Adulthood

Social and personality development

Individuals character is stable over timePersonality is flexibleSelf haters, passive, confidentWhat is difference between character and

personality?

Health problems

Three most common causes of death Heart disease Cancer Corrhosis of the liver

Causes of early morbidity Drug use Inadequate diet Effects of violence-society

Menopause

Between ages of 45-50Biological event in which a woman’s

production of sex hormones is sharply reduced

Stops ovulating, can’t conceive childrenSide effects exagerated

Marriage and divorce

40-60 percent of marriages end in divorceWhat makes marriages last

How couples handle conflicts How often couples share intimate moments

Happily married argue just as much but argue more constructively

Unhealthy ways of conflict include ignoring, denying conflict, exaggerating issues

Physical changes

• Aging=normal wear and tear of cells• Present biological clock• Physical peak between 18-30• Appearances change

– Hair loss– Skin is dry and inelastic– Wrinkles– Shorter

• Senses– 40’s difficulty seeing distant object– Gradual or sudden loss of hearing– Reaction time slows

Cognitive changes

• People continue to expand vocaularies, think flexibly

• True if…– Had higher education– Live in a stimulating environment– Work in an intellectually challenging environment

• Reach peak at 40’s science or the arts• Reach peak at 60’s in history,, foreign

languages

Levinson’s Theory of Male development

• Entering the adult world• 22-28-not fully established as a man but no

longer and adolescent – Conflict between need to explore the options of

adulthood and need to establish a stable life structure

• The Age-Thirty crisis-28-30 major transitional period– Reconsider choices we made, must make changes now

before its too late

Levinson continued

• Settling down-Made firm choices about life• Carving out a niche • BOOM phase- 36-40

– Become fully independent

• The middle transition-40-45– Midlife transition begins– Questions life “what have I accomplished?”

• Generativity-the desire, in middle age, to use ones accumulated wisdom to guide future generations.

• Stagnation-discontinuation of development and a desire to recapture the past

Levinson Continued

Middle adulthood-late 40’sTrue adulthood achieved If finds satisfactory solutions to problemsBalance between privacy and friends Didn’t find solutionsFrsutration and unhappinessstagnation

Female Development

Less conflict in midlifeMore personal freedomReenter workforce, going back to collegeTime of opportunityResearch does not support existence of

midlife crisis in women

Females continued

• Empty nest syndrome– Last child leaving home– Not necessarily traumatic– Reorganize lives and take new interests– Transition depends on marriage

• Depression in midlife– Most common among middle aged women– Sense of loss and personal worthlessness– View themselves as child bears then useless

Old Age

• Fear of growing old….• Attitudes toward aging• Decremental model of aging

– Idea that progressive physical and mental decline are inevitable with age

– Physical and mental decline is inevitable• Ageism

– Prejudice or discrimination against the elderly– Stereotypes– They do nothing, poor health, live in poverty, senile

Changes in health

• Physical strength and senses decline 1%/year• Good health carries on throughout life• 40% of elderly have one chronic disease

– Heart disease– Hypertension– Diabetes– Arthritis

• Causes of death– Heart disease– Cancer– Strokes

• Poor health care

Changes in Life Situations

• Transitions in late adulthood are negative• Retirement, widowhood• Depression

– Loss, life challenges, health• Symptoms

– Weight changes, feelings of worthlessness, sadness, inability to concentrate, thoughts of death or suicide

• Causes– Genetic, unhealthy lifestyle, poor nutrition, loneliness,

stress

Adjusting to old age

Loss of control over environmentSelf-image and quality of life suffersPhysical and external circumstancesHealth, loss of a spouse

Changes in mental functioning

• Physical health, vision, hearing, coordination impact scores on intellectual tests

• Two types of intelligence• Crystalized

– Ability o use accumulated knowledge in appropriate situations

• Fluid– Solve abstract relational problems

• Fluid intelligence declines as nervous systems declines

Senile Dementia

• Senile Dementia• Decreases in mental abilities experienced by

some people in old age• Alzheimers disease-most common form

– Condition that destroys a persons ability to think, remember, relate to others and care for themselves

– Neurological disease marked by deterioration of cognitive functioning.

• Early signs– Forgetting, poor judgment, irritability, social withdrawal

Dying and death

• Adjusting to death• Thanatology• Study of dying and death• 5 stages of psychological adjustment

– Denial– Anger– Bargaining– Depression– accept

Hospice