Chapter 22

Adulthood:Psychosocial Development

Continuity and Change, AgainPsychosocial needs and circumstances characterize adulthood years, but variations are common.

The social clock once prescribed timetables for the experiences

throughout adulthood such as marriage and parenthood.

There are now multiple clocks set by society and culture, family and the individual.

The clock still ticks!!

Major Theories: Erickson and Maslow

The Midlife CrisisThe midlife crisis is known as a time of anxiety and radical change as 40 approaches. Men leave their wives, buy sports cars, and quit jobs because midlife made them panic about their lives

• “ The age of Crucible”

Personality throughout adulthoodPersonality theories emphasize continuity based on

temperament and early experiences. Genes, parental practices, culture, and adult circumstances all contribute to personality. Research has identified five personality traits-called the Big Five-that generally remain quite stable throughout adult life:

Openness: imaginative, curious, artistic, creative, open to new experiences

Conscientiousness: organized, deliberate, conforming, self-disciplined

Extroversion: outgoing, assertive, active

Agreeableness: kind, helpful, easygoing, generous

Neuroticism: anxious, moody, self-punishing, critical

Ecological niche:

The particular lifestyle and social context that adults settle into because it is compatible with their individual personality.

Intimacy

Intimacy

Adults meet their need for companionship through meeting people. We desire this closeness;intimacy in life.

Everyone is part of a social convoy. A social convoy is the family members,friends, acquaintances,or strangers who move through life with an individual.

These people can guide you, give advice and interact with you in life.

Your friends are chosen by you but, do you ever think why you chose them? They have similar traits, roughly the same age and have gone through the same experiences as yourself.

There are also people who are not in the close rings of your circle of friends but, make an impact regardless. These are called consequential strangers.

These strangers can be someone you see everyday, or just someone who is giving you directions to the nearest food joint.

Adults and their Parents

There is a rising number of adults moving back in with their parents. Due to marital problems, financial troubles or legal problems.

When an adult leaves the house, it doesn't always weaken family bonds but, it has been shown that families who live together too long bonds tend to bend or even break.

When an adult establishes their own home parents are supportive and family ties strengthen. Bonds tend to be better when both parent and adult child are living independently

Siblings and family members

Siblings tend to be supportive if the parents are. Most adults see their older siblings as friends.

As you get older, your sibling rivalries are usually subsided and things become better. When emotional support is needed (ie: death in family) family ties become stronger.

Between other family members, not so much. Just because your siblings and you've stopped arguing, does not mean your other relatives will become closer.

Other relationships may include fictive kin which is that one family that considers you one of their own. Usually is introduced by a friend. This usually happens as well when the adult is rejected by their own family. People need that lifeline whether it is made by your own family or not.

Another form is familism which is when family members should support one another and sacrifice their own personal freedom or success to keep family unity alive and well.

Committed Partners

Page 616-619

Committed Partners

• People everywhere are taking longer to commit their selves to another

• Adults everywhere are seeking committed partners for intimacy, children, sharing resources and providing.

• Data suggests that less then 10% of U.S. Adults will NEVER make a marriage-like commitment

Marriage and Happiness

Marriage and Happiness• From a developmental perspective, marriage is a useful institution

• Individual perspective, the results are mixed. Married people tend to be healthier, happier, and richer then never married ones- but not by much.

• Based on a 16-nation survey 20 years ago.

• Of course, some marriages are just not satisfying.

Marriage and Happiness• The well-being of a person is effected by the quality of a

marriage.

• Long-term quality effected by many factors.

• Happiness seems strongest in the beginning of a relationship, dip when the first child is born, and then when the child reaches puberty.

• Gradually, partnerships start to improve as time goes on

Marriage and Happiness

• Marriage blissful in late adulthood usually was always pretty good

• “Empty Nest” is actually a good thing.

• Understanding and forgiveness can save marriages over time.

Marriage and Happiness?

• Multi-Ethnic relationships have a greater risk of Divorce

• Couples whom develop similar interests increase their chances of staying together.

• Time doesn’t always fix everything

• Other stressors can effect and end a relationship.

Gay and Lesbian Partners

Gay and Lesbian Partners

• Pretty much everything that applies to a heterosexual couple applies to a homosexual couple.

• Political and Cultural contexts for same sex couples are changing rapidly.

• About 25% of same sex-couples are raising children together.

Gay and Lesbian Partners

• Before the 2000 U.S. census, unmarried couple was defined as “cohabitating man and woman”, now it is allowed to specify male-female, male-male, and female-female.

• Table 22.2 (page 618) shows a 31% increase in same sex couples between 2000 and 2006.

Gay and Lesbian Families

• Greatest Difference between hetero- and homosexual couples are the parents.

• Parental acceptance of cohabiting sexual partners is about 50%

• Same-sex couples are going to seek out more intimacy from their friends rather then relatives.

Divorce and Separation

Factors that make Divorce more Likely

• Before Marriage: divorced parents; too young; family opposed; large discrepancy in age, background , interests and values

• During Marriage: financial stress, lack of time and communication, drugs, abuse, unsupportive relatives, and child rearing differences

• Culturally: high divorce rates, religion, easy divorce laws, approval of remarriage, acceptance of single parenthood.

Divorce and Separation

Since 1980, in the U.S., almost half as many divorces or permanent separations have occurred as marriages.

Consequences of divorce are sometimes over looked until months after divorce is final.

Divorce hurts self-esteem

Children of Divorce sometimes develop learning or social difficulties

GENERATIVITY• After the stage of

intimacy versus isolation comes that of generativity versus stagnation

• Generativity is when adults seek to be productive in a caring way

• Without generativity adults experience a sense of stagnation and personal impoverishment.

• Two types of generative activities are care giving and employment

Caregiving

Erikson wrote that a “Mature adult needs

To be needed”

Some caregiving involves meeting another

persons physical needs. But much of it

has to do with someone else's psychological

needs.

Caregiving provides both satisfaction and

power

Most families include a Kinkeeper, a caregiver who takes responsibilities

For maintaining communication among family members. Guided by their kinkeeper all family members become generative.

EmploymentAdults want to accomplish something over

their course of their lives, not just be loved and appreciated

Work provides structure for daily life, a setting for human interaction, social status and fulfillment.

At work you can aid , and advise co- workers as a mentor, or friend

Contribute to the community by providing goods or services.

Support the education,and health of their families

Generativity(Continued)

By Gudval Maxson

Coping With Change

• In adulthood stresses can become stressors

• Every change has the potential to become stressors

• Flexibility and openness is needed

Work is changing

• Globalization causes nations to export what they’re good at, import what they’re not

• Nations shifting from industry-based economies to information economies

• The bottom line is profit

• These changes affect human development through ignoring employees’ health

Diversity Within the Workplace

• Developmentalists welcome employee diversity

• It allows for more people to develop their potential

• Discrimination is still evident however

• In a diverse workplace functioning effectively and happily is a developmental need for everyone

• Younger adults have advantage

• Older people have their own advantage

• Diversity presents a challenge for everyone

• Creates need for Mentors

• Good mentoring is a difficult but gratifying form of generativity

• Working conditions must be adjusted to accommodate diversity

• Different cultures effect needs of workplace

• U.S. Workers are most stressed when they have little control over their work

• Employees from China stress most about evaluations.

• “Micro-aggressions” are small things unnoticed by a majority person, but aggressive to a minority person

• Micro-aggressions affect work rate of different individuals

Changing Jobs

• Frequency in job changes is a recent trend in the job market

• This new trend cause people to suffer

• People who frequently changed jobs by 36 were three times more likely to develop health problems by 42

• Older works find job changes particularly difficult for three major reasons

1. Older workers who lose their jobs lose seniority

2. Many skills required weren’t taught 20 years ago

3. Relocation is more difficult when a person has established family/friends.

Variable Schedules

• Schedules are moving past traditional 9-5/Mon-Fri

• Flextime is an answer to this

• Telecommuting is also an answer

• Telecommuting has pros and cons however

• More potential for a good family life

• Blurs boundaries between work and home

In summary, regardless of what type of scheduling you do, a REGULAR schedule is better than in IRREGULAR one.

And a steady Job is better than one that alternates between extreme overtime and periods of no work