Chapter 10: Middle-Age and Older Parenthood and Grandparenthood Flashcards
Social Status Transitions
When do these transitions occur?
beginning in early adulthood
Social Status Transitions
What do these transitions do?
alter relationships of middle-age adults and their adult children
Social Status Transitions – Normative
What do normative transitions of adult children do?
contribute to increased intergenerational closeness and contact
Social Status Transitions – Normative
When do parent-child relationships generally improve?
when adult children go off to college, begin careers, get married, and have children
Social Status Transitions – Normative
What are the two factors that are attributed to the positive changes that occur in intergenerational relations when adult children experience normative transitions?
- transitions verify that the adult child is conforming to social norms in terms of maturational development
- transitions themselves increase the number of adult social roles that adult children share with their parents
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What do non-normative transitions tend to do?
negatively affect parent and adult-child relationships
Social Status Transitions
What are middle-age parents experiencing as their young adult children are making normative and non-normative transitions into their adult roles?
they also are experiencing normative and non-normative transformations in their own lives
social status transitions in the lives of both generations affect their relationships with each other
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What is one of the main factors in parental conflict when generations share a home?
adult children’s unemployment
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What effect does having at least one co-residential adult child do to parents?
decreases the psychological well-being of middle-age parents, especially mothers
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
Perceptions of what is linked to parental frustration for both parents?
lack of career success
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
Perceptions of what is primarily associated with mothers’ negative emotions? Why?
lack of relationships success
mothers tend to feel more responsibility for their adult children’s relationship problems, particularly their daughters’ unsuccessful relationships
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What do fathers tend to accept more responsibility for?
children’ lack of career success
Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What do mothers tend to accept more responsibility for?
relationship problems, particularly their daughters’ unsuccessful relationships
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What is a universal social status transition, and what effect does it have?
occurs when parents become grandparents
generally has a positive effect on both middle-age persons and their adult children
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What are some non-normative transitions of middle-age parents?
divorce
remarriage
Social Status Transitions – Normative
What are positive effects of normative transitions due to?
- such transitions verify the conforming to social norms
- transitions themselves increase the number of adult social roles that adult children share with their parents
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What is one of the reasons that middle-age adults derive high level of satisfaction from the role of grandparent?
they bring more energy and financial resources to the grandparent role than did grandparents a generation ago
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What is grandparent satisfaction related to?
continued development of generativity
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What predicts greater satisfaction?
- increasing levels of generativity
- role of valued elder and the meanings that these grandparents attached to this role
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
Why is the grandparent role significant?
- one of the few new roles that can be embraced in later phases of life
- offers many opportunities for continued adult socialization
- role is invested with important, therefore has a greater impact on mental health than less important roles
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood
What are some non-normative social status transitions in the lives of middle-age adults?
- divorce and remarriage
- serious illness
- disability
- death of spouse
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What are divorced fathers more prone to (than married fathers)?
less regular contact with their adult children
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What are divorced mothers more prone to (than married mothers)?
more apt to experience increase in contact with adult child
Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative
What are financial transfers to adult children affected by?
- divorce
- gender of parent
- remarriage