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.