Adulthood and Development

EMERGING ADULTHOODBODY, MIND, AND SOCIAL WORLD

Emerging Adulthood

The period between the ages of 18 and 25, which is now widely thought of as a separate developmental stage.

Also called young adulthood or youth.

5 main Features

1. Identity Explorations (esp. in love and work) Intimacy vs. isolation

2. Instability 3. Most Self-focused age of life 4. Feeling in between 5. Age of possibilities

Characteristics

Health Sexual Health and Reproduction Risk Taking Cognitive Growth Personality Identity

Identity and Intimacy

Intimacy Erikson’s sixth psychosocial stage, intimacy

versus isolation Intimacy progresses from attraction to

close connection to ongoing commitment. Marriage and parenthood Friendships Romance

Identity and Intimacy

cohabit To live with an unrelated person—typically

a romantic partner—to whom one is not married.

Most young adults in the United States, England, and northern Europe cohabit rather than marry before age 25.

Family Emerging adults are supposedly

independent, leaving their childhood home and parents behind.

Parents continue to be crucial influences

Identity and Intimacy

Adulthood:

Body and Mind

Adulthood

Body changes Senescence

Physical changes

Vision changes

Hearing Changes

Sexuality

Sexuality Responsiveness

Fertility

The Adult Body

Health Menopause/Andropause

Drugs

Poor Habits

Measuring Health

Measuring Health

MORTALITY AND MORBIDITYMortality

◦ Death:

Morbidity◦ Disease:

Variations in Health

Gender Differences

Variations in Health

Women may suffer more on other measures of health:

Variations in Health

Socioeconomic Status and Health

Adult Brain

Cognition Development

Sleep

Brain Loss

Intelligence

Components of Intelligence

Two Clusters: Fluid and Crystallized (Cattell)Fluid intelligence

Crystallized intelligence

Components of Intelligence

Three Clusters: Analytic, Creative, and Practical (Sternberg)

Analytic intelligence

Creative intelligence

Practical intelligence

Components of Intelligence

Nine Clusters: Cultural Variations (Gardner) Linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical,

spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, social understanding (interpersonal intelligence), self-understanding (intrapersonal intelligence), and existential intelligence

Selective Gains and Losses

Selective Optimization with Compensation

Expertise

Selective expert

Expertise

Characteristics of Expert ThoughtExpertise is intuitive

Expertise is automatic

Characteristics of Expert ThoughtExpertise is strategic

Expertise is flexible

Adulthood

Psychosocial Development

Erikson’s Task for Adulthood Generativity vs. stagnation Satisfying generative needs

Creativity Caregiving Employment

Ages and Stages

Maslow’s Stages Abraham Maslow (1954) described five

stages, which occur in sequence. Movement occurs when people have

satisfied their needs at one level and are ready for the next step.

In his later years, Maslow reassessed his final level, self-actualization.

He suggested another level after that, called self-transcendence.

Ages and Stages

Ages and Stages

The Social Clock A developmental timetable based not on

biological maturation but on social norms

Ages and Stages

Choosing a Lifestyle In adulthood, people choose their particular

social context, or ecological niche.

Ages and Stages

Gender Differences in Personality

gender convergence-

Intimacy

Intimacy needs are lifelong.

Relatives, friends, coworkers, and romantic partners

social convoy

Friends

Friends:

Family Bonds

When family bonds are similar to friendship bonds, relatives are mainstays of the social convoy.

Family Bonds

Over the years of adulthood, parents and adult children typically increase in closeness, forgiveness, and pride as both generations gain maturity.

familism

Family Bonds

Adult siblings

Adult siblings help one another cope

Family Bonds

Family closeness can sometimes be destructive, however.

fictive kin

Committed Partners

Adults everywhere seek committed partnerships

Less than 15 percent of U.S. residents marry before age 25, but by age 40, 85 percent have married.

Marital outcomes

Partnering, cont.

The Marital U Curve

Committed Partners

empty nest

Why do folks maintain committed partnerships?

Divorce

Adults are affected (for better or for worse) by divorce in ways they never anticipated.

Distressed vs. Distant Marriages

Outcomes of divorce

Divorce

Adults and Conflict

Define conflict Conflict styles

Avoidant Volatile Validating Hostile

Conflict, cont

Negative communication Characteristics Phrases

Downward spiral of negative communication

Conflict, cont.

The Journey to isolation and separation Refusing influence Criticism Flooding Defensiveness Contempt Stonewalling

Generativity

Adults seek to be productive in a caring way.

Adults satisfy their need to be generative in many ways

Caregiving

What is involved in caregiving?

kinkeeper

Caregiving

Chief form of generativity

The challenge of generativity and parenting

Stepfamilies

Adoption

Caring for aging parent

Caregiving

sandwich generation

Employment

The other major avenue for generativity.

Psychosocial needs fulfilled

Unemployment associations

Employment

Work and generativity Skills

Creative energy

Mentoring

Support

Contribute

Employment

extrinsic rewards of work

intrinsic rewards of work

Coping with Stress

Stressor

allostatic load

Coping with Stress

organ reserve

problem-focused coping

emotion-focused coping

Coping with Stress

Gender also affects how a person responds to stress and thus affects allostatic load.

Virtually every study finds that social support is crucial in reducing allostatic load.

Stress, cont.

Warning signs

Identify sources

Integrate coping techniques