Chapter 14: Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood Flashcards
what is Erikson’s 7th stage of his theory?
Generativity vs. Stagnation
(desire to leave legacies of themselves vs sense that they have done nothing for the next generation)
understand what Levinson’s Seasons of a Man’s Life is
there are development tasks at every stage
-End of teens/20s: transition to independence, a
novice phase of adult development
-Late 20s/30s: focus on family and career
development
-Around 40: a tumultuous midlife transition/crisis
what is the Contemporary Life-Events Approach?
emphasizes how life events influence the individual’s development and health
what are some other factors that can influences an individual’s development?
-physical health
-family support
-individual’s adaptation
-life-stage context
-sociohistorical context
how do men and women handle stress?
men: more likely to respond in a flight-or-flight manner (more aggressive tactics)
women: more likely to tend-and-befriend (seek social alliances w others)
why is having a sense of control important during middle age?
it can be a significant factor in reducing the frequency of diseases
what is Costa and McCrae’s Baltimore Study?
Big Five factors of personality studied over the course of many years
(think OCEAN: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism)
what is the Berkeley Longitudinal Studies and what did it show?
studied children and their parents to see whether personality is characterized by stability or change
-most stable characteristics: intellectual
orientation, self-confidence, openness to
new experiences
-changed the most: nurturance or hostility,
and strong or weak self-control
what was the main question of George Vaillant’s studies?
does personality at middle age predict what a person’s life will be like in late adulthood?
how did George Vaillant categorize his samples?
3 samples: low, middle and upper SES
categorized into: “happy-well”, “sad-sick”, or “dead”
what was George Vaillant’s findings?
-people who didnt smoke, drink, maintained regular exercise and had good coping skills at age 50, were more likely to be alive and happy at 75-80
-wealth and income at 50 were NOT linked with being in the happy-well category at 75-80
what is the cumulative personality model?
with time and age, people become more adept at interacting with their environment in ways that promote stability of personality
(stability increasingly outweighs change)
why do you think the divorce rates are lower compared to 1990?
few possible answers:
-has less of a stigma for women
-staying married because of kids but this generation doesn’t want kids so early
-this generation watched how unhappy our parents were and dont want that for ourselves
TRUE or FALSE: martial satisfaction increases after their children leave home?
true!
(they have more time for each other, for careers, for leisure)
TRUE or FALSE: sometimes grandparents are thrust back into the parenting role?
true!
(can become an increased risk of health problems, depression, and stress esp if low income, minority status and not married)
