.Caring for a terminally ill loved one, bad marriage

General Adaptation Syndrome

• Three-phase model of stress, which includes:

  • Alarm Reaction: Mobilization of physiological resources phase

  • Resistance: Coping phase

  • Exhaustion phase (i.e., when an organism fails to cope with the stress adequately and depletes its resources).

Problem focused coping

• Actively addressing the event that is causing stress in an effort to solve the issue at hand

• Manipulate the situation to eliminate or alleviate the stressors’ impact

• Attacking problem

Emotion focused coping

• Regulates the emotions that come with stress

• Changing feelings about the stress

Active Coping

Attempts to remove or work around the stressor

Instrumental Social Support

Asking for help with the stressor

Suppression of competing activities

Prioritize the list of activities

Restraint coping

wait to act until the appropriate time

Emotional Social Support

Moral support or understanding from others

Venting emotions

Discuss your feelings with others

positive reinterpritation/growth

turn the negative into positive

behavioral disengagement

dont act at all

Mental disengagement

Avoid it by doing other things (go out, check social media, watch videos, games, etc.)

Generativity

• encompasses procreativity, productivity, and creativity

  • The motivation to contribute to the well-being of future generations

  • Parenting, mentorship, tutoring

Osteoporosis

• bones become thin and brittle as a result of rapid calcium depletion

  • Estrogen loss increases risk for women not men

  • Genetics risk factor for osteoporosis

  • Lifestyle can have an affect

  • Diet and regular exercise are protective factors

Divorce

Older adults divorcing at higher rates than previous generations but still less likely to be divorced than middle or early adults

Rise in Living apart together (LAT)

• A monogamous intimate partnership between unmarried individuals who live in separate homes but identify themselves as a committed couple”

  • A strong desire to be independent in day-to-day decisions

  • Maintaining their own home

  • Keeping boundaries around established relationships

  • Maintaining financial stability

Marriage

Most common living arrangement for older adults

Widowhood

• Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory, rates the death of a spouse as the most significant stressor

• Widowhood mortality effect refers to the higher risk of death after the death of a spouse

Loneliness

• discrepancy between the social contact a person has and the contacts a person wants

  • Results from social isolation for women and emotional isolation for men

  • Linked to a 40% increase in a risk for dementia and a 30% increase in the risk of stroke or coronary heart disease