Lifespan Development Ch. 16 – Flashcards

-Erikson's Stage of Generativity Versus Stagnation --Generativity: desire to leave a legacy for future generations (biological, parental, work, and cultural) ---example: an adult who has children (biological), parents them to succeed (parental), develops skills at work to pass on (work), and to do something that may benefit the community or culture for future generations (cultural) --Stagnation: develops when individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation ---example: may be an individual who does not have children, does not work, does nothing for the community

--Levinson- (1) being young versus being old, (2) being destructive versus being constructive, (3) being masculine versus being feminine, (4) being attached to others versus being separated from them. Contemporary life-events approach, how life events influence the individual's development depends not only on the life event itself but also on mediating factors (such as physical health and family supports), the individual's adaptation to the life event (such as appraisal of the threat and coping strategies), the life-stage context, and the sociohistorical context --Paul Costa and Robert McCrae - They focus on what are called the Big Five factors of personality, which are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (emotional stability) --Mills- distinguished three main groups among the Mills women: family-oriented, career-oriented (whether or not they also wanted families), and those who followed neither path (women without children who pursued only low-level work). The Mills College Study concluded that rather than being in a midlife crisis, the women were experiencing midlife consciousness. The researchers also discovered that commitment to the tasks of early adulthood—whether to a career or family (or both)—helped women learn to control their impulses, develop interpersonal skills, become independent, and work hard to achieve goals. --Vaillant- categorized 75- to 80-year-olds as "happy-well," "sad-sick," or "dead." He used data collected from these individuals when they were 50 years of age to predict which categories they were likely to end up in at 75 to 80 years of age. Alcohol abuse and smoking at age 50 were the best predictors of which individuals would be dead at 75 to 80 years of age. Other factors at age 50 that were linked with being in the "happy-well" category at 75 to 80 years of age included getting regular exercise, avoiding being overweight, being well educated, having a stable marriage, being future-oriented, being thankful and forgiving, empathizing with others, being active with other people, and having good coping skills. --Berkeley Longitudinal Studies-The results from early adolescence through a portion of midlife did not support either extreme in the debate over whether personality is characterized by stability or change. Some characteristics were more stable than others, however. The most stable characteristics were the degree to which individuals were intellectually oriented, self-confident, and open to new experiences. The characteristics that changed the most included the extent to which the individuals were nurturing or hostile and whether or not they had good self-control.

➢ Change --Personality traits continue to change years, even into late adulthood during the adult --the greatest change in personality traits occurred in early adulthood—from about 20 to 40 years of age ➢ Stability • Cumulative personality model -With time and age, people: Become more adept at interacting with their environment, which promotes the stability of personality -"Ample evidence shows that social contexts, new experiences, and sociohistorical changes can affect personality development, but the changes in middle and late adulthood are usually not as great as those in early adulthood (Mroczek, Spiro, & Griffi n, 2006; Quoidbach, Gilbert, & Wilson, 2013). In general, changes in personality traits across adulthood also occur in a positive direction. Over time, "people become more confi dent, warm, responsible, and calm" (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008, p. 33). Such positive changes equate with becoming more socially mature."

A midlife crisis occurs when a middle-aged adult is suspended between the past and the future, trying to cope with this gap that threaten's life's continuity (Santrock, 2015) -Midlife crisis's may include: having an affair with someone much younger, selling your minivan and buying an expensive sports car, quitting your job, etc. -The textbook states that only 26% of middle-aged U.S. adults experience a midlife crisis. Most of these people attributed the crisis to negative life events rather than age.

AGE AND WELL-BEING. In one study, six dimensions of well-being (self-acceptance, positive relations, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and autonomy) were assessed in three different age groups of individuals (young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults) (Keyes & Ryff , 1998). An increase or little change in most of the dimensions of well-being occurred during middle adulthood.Dimensions of Wellbeing ➢ Personal Growth - Mean Well Being Score High -> Decreases Slightly -> Lowers Greatly ➢ Purpose in life - Mean Well Being Score High -> Decreases Slightly -> Lowers Greatly ➢ Autonomy - Mean Well Being Score Low -> Slightly Higher -> Slightly Higher ➢ Self-acceptance - Mean Well Being Score High -> Lowers Slightly -> Goes back ➢ Environmental mastery - Mean Well Being Score Low -> Higher -> Slightly higher ➢ Positive relations - Mean Well Being Score -> Constant high --Age Group (Young, Midlife, Old)

A study showed that young and middle aged adults had more days that were stressful and were characterized by multiple stresses than older adults. Middle adults experienced more "overload" stressors due to juggling to many activities. -Women are more vulnerable to social stressors (romance, family, work) than men --Women experience higher amounts of stress than men when things go wrong in a marriage/relationship. -When men face stress, they are more likely to respond in fight-or-flight manner (aggression, withdraw, drinking alcohol). -When women face stress, they are more likely to respond in tend-and-befriend manner (seeking out all social alliances) -

-Empty nest syndrome: a decrease in marital satisfaction after the children leave the home. -For most parents, however, marital satisfaction does not decline after children have left home but rather increases during the years after child rearing (Fingerman & Baker, 2006). With their children gone, marital partners have time to pursue career interests and to spend with each other. A recent study revealed that the transition to an empty nest increased marital satisfaction and this increase was linked to an increase in the quality of time—but not the quantity of time—spent with partners -p.498 -Refilling of the empty nest: a common occurrence as adult children return home after several years of college, after graduating from college, or to save money after taking a full-time job (Merrill, 2009). Young adults also may move in with their parents after an unsuccessful career or a divorce. And some individuals don't leave home at all until their middle to late twenties because they cannot support themselves fi nancially. Numerous labels have been applied to these young adults who return to their parents' homes to live, including "boomerang kids" and "B2B" (or Back-to- Bedroom)

➢ Sibling Relationships: Sibling relationships may persist over the entire lifespan for most adults. Siblings relationships in adult hood may be close, apathetic, or highly rivalrous. Most adults who reported being psychologically close in adulthood, tended to be that way during childhood. It was rare for sibling closeness to develop for the first time in adulthood. ➢ Friendships: Friendships are as important in middle adulthood as they were in early adulthood (Blieszner & Roberto, 2012). It takes time to develop intimate friendships, so friendships that have endured over the adult years are often deeper than those that are newly formed in middle adulthood.

➢ Many become grandparents for the first time in middle adulthood ➢ Grandmothers have more contact with grandchildren than grandfathers ➢ Meanings of being a grandparent • Biological role and continuity • Emotional self-fulfillment • Remote role Grandparent Interaction Styles ➢ Formal • Proper and prescribed role • Strong interest, but careful not to provide parenting advice ➢ Fun-seeking • Informal and playful • Mutual satisfaction between grandchild and grandparent emphasized ➢ Distant • Grandparent benevolent, but interaction infrequent Changing Role of Grandparents ➢ 1980 • 2.3 million grandchildren lived w/ grandparents ➢ 2005 • 6.1 million ➢ Most common reasons • Divorce • Adolescent pregnancies • Parental drug use ➢ Full-time grandparenting has been linked to health problems, depression, and stress Profile of Full-Time Grandparents ➢ Younger than 65 years of age ➢ Majority are single grandmothers • Mainly African American families ➢ When both grandparents are full-time, predominantly non-Latino White ➢ Majority of grandparents who move in with children and grandchildren • Contribute to family income • Provide child care • Unlikely to be in poverty • May be immigrants • Likely to be grandmothers

Affectionate love increases in midlife, especially in marriages that have endured many years. A majority of middle-aged adults who are married say that their marriage is very good or excellent. Researchers recently have found that the perils of divorce in midlife can be fewer and less intense than those for divorcing young adults. The fires of romantic love are strong in early adulthood. Affectionate, or companionate, love increases during middle adulthood. That is, physical attraction, romance, and passion are more important in new relationships, especially in early adulthood. Security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest become more important as relationships mature, especially in middle adulthood. Divorce in middle adulthood may be more positive in some ways, more negative in others, than divorce in early adulthood