Chapter Twenty-Two

Middle Adulthood: Psychosocial Development

PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont CollegeRevised by Jenni Fauchier, Metropolitan Community College

Personality Throughout Adulthood

• Personality is a major source of continuity– provides coherence and identity

Stable Traits :The Big Five

• Extroversion = outgoing, assertive, and active

• Agreeableness = kind and helpful• Conscientiousness = organized,

deliberate, and conforming• Neuroticism = anxious, moody, and self-

punishing• Openness = imaginative, curious, artistic,

and willing to have new experiences

Stable Traits :The Big Five, cont.

• Traits determined by– genes– culture– early childhood– experiences and choices made during adolescence

and early adulthood

• Ecological niche—the specific lifestyle and social context adults settle into that are compatible with their personality needs and interests

• Environment generally reinforces basic temperament– significant changes can make people

act differently•death of a spouse, divorce, illness,

career change, etc.

Developmental Changes in Personality

Gender Convergence

• Gender convergence—a tendency for men and women to become more similar as they move through middle age

• Gender crossover—the idea that each sex takes on the other sex’s roles and traits in later life.

Gender Convergence, cont.

• These ideas are partly biosocial, “shadow side,” and cultural– Barnett and Hyde (2001) believe that this

change is historically-based•the past century witnessed changes every

decade and gender roles changed•today’ middle-aged generation is probably

less likely to converge since male-female differences in personality less apparent

The “Midlife Crisis”

• Midlife crisis—a period of unusual anxiety, radical reexamination, and sudden transformation widely associated with middle age, but probably more related to developmental history than to chronological age

The “Midlife Crisis,” cont.

• The idea was promoted by Sheehy (1976) and Levinson (1978), but no large study has found such a crisis

• Why then do people talk about it as if it really existed?– myth may allow adults to cope with

disappointment, frustration, sadness caused by aged-related changes

• Family is most important support system• If one’s own family is not doing that job,

“fictive kin” may be found– treated as family by this group

• Social convoy—group of people who form relationships with an individual through which they guide and socialize that person as he or she moves through life

Family Relationships in Midlife

Partners

• Having an intimate relationship is a source of happiness, comfort, and self-respect; for 70 percent of middle-aged Americans, this achieved with a spouse

• For some divorced, widowed, or never-married middle-aged adults, intimacy may be achieved by cohabitation

Marital Happiness

• Not all people are in good/happy relationships– relationship may be destructive– but worldwide, spouse abuse far more

common among younger married couples than among middle-aged spouses

Marital Happiness, cont.

• Often regain some of closeness of early marriage– less stress from kids– higher incomes– more time together

• Studies in various cultures show that marital happiness in midlife is true

• In general, marriage relationships likely to get better over time

Divorce and Remarriage• Not all couples become closer

– after years of marriage, divorce has more impact• reduces income, weakens family ties when long-

terms social bonds especially needed

• Most divorced remarry within 5 years• Remarriage offers benefits to both men

and women• Second marriages end in divorce more

often than first marriages do

• Marriage is likely to benefit middle-aged adults

• Middle-aged women are at a disadvantage for marrying, remarrying – beginning at aged 45, there are more women

than men– men tend to marry younger women

The Marriage Market for Middle-Aged Adults

• Kinkeeper—the person who takes primary responsibility for celebrating family achievements, gathering the family together, and keeping in touch with family members who live far away – most likely to be middle-aged– most are women, but men also can take the

role

Other Relatives

Aging Parents

• Relationship with Parents – improves with time

• Familism—the idea that family members support one another because family unity is more important than individual freedom and success– stronger with ethnic minorities

Siblings

• Siblings often become closer to each other in the second half of life than in early adulthood

• They help one another with problems with teenage children, stressful marriages, and family contacts

Siblings, cont.

•Childhood Echoes—the relationship in middle and late adulthood is influenced by family values instilled in childhood– closeness can also be affected by

childhood rivalries, but these may be put aside at this point

Siblings, cont.

• New Challenges—keeping up the relationship even though there are challenges such as primary caregiving of a parent by one sibling– death of a parent can increase problems

—like inheritance

Adult Children

• Relationship with Children – improves with maturity of children

• Seven-nation survey: 75 percent of middle- aged parents communicated with adult children several times a week

Adult Children, cont.

• Forms of Parental Support– monetary– various services like babysitting

• Some children return home, referred to as “swollen nest”

• Young adult children less likely to leave home, especially if parents in good health and they themselves are financially needy

Grandchildren• Personality, ethnicity, national

background, and past parent-child relationship affect nature of grandparent-grandchild relationship as does child’s age and personality

• Bond closer if– grandchild young– parent is first to have children– grandparent neither too young nor too old to

spend time/energy interacting

• Remote grandparents—respected and loved– emotionally distant grandparents

• Involved grandparents—active in day to day life, live near, see often

• Companionate grandparents—independent, with own lifestyle and household, choose how generational interaction occurs

• Most grandparents want to be companions

Types of Grandparents

Immigrant Grandparents

• Happily become involved, especially when all speak a common language

• Often live in the same household• Children seem to develop better

when they are cherished and guided by a large family

Immigrant Grandparents, cont.

• Many immigrant and minority families do not trust the majority culture to transmit their values, beliefs, language, and customs (culture)– grandparents best source of cultural

continuity

Surrogate Parents

• Surrogate parents—grandparents who take over the raising of their grandchildren as a result of their adult children’s extreme social problems– if parents too poor, too young, drug or alcohol

addicted, single, newly divorced, then—– possibility of surrogate parenting increases

Surrogate Parents, cont.

• Grandparents furnish stability, guidance, and patience

• Responsibility takes a toll if it lasts too long– can impair health and well-being

• More than one in three grandparents witness divorce of an adult child

• Grandparents typically provide extra help when their newly divorced child receives custody of children

• If their adult child does not have custody, they may be shut out– grandparents in such situations may sue for

visitation rights

After Adult Children Divorce

• Sandwich generation—generation of middle-aged people who are supposedly “squeezed” by the needs of the younger and older generations– Some do feel pressured, but most are not

burdened by such obligations• they enjoy filling needs or—• may choose to take on some (or no)

responsibilities

The Myth of the Sandwich Generation

• Most choose not to provide financial or caregiving help to older generation– one study shows less than 20 percent provided help of any

kind– assistance 3 times more likely by African-American couples

• Personality may be as influential as need in determining whether to provide substantial help to either generation

The Myth of the Sandwich Generation, cont.

• 90 percent of men and 75 percent of women in the United States are employed

• Worldwide, work is a welcome part of life

• Most jobs provide more joy than stress

Work in Middle Adulthood

Overall Trends

• Meaningful work becomes more important as an individual ages– salary and benefits tend to rise with

seniority– lower rates of

•absenteeism•being fired or quitting•seeking a new job

Overall Trends, cont.

• Many middle aged workers have worked for the same employer for more than five years

• There may be unexpected job loss as a result of downsizing and restructuring or relocation of company

• Unlike young men, middle-aged men are no longer more concerned with work than with their family life– parental/family role usually considered

more important than work role

Balancing Work and Family

Dealing with Job Stress

• Some people addicted to long hours and hard work, or “workaholism”

• Both men and women are physically and psychologically healthier if they have multiple roles

• Stress in one area of life can be relieved by support from other areas

Scaling Back• Begin to deliberately balance work life with

other concerns– Place limits on work hours or responsibilities

• One partner may work part-time or at a less critical and lower paying job

• Or partners may take turns; one focuses on employment, the other on child care

• Rethinking and shifting toward retirement

• Planning and actual event usually occur in middle age

• Retirement generally anticipated with more joy than dread

• The decision to retire is usually mutual, since both husband and wife are working

• Main planning consideration is financial

Retirement