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14Prenatal Development And

BirthSocial and Personality Development in Early

AdulthoodThis multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:

• any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;• preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images;• any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006

• Erikson– Intimacy versus Isolation

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

• Isolation results from relationships that are inadequate, from lack of self-disclosure, and from unresolved identity crises.

Theories of Social and Personality Development


• Levinson’s Life Structures– All the roles an individual occupies, all his or her

relationships, and the conflicts and balance that exist among them

– Each period of life presents adults with new developmental challenges.

– Like Erikson, he regards formation of an intimate relationship with another adult as a central developmental task of early adulthood.

Theories of Social and Personality Development

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006Figure 14.1


Evolutionary Theory and Mate Selection

• Focus on survival value

• Mating is a selective process that insures survival of the species.– Cross-cultural studies suggest

• Men prefer physically attractive, younger women.

• Men lower their standards on the basis of availability.

• Women prefer men whose socio-economic status is higher than their own, who offer earning potential and stability.

• Mate-switching – using an affair to lead to a long-term relationship with a higher-status man – is an important motive in women’s extramarital affairs.


Evolutionary Theory and Mate Selection

• Parental Investment Theory– Men value health and availability in mates.

– Men are less selective because of minimum investment in parenting offspring.

– Women’s investment starts with a 9 month commitment and giving birth.

– Men seek to maximize the number of their offspring while women seek to minimize the number of their offspring.


Social Role Theory and Mate Selection

• Sex differences are adaptations to gender roles that result from present-day social realities rather than from natural selection.

– High-income earning women select high-income earning males to provide economic support while they raise children and take a break from their careers.

– Assortive mating or homogamy• People are drawn to those who are similar.


Intimate Relationships

• Intimate relationships form a secure base from which young adults move out into the adult world.

• Marriage– 2.4 million formal weddings each year

– Most marriages endure.• Longitudinal research suggests that only 20% of marriages end in

divorce.

• After 8 years of marriage, the probability that they will divorce drops to nearly zero.

• Married adults are happier, healthier, and live longer with a lower rate of psychiatric disturbances.


Relationship Quality

• Influences on marital success– Personality characteristics of the partners

• High degree of neuroticism in one or both partners leads to dissatisfaction

– Attitudes towards divorce • Couples who favor divorce report more dissatisfaction with

marriage

– The security of each partner’s attachment to his or her family of origin



• Emotional affection contributes to relationship quality.

– Robert Sternberg – love has 3 key components• Intimacy – feelings that promote closeness and

connectedness

• Passion – feeling of intense longing for union with the other person

• Commitment to a particular other – over a long period of time




• How a couple manages conflict is important.– Validating couples

• Have disagreements but rarely let them escalate• Partners express mutual respect and listen to each other

– Volatile couples• Squabble a lot, don’t listen• More positive than negative with high levels of laughter and

affection

– Avoidant couples • Conflict minimizers; agree to disagree – devitalizing


Divorce

• Couples likely to divorce:– Hostile/engaged – frequent hot arguments with no

balancing forces– Hostile/detached – fight regularly, rarely look at each

other, lack affection and support

• Divorce is associated with increases in physical and emotional illness.– More automobile accidents– More likely to commit suicide– Lose more days from work– Become depressed


Divorce

• Often, divorce accompanies serious economic hardships, especially for women.– Divorced men improve their economic base while

divorced women have a 40% to 50% decline in income.

• Hardest on working-class women with low levels of education.

• Affects the sequence and timing of family roles.– Remarriage expands the number of years of

childbearing for many divorced women.


Cohabiting Heterosexual Couples

• Those who cohabit before marriage – Less satisfied with their marriages– More likely to divorce

• Couples who cohabited are less homogamous.

• Two types of cohabiting couples– Couples who are fully committed to a future marriage– Relationship between partners is ambiguous


Cohabiting Heterosexual Couples

• Teachman suggests– Married women whose premarital cohabitation and sexual

experience was limited to a future husband are no more likely to divorce than women who do not cohabit.

– Prior sexual and cohabitational histories are major factors in divorce.

• Cohabiting couples who intend to marry– Share work loads at home

– Happier during cohabitation

– Do a better job of communicating


Gay and Lesbian Couples

• Attachment security is an important factor in same-sex unions.

• Neuroticism in one or both partners threatens relationship quality and length.

• Partners who share similar backgrounds and are equally committed to relationship length report high satisfaction levels.


Gay and Lesbian Couples

• Gay and lesbian partners are more dependent on each other for social support.– Isolated from family– Build families of choice – a stable partner and a circle of close

friends for support

• Power and tasks are equally divided by the couple.– More true of lesbians than of gay couples

• Lesbians insist on sexual exclusivity.

• Gay men regard sexual fidelity as negotiable in most couples.


Singlehood

• Many adults are single by preference.– Associated with greater autonomy and capacity for personal

growth

• Many adults participate in intimate relationships that do not involve cohabiting or marriage

• Close relationships with families of origin are likely to be a source of support.

• Close friends play a prominent role in social networks.


Parenthood

• The desire to become a parent– 9 out of 10 women aged 18 to 34 either are or

expect to become a parent.

– More men than women desire to be parents.

– Expectant fathers become emotionally attached to their unborn children.


Parenthood

• Postpartum Depression– 10 – 25% of new mothers

• Feelings of sadness for several weeks after birth

• More likely in women who produce large amounts of steroid hormones late in pregnancy

• More likely in unplanned pregnancies

• Presence of major life stressors increases the risk

• Depression during pregnancy is the best predictor


The Transition Experience

• Even emotionally healthy mothers must adapt to parenthood.– New parents may argue about care-taking duties.

– Many are sleep-deprived

– Less times for conversations, sex, simple affection or routine chores

• Extended families and cultural rituals may ease the transition.


Developmental Impact of Parenthood

• Sensation-seeking and risky behaviors decline.

• Marital satisfaction tends to decline and remain at a low level until the last child leaves home.– Division of labor issues fuel dissatisfaction.

– Support from extended family helps.

– Relative effectiveness of coping strategies matters.• Effective conflict-resolution strategies increase satisfaction.

• Single parents show a greater drop in satisfaction with life.



Childlessness

• Marital satisfaction fluctuates less.

• Women are more likely to have full-time continuous careers.

• Married fathers whose wives were not employed were more likely to advance.


Social Networks

• Family– Most adults feel emotionally close to their parents and

see or talk to them regularly.• Some contact is the norm, and frequent contact is common.

– Proximity influences contact.

– Culture influences involvement with parents.• Hispanic young adults value family ties.

– Have a larger extended family who remains close.

• African American value family connections highly.– Young adults are less likely to marry– Live in multi-generational households– Report higher levels of warmth with parents than whites



Questions to Ponder

• Are you looking forward to having children? Why or why not?

• What characteristics of a potential mate are most important to you? What characteristics would be problematic for you? Why?

• Do you have a good relationship with your parents today? How often do you talk? In what situations do you seek advice? What situations would you not discuss with your parents?


Friends

• Similar to us in education, social class, interests, family background and family life cycles

• Drawn from same age group

• Overwhelmingly same-sex

• May have more friends as young adults than later in life


Sex Differences in Relationship Styles

• Women have more close friends.– More intimate– More self-disclosure– More exchange of emotional support

• Young men remain competitive with friends.– Do things together– Less satisfied with their friendships than women


The Role of Worker

• Choosing an occupation– Family influences

• Choose occupations in the same social class as parents

• Educational goals influence choice• Families influence choice through value systems

– Valuing academic and professional achievement influences professional-level job choices.

– Achievement in working families is associated with moving into middle class jobs.


The Role of Worker

• Education and Intelligence– Influences job selection and career success

– The more education, the higher level at which you enter the job market.

– Brighter students are more likely to choose technical or professional careers.

– Highly intelligent people are more likely to advance.


The Role of Worker

• Gender– Sex-role definitions still designate some jobs as

“women’s jobs” and “men’s jobs.”

– Male jobs are more varied, technical, and higher in status and income.

– Female jobs are concentrated in the service industry, and offer lower status and pay.

• 1/3 of women hold clerical jobs.• 1/4 of women are in health care, teaching, or domestic

service.


The Role of Worker

• Personality– John Holland

• 6 basic personality types• Each of us tend to choose and be most successful

at an occupation that matches our personality.

– People whose personalities match their jobs are more likely to be satisfied with their work.


Jobs over Time

• Job Satisfaction– Lowest in early adulthood and rises steadily until retirement

• Influenced by time on a job rather than age– Better pay, more job security, and more authority

– Individual personality traits, such as neuroticism, may affect satisfaction.

– Preparation for a career in high school or college may be influential.

– Workplace variables, such as a work setting that encourages young employees, lead to satisfaction.


Jobs over Time

• Career Ladders– Moving from step to step through a series of

milestones

– Longitudinal studies on career ladder climbing suggest

• College education makes a big difference• Early promotion is associated with greater career

advancement in the long run• Most work advancement occurs early in a career path, after

which a plateau is reached


Another View of Work Sequence

• Trial stage between 18 and 25– Decide on a job or career– Searches for a fit between interests,

personality an job availability

• Establishment stage between 25 to 45– Learn the ropes and begin to move through

the early steps in some career ladder– May seek a mentor’s help


Sex Differences in Work Patterns

• Women’s work satisfaction goes up with age.

• Women who work continuously have higher salaries and achieve higher job levels.

• Women feel an essential conflict between work and family.– Mommy Track – greater majority of women move in

and out of the workforce at least once– Women choose careers such as education and

nursing that allow this work pattern.



Sex Differences in Work Patterns

• The culture thinks of a man as simultaneously a worker, a parent, and a spouse but fails to see women as all three.

• If hours spent in family work and paid employment are added up, women work more hours per week.

• Women still value relationship-orientation and have more conflict with differing work and home roles.

• Working women have more power in their marriages.

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