Development in Adulthood Flashcards
1
Q
Important societal changes
A
- important changes in Australian society and globally
- rise in the ages of entering marriage and parenthood driven by
o tolerance for premarital sex in the context of committed and loving relationship
o increase in the years devoted to pursuing education and training
o changing roles of women
o rise in earnings, but also in living costs
2
Q
Emerging adulthood
A
- a distinctive developmental stage?
- Age range of 18-25 (29) years
- Intense identity explorations in the areas of work, love and worldviews
- Subjectively and demographically distinct developmental stage
- Might be a distinct phase in western, post-industrial societies, but not necessarily culturally universal
3
Q
Developmental features of emerging adulthood
A
- The age of identity explorations
- The age of instability
- The self-focused age
- The age of feeling in-between
- The age of possibilities
4
Q
Development in adulthood
A
- Characterised by variety of experiences
- Influenced significantly by cultural, social and personal factors
- Theories of adulthood focus on common elements in diverse experiences – two basic psychological needs, to love and to work
- Three important developmental transitions
o Couple relationships
o Parenthood
o Career - Social expectations about these create an internalised social timetable
- Social clock
o On time – following the social timetable
o Off time – out of phase with peers
5
Q
Adult attachment
A
- Attachment style applicable across the lifespan
o Adult’s current view of early attachment relationships is a good predictor of current attachment style and relationship quality
o Distribution of attachment styles similar to infant attachment - Infant attachment predictive but not 100% determinant of adult attachment style
- Adult relationship experiences also influential
6
Q
Model of self: Secure
A
Secure attachment history
Healthy balance of attachment and autonomy; freedom to explore
7
Q
Model of self: Preoccupied
A
Resistant attachment history
Desperate for love to feel worthy as a person; worry about abandonment; express anxiety and danger openly
8
Q
Model of self: Dismissing
A
Avoidant attachment history
Shut out emotions; defend against hurt by avoiding intimacy, dismissing the importance of relationships and being ‘compulsively self-reliant’
9
Q
Model of self: Fearful
A
Disorganised-disoriented attachment history
Need relationships but doubt own worth and fear intimacy; lack a coherent strategy for meeting attachment needs
10
Q
Changing family context
A
- Decrease in marriage rates
- Increase in cohabitation before marriage
- Increase in divorce rates
- Increase in lone parent families
- However, majority of children still live in ‘intact’ families
- Increase in average age of first parenting
- Decrease in number of children per woman
- Increase in number of children born outside marriage
- Increase in maternal employment
- Increase in average maternal employment level
11
Q
Transition to parenthood
A
People choose to have children for a variety of reasons
- a major life transition – no other transition is as abrupt and complete
- but no or little preparation
- positive and negative changes
o disrupted routine – family, work, social
o fatigue
o roles become more traditional
o sexual relationship deteriorates
o conversation decreases
o fathers withdraw, spend more time at work
12
Q
Family Life Cycle: Stage 1
A
Beginning families
Transition to parenthood families
Families with preschoolers
13
Q
Family Life Cycle: Stage 2
A
Families with school-aged children
Families with adolescents
14
Q
Family Life Cycle: Stage 3
A
Families as launch centres
Empty-nest families
15
Q
Family Life Cycle: Stage 4
A
Retirement
16
Q
Career development in adulthood
A
- Charlotte Buhler
- Organic, self-determination
- Intentions, goals and self-determination as driving adult development
- Intentionality as a developmental process of
o Choosing life goals
o Working towards them
o Evaluating goal achievement
o Selecting new goals - Lifespan psychological growth depends on
o Realistic initial goal setting
o Hard work through life to achieve these goals
o Skilled self-monitoring, assessment and redirection - Influences: super, Havinghurst, Levinson
17
Q
What is old age?
A
- Young old (60-69) – as fit and forward-looking as 50 year olds were some generations ago
- Third age (70-79) – many of them function better physically and psychologically than their parents did at age of 55
- Fourth age (80 and over) – old old adults frail physical or mental health directly attributable to their advanced age
18
Q
Cognitive ageing: Intelligence
A
- Piaget: formal operational thinking as the final stage of cognitive development
- Postformal thinking – lessened egocentrism of young adults and capacity to view world more relativistically
- Seattle Longitudinal Study (Schale) – ‘cohort absolescence’ needs to be considered when considering cross-sectional evidence about changes in cognitive abilities with age
- Fluid (cognitive ability does go down) and crystalilised (formal intelligence, doesn’t go down in age) intelligence
19
Q
Successful cognitive aging
A
- Selective optimisation with compensation in order to balance gains and losses in cognitive functioning in old age
20
Q
Wisdom
A
- Wisdom entails:
o Rich factual knowledge with exceptional scope, depth and balance
o Rich procedural knowledge about how to behave and seek meaning in lfe
o Tolerance, respect for context and values
o Awareness and skill coping with uncertainty and change - Wise solutions containing all these elements generally rare, but more common in older than in younger adult
- According to Erikson resolution of the development task of late adulthood (integrity vs despair) produces wisdom
21
Q
Successful social ageing
A
- Disengagement theory and activity theory take opposing perspectives on adapting to the loss of roles or activities that occurs in late adulthood
22
Q
Disengagement theory
A
- Older people have increased preoccupation with the self and decreased investment in society
- Decreased social interaction in old age comes from mutual withdrawal of both the individual and society
- Optimal ageing occurs when the ageing person establishes greater psychological distance from those around him or her
- Decreased social interaction should be expected
23
Q
Activity Theory
A
- Older people have the same psychosocial needs middle-aged people do
- Decreased social interaction in old age comes from withdrawal by society from the ageing person
- Optimal ageing occurs when the person stays active
- Substitute activities should be found for those that are lost (e.g., for work at retirement)
24
Q
Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory
A
- Changes in social motives due to people becoming more aware of the limited amount of time they have left
- Reshaping of one’s life in late adulthood to concentrate on what one finds to be important and meaningful in the face of physical decline and possible cognitive impairment
25
Defining Death
- Death – the irreversible cessation of vital life functions
- Dying – the end stage of life, in which bodily processes decline, leading to death
- Previously absence of respiration and heartbeat
- Now criteria focus on brain death
- Definition crucial for issues of organ transplant
26
Accepting one's own death
- Death becomes more salient with age
o Young children see death as reversible or temporary and not necessarily inevitable
o Adolescents tend to deny their own mortality
o Young adults are often very angry when faced with their own death
o Middle-aged adults become more aware of their own mortality
o Late adulthood associated with increasing acceptance of death and increasing concern about the process of dying
27
The dying process
- Kubler-Ross’s (1969) classic work on the stages of dying
- Stages are not necessarily progressive and are not likely to overlap
- Since they are based on young and middle-aged adults dying of cancer, they do not represent the variability that exists in the course of dying
- Suggests that bereaved relatives go through the same stages, although not necessarily in synchrony with the dying person
28
Bereavement
o The experience of loss of a loved one through death
29
Bereavement has two components
- Bereavement has two components
o Grief – the emotional response to one’s loss
o Mourning – the social and cultural experience of grief
30
Grief
o Loss of primary relationships
o Relationships of attachment
o Relationships of community
31
Stages of grief
o Shock, disbelief, denial
o Intense mourning
o Period of restitution
32
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
| 1) Denial
- Avoidance
- Confusion
- Elation
- Shock
- Fear
- 'not me'
33
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
| 2) Anger
- Frustration
- Irritation
- Anxiety
- 'Why me?'
34
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
| 3) Depression
- Overwhelmed
- Helplessness
- Hostility
- Flight
- 'Yes me.' (begin to mourn)
35
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
| 4) Bargaining
-Struggling to find meaning
-Reaching out to others
-Telling one's story
'Yes me, but...'
36
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
| 5)Acceptance
- Exploring options
- New plan in place
- Moving on
- 'My time is very close now, and it's alright'
