Ch. 14

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY ADULTHOOD

Speaker: Dr. J. Piercy

THEORIES OF SOCIAL & PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

  • In early adulthood, individuals take on a series of roles that involve new relationships with other people.

  • The timing and content of these adult roles differ:

    • From one culture to another

    • From one cohort to another

    • Even from one individual to another

  • Adults’ social connections become far more complex between the ages of 20 and 40 through:

    • Marriage

    • Divorce

    • Parenthood

    • Career development

ERIKSON: INTIMACY VERSUS ISOLATION

  • The stage Intimacy versus isolation pertains to early adulthood where an individual must find a life partner or supportive friends to avoid social isolation.

  • Intimacy: The capacity to engage in a supportive, affectionate relationship without losing one’s own sense of self.

  • Successful resolution of the intimacy versus isolation stage depends on a good resolution of the identity versus role confusion crisis that was encountered in adolescence.

LEVINSON’S LIFE STRUCTURE

  • Life structure: The underlying pattern or design of a person’s life at a given time, including roles, relationships, and behavior patterns.

  • Adults cycle through periods of stability and instability as they transition into new life structures.

  • An adult passes through three phases when a new life structure is required:

    1. Novice phase

    2. Mid-era phase

    3. Culmination phase

    • Era of Early Adulthood: Increasing stability

    • Era of Middle Adulthood: Preparation for mid-life

    • Era of Late Adulthood: “Age 60 transition”

EMERGING ADULTHOOD

  • A new transitional stage experienced from late teens to early 20s where individuals explore options prior to committing to adult roles (defined by Arnett).

  • Self-concept and neuroimaging studies provide support that this is a unique period of life, particularly ages 17 to 22.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

  • Developing and maintaining a healthy romantic relationship is a key developmental task of early adulthood.

  • Research indicates that the type of love felt for a romantic partner differs from love felt for caregivers, siblings, and close friends.

  • Factors that increase the likelihood of attraction:

    • Physical attractiveness

    • Similarity

    • Proximity

    • Reciprocity

    • Responsiveness

  • Among dating app users, similarity in educational background is nearly as influential as physical attractiveness.

THEORIES OF MATE SELECTION

  • Evolutionary theories seek to explain behaviors focusing on survival value, highlighting differing priorities of males and females.

  • Parental investment theory suggests that sex differences in mate preferences and mating behavior are based on the different amounts of time and effort that men and women invest in child-rearing.

SOCIAL ROLE THEORY

  • Emphasizes the impact of culturally defined roles in mate selection.

  • Sex differences in preferences reflect adaptations to gender roles resulting from contemporary social realities.

  • Mate preferences evolve as women gain economic power:

    • Women’s emphasis on potential mates’ earning power declines.

    • Men’s focus on potential mates’ domestic skills decreases.

COUPLE RELATIONSHIPS

COHABITATING

  • Of Canadians ages 25 to 34, those choosing cohabitation over marriage cite various reasons, with disbelief in marriage as a major factor.

  • Cross-cultural studies suggest that cohabiting relationships are more likely to dissolve than marriages.

  • Cohabiting couples may not intend to marry, while others are committed to future marriage.

    • Approximately 60% of unmarried individuals aged 20 to 34 intend to marry.

  • Cohabitating couples intending to marry exhibit behaviors similar to married couples and report similar satisfaction levels.

MARRIAGE

  • Marriage remains the predominant type of union for Canadians.

  • On average, married adults report higher happiness and health, live longer, and experience lower rates of various physical and mental health issues compared to unmarried adults.

  • Men generally benefit more from heterosexual marriage in terms of physical and mental health measures.

  • Same-gender marriage correlates with factors leading to improved health, although findings on benefits for same-gender couples remain mixed.

RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

  • Factors that most people evaluate to determine marital satisfaction:

    • Attachment

    • Love

    • Conflict management

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ROMANTIC LOVE

  • Attachment: Adults create internal models of attachment to prospective spouses similar to their attachment with parents.

  • Love: Sternberg identifies three key components of love:

    • Intimacy

    • Passion

    • Commitment

  • When these components combine in various ways, they result in seven distinct types of love.

STERNBERG'S THEORY OF LOVE

  • Empty Love: Commitment only

  • Fatuous Love: Passion + Commitment

  • Companionate Love: Commitment + Intimacy

  • Consummate Love: Commitment + Intimacy + Passion

  • Liking: Intimacy only

  • Romantic Love: Passion + Intimacy

  • Infatuation: Passion only

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

  • How couples manage conflict is predictive of relationship quality.

  • Couples with stable or successful marriages may exhibit:

    • Validating communication styles

    • Volatile interactions

    • Avoidant conflict styles

  • Couples with unsuccessful marriages may demonstrate:

    • Hostile/engaged styles

    • Hostile/detached dynamics

DIVORCE

  • Longitudinal studies indicate that 38% of marriages in Canada end in divorce within 30 years.

  • The divorce rate typically peaks before the fifth year of marriage.

  • Rates are highest among men and women in their late 50s.

  • Divorce incurs significant psychological and economic effects.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

  • Associated with increased mental health issues, notably depression.

  • Divorce is considered one of the most stressful life experiences.

  • The psychological impacts can worsen significantly due to serious economic repercussions, especially affecting women in heterosexual marriages.

ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

  • Men typically exit marriages with higher earning power than women.

  • Women usually retain custody of children and are often adversely affected economically, experiencing a decline in income to below average.

  • Divorced men often achieve an increase in their economic standing above the average post-divorce.

COUPLES AND SEXUAL DIVERSITY

  • In Canada, one in three same-sex couples are married while the majority engage in common-law relationships.

  • Attachment security holds equal importance in same-sex and heterosexual unions.

  • The relationship stages and processes are similar, with potential additional stress regarding identity exploration and role definitions during early adulthood.

  • Same-sex couples demonstrate more egalitarian roles than their heterosexual counterparts.

SINGLEHOOD

  • Continuous singlehood presents advantages over singlehood following divorce or a spouse's death.

  • Categories of singlehood:

    • Voluntary singlehood

    • Involuntary singlehood

  • Three primary attachment patterns exist among long-term singles:

    • Avoidance

    • Anxiety

    • Security

  • Close friendships play a significant role in the lives of many singles.

  • Intimate relationships continue to exist among many singles.

  • If a single person expects to remain so, this self-affirmation can mitigate some negative consequences of singlehood.

PARENTHOOD & OTHER RELATIONSHIPS

THE DESIRE TO BECOME A PARENT

  • A significant majority of young adult women and men anticipate having children.

  • Males show a slightly higher likelihood than females to desire children.

  • A survey indicated that 31% of Canadians aged 25 to 34 wish to have fewer children or delay parenthood as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD

  • Newly parenting couples may experience conflicts regarding child-rearing philosophies and the distribution of childcare responsibilities.

  • New parents might also face physical exhaustion and serious sleep deprivation due to newborn care.

  • The quality of the parents’ relationship can help modulate the stress associated with newborn care, particularly regarding marital satisfaction.

POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

  • A severe mood disturbance characterized by sadness that may last several weeks or, in rare cases, up to a year or more.

  • Between 10% and 25% of new mothers experience postpartum depression (PPD).

  • The primary predictor of PPD is depression during pregnancy, though hormonal changes also contribute.

LIFE WITHOUT CHILDREN

  • Marital satisfaction tends to fluctuate less over time for childless couples, who also report higher cohesion than couples with children.

  • Common reasons for not having children among Canadian women aged 30 to 39 include:

    • Children not fitting into their lifestyle

    • Feeling too old

    • Infertility issues

  • Women without children often maintain continuous full-time careers and earn higher incomes, contributing to the motherhood earnings gap.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

  • Parents continue to play significant roles in the lives of young adults.

  • Relationships are heavily influenced by both proximity and cultural factors.

  • Friends are often chosen from among those perceived as similar in terms of education, social class, interests, family background, or life cycle stages.

SEX DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONSHIP STYLES

  • (Content related to sex differences not provided in this section.)

ADULT WORKERS: CHOOSING AN OCCUPATION?

Influences on Occupational Choices

  • Family Influences

    • Young people typically select occupations aligned with the social class level of their parents, maintaining class structures through education and jobs.

    • Families influence job choices through their value systems.

  • Personality

    • Individuals whose personalities align with their jobs are more likely to find satisfaction in their work.

HOLLAND’S PERSONALITY TYPES AND WORK PREFERENCES

  • Data Sources: Holland, 1973, 1992.

  • Realistic: Prefer mechanical tasks, related to aggression and masculinity; e.g., mechanics, electricians.

  • Investigative: Focused on abstract thinking and organization; low social skills; e.g., scientists, engineers.

  • Artistic: Socially oriented, preferring individual unstructured activities; e.g., artists.

  • Social: Extraverts who avoid intellectual activities; prefer people-oriented service jobs like nursing and education.

  • Enterprising: Dominant individuals who lead and persuade; often choose careers in sales.

  • Conventional: Favor structured roles with precise guidelines; e.g., bookkeeping or filing.

JOB SATISFACTION

  • Job satisfaction typically reaches its lowest point towards the end of early adulthood.

  • Individuals with higher occupational status and income report greater life and career satisfaction in midlife.

  • Factors influencing job satisfaction include:

    • Perceptions of job security

    • Alignment of the career with personality

    • Achieving a work-family balance

CHOOSING AN OCCUPATION: GENDER?

  • (Content related to gender in occupational choices not provided in this section.)

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN WORK PATTERNS

  • Delaying the transition into work is advantageous if pursuing higher education.

  • Most women experience multiple entries and exits from the workforce.

  • Women continue to face conflicts between work and child-rearing responsibilities.

  • Although women do the majority of domestic work, Canadian men are increasingly participating in household duties.

PERCENTAGE OF GENDER IN HOUSEWORK

  • Data showing gender distribution in housework tasks over different years such as meal preparation, cleaning, and childcare suggests fluctuations in participation rates by gender.