Chapter 16: Exam 6

Question 1

Robert Havighursts Developmental Tasks of Middle Adulthood

Answer 1

*Helping our children establish themselves in the outside world
*Developing a range of enjoyable leisure activities
*Establishing a deeper relationship with our life partner
*Becoming involved in meaningful social and civic responsibilities
*Keeping our performance at work at a satisfactory level
*Adjusting to the demands and responsibilities of caring for aging parents

Question 2

Generativity versus Stagnation

Answer 2

Erickson’s seventh stage of psychological development in which the life crisis in the dichotomy between generativity (as in rearing children or contributing to society) and stagnation (a state characterized by lack of development, growth, or advancement)

*Generativity is the ability to generate or produce [instinctual drive toward pro creativity bearing and rearing children]

*Negative counterpart of generativity meant rejection or suppression of this natural drive would lead to stagnation

Question 3

Midlife transition

Answer 3

A psychological shift into middle adulthood is theorized to occur between the ages 40 and 45 as people begin to believe they have more to look back upon than forward to.

Question 4

Midlife Crisis

Answer 4

A time of dramatic self-doubt and anxiety during which people sense the passing of their youth and become concerned with their own aging and mortality.

*Marker events such as menopause, the death of a parent or friend, or a child’s leaving “the nest” could trigger the crisis.

Yet, many people view the years from age 45 onward as a second adulthood filled with opportunities for new directions and fulfillment.

Question 5

Entering Midlife: Crisis, Turning Point, and Prime of Life

Answer 5

With people now more likely to live into their late 70s and 80s, 40 has become a much more realistic halfway point than 35.

{Sperm count and “swimming ability” of sperm begin at age 40}

Question 6

Truth or Fiction
Most people experience a midlife crisis in middle adulthood

Answer 6

Fiction
According to research evidence, it is not true. A midlife crisis may be more of an exception than a rule. However, some people certainly do have them.

Question 7

Middle Aged Adults compared to young adults in the working world

Answer 7

Often earn more money than young adults (settled geographically and vocational)

Question 8

Most Stressful Life Events of Middle Adulthood

Answer 8

• Death of a spouse or a child
• Death of a parent or sibling
• Marital divorce or separation or separation from a cohabitant
• Hospitalization or changes in the health status of oneself, one’s child, one’s parent, or sibling
• The need to care for one’s parents
• A change in financial difficulties
• Concerns about one’s appearance, weight, or aging
• Moving, change or loss of employment
• Change in relationship with an important friend
• A change in responsibilities at work

Question 9

“Empty Nest Syndrome”

Answer 9

The feeling of loneliness or loss of purpose that parents, and especially the mother, are theorized to experience when the youngest child leaves home.

Question 10

Failure to Launch

Answer 10

Syndrome in which some children fail to leave home by 18 or 21 – even by the age of 30.

Question 11

Revolving Door Syndrome, aka “Boomerang Generation”

Answer 11

Adult children in and out of their parents home because of financial problems or just for convenience.

Question 12

Truth or Fiction
Mothers experience an “empty nest syndrome” when the last child leaves home

Answer 12

Fiction
Many middle-aged women have mixed feelings about the youngest taking wing, and some breathe a sign of relief.

Question 13

“Big Five” personality traits

Answer 13

Basic personality traits derived from contemporary statistical methods; extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism (emotional instability), and openness to experience

Researchers interpret the results to suggest that our personalities tend to mature rather than be shaped by environmental conditions, although the expression of personality traits is certainly affected by culture

Question 14

Extraversion

Answer 14

Contrasts talkativeness, assertiveness, and activity with silence, passivity, and reserve

[Mild gradual decline across years of adulthood]

Question 15

Agreeableness

Answer 15

Contrasts kindness, trust, and warmth with hostility, selfishness, and distrust

[Tend to increase during the later years]

Question 16

Conscientiousness

Answer 16

Contrasts organization, thoroughness and reliability with carelessness, negligence, and unreliability

[Increases early adulthood, peaks during middle adulthood, and declines during late adulthood]

Question 17

Neuroticism

Answer 17

Contrasts nervousness, moodiness, and sensitivity to negative stimuli with coping ability

[Slightly and gradually increases during middle adulthood, but then levels drop off and declines somewhat later adulthood]

Question 18

Openness to experience

Answer 18

Contrasts imagination, curiosity, and creativity with shallowness and lack of perspectives

[Declines strongly from young adulthood, remaining stable through middle adulthood until it falls off precipitously during later years.]

Question 19

Are there sudden shifts in Personality?

Answer 19

Adult life events such as getting married, working one’s way up in a vocation, and having and rearing children would deeply affect peoples personality

[However, by middle adulthood and during middle adulthood, research finds that the “big five” personality traits remain reasonably stable]

Question 20

Truth or Fiction
The events of middle adulthood tend to cause major shifts in personality

Answer 20

Fiction
The “big five” personality traits show a good deal of stability during middle adulthood.

Question 21

Stewart, Ostrove, and Helson developed scales to assess a number of personality themes among women:

Answer 21

• Identity Certainty (knowing who one is and what one stands for)
• Confident Power (Self-confidence)
• Concern with Aging
• Generativity, and
• Personal Distress

Question 22

Results from Zucker administered scales of three cohorts of college-educated women in their 20s, 40s, and 60s.

Answer 22

a.) identity certainty, confident power, and concern with aging: higher for women in their 40s than in their 20s, and then higher again for women in their 60s.

b.) generativity: higher for women in their 40s than in their 20s; cohort in their 60s was much the same as for those in their 40s.

Question 23

Truth or Fiction
College-educated women experience increased personal distress as they advance from middle adulthood to late adulthood.

Answer 23

Fiction
Aside from increased concern with aging, many women become more authoritative as they approach middle age.

Question 24

Work in the Middle Adulthood

Answer 24

*Peaks in middle adulthood because they have had years to “learn the ropes,” and many have advanced into the highest ranks of their trades or professions

*Can provide social benefits, a sense of identity, and self-esteem

Question 25

Job Satisfaction

Answer 25

Conference Board Survey (2010) of 5,000 households found:
*45% of American workers are satisfied with their jobs
*10% were unemployed
* But others were unhappy with their pay, recognition, or health and retirement benefits

[Satisfaction associated with factors such as interesting work and the availability of child-care facilities]

a.) White-collar male (professors) workers had the greatest gains in job satisfaction.
b.) Blue-collar male workers report feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction.

Question 26

Career Change in Middle Adulthood

Answer 26

Many reasons: more money, more job security, greater prestige, and more stimulation.
*Some changes are due to personal crisis such as a divorce, conflict with coworkers, or being fired.

Question 27

Unemployment

Answer 27

Research shows that people who are involuntarily unemployed have lower physical and psychological well-being than employed subjects, and unemployed middle-aged adults have lower well-being than unemployed young adults.

Question 28

Truth or Fiction
Job satisfaction increases throughout middle adulthood

Answer 28

True
But we are talking about samples of the population at large. Obviously, many are less satisfied as time goes on, and some are out of work.

Question 29

Study of Married Women

Answer 29

a.) Women aged 50-62 were more likely to accept jobs low in pay, as long as they liked the work
b.) Those aged 29-44 were most likely to reject jobs because they conflicted with family life or because of work conditions

Question 30

Relationships in Middle Adulthood

Answer 30

“Sandwiched” in between their own children (and grandchildren) and their parents

Question 31

Evolving Parent-Child Relationship Study

Answer 31

Rusconi (2004) Research comparing Germany & Italy:
a.) Germans normally left home to set up an independent home prior to marriage
b.) Italy was mixed:
i. In Large industrial cities, young adults
tend to follow the German model
ii. In more rural and southern Italians,
tend to remain home until they get
married.

Question 32

Grandparenting

Answer 32

*Research in China, Greece, and Poland found that having grandchildren was viewed as an overwhelmingly positive event in each culture and that it was beneficial to grandparents both socially and psychologically.

*Gender Studies in US, Poland, Germany, and China all find that grandchildren through adolescence spend more time in activities with their grandmothers than their grandfathers.

Question 33

Grandparents in Charge

Answer 33

a.) Israeli study of immigrants from Ethiopia and Eastern European countries found that grandparents who lived with single parents and their grandchildren had a strong influence and contributed to the overall adjustment of the family.

b.) Among Native Hawaiian, it is customary for grandparents to rear the grandchildren

c.) Studies show that grandparents have less influence when they live with couples and their grandchildren (frequently becoming a source of discord between their son or daughter and their son-or daughter-in-law.)

***The greater funds for the child-rearing experience of grandparents often allow them to relate to their grandchildren in a more relaxed way than parents can.

Question 34

Middle-Aged Children and Aging Parents

Answer 34

In far Eastern nations such as China, Japan, and Korea, older parents tend to live with their children, but not so in the US.

*Nearly 2/3 of aging Americans have a residence near a child and there are frequent visits and phone calls

Question 35

Sandwich Generation

Answer 35

The term is given to middle-aged people who need to meet the demands of their own children and of aging parents [she may also be helping out with grandchildren]

Question 36

Patriarchal Society

Answer 36

Societies like Hong Kong, China, it is more often the son who assumes the major responsibility for caring for his parents. Priorities in this society; first, his own children; second, his parents; third, his wife.

Question 37

Friends

Answer 37

The number of friends tends to dwindle, and couples and individuals tend to place more value on the friends they keep

*Male friends are more likely to be competitive and less likely to be intimate than female friends

*Survey 1.421 Detriot men ages 20 to 93, found that men without close social ties were significantly more depressed than men with relationships.

Question 38

Truth or Fiction
Middle-aged people tend to have fewer friends than young adults do

Answer 38

True
However, they have more in common with the friends who remain.