Chapter 16

Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood

Erikson’s view of the self

• Erikson’s 7th psychosocial stage of development is generativity vs stagnation.

  • Occurs in ages 40-65 years

  • Individuals attempts to find the virtue of care.

    • The goal is to resolve this crisis by contributing to society and being a part of a family

    • If a person ONLY concern is the self and their own well-being and prosperity, they are experiencing stagnation

Stress in Middle Adulthood

• Women and men differ in the way they experience and respond to stressors.

• Women:

  • More vulnerable to social stressors such as those invilving romance, family, and work.

  • More likely than men to become depressed after divorce or the death of a loved one.

  • More likely to seek therapy, talk to friends, read self-help books, take medication, and engage in comfort eating

• Men:

  • More likely to attend support group meetings for addictions

  • Use sex, pornography, or the use of substances as an escape to stress.

  • More likely to become aggressive or socially withdrawn after divorce or death of a loved one.

  • Try to fix problems alone even if they know the solution requires support

  • Less likely to admit to having problems

Stability and Change in Personality

• Costa and Mc Crea’s Big Five factors of personality (OCEAN)

  • Major ongoing study started in the 1950s

  • Studied men and women ages 20 to. 96

  • Concluded that considerable stability occurs in the 5 personality factors: emotional stability, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

• More recent studies indicate some developmental changes during adulthood.

  • Emotional stability, extraversion, openess, and agreeableness were lower in early adulthood, peaked between 40-60 years of age, then decreased once more in late adulthood.

  • Conscientiousness seems to show a continuous increase all through adulthood.

Love and Marriage

• Security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest are more important in middle-aged relationships.

  • Most married middle-aged adults report high levels of martial satisfaction

  • Around 36% of adults who are getting divorced today are 50 years old or older

• Compared to earlier decades:

  • Divorce has less stigma

  • People are more likely to leave an unhappy marriage

  • More women are employed and less likely to experience financial abuse

• Reasons for women: verbal, physical, or emotional abuse, alcohol or drug abuse, cheating

• Reasons for men: just fell out of love, cheating, different values and/or lifestyle

Siblings and Friends

• Siblings:

  • Sibling relationships persists over the entire lifespan for most adults

  • 85% of adults report having at least one loving sibling

  • Sibling relationships may be: extremely close, apathetic, or hostile

• Friends:

  • Friendships are as important in middle of adulthood as they were in early adulthood

  • Developing intimate friendships takes time, so those that endure over the adult years are often deeper that those newly formed in middle adulthood