Middle Adulthood Flashcards
Middle Adulthood
40 - 60 or 45 - 65
Physiological changes
- -Graying or thinning hair
- -Weight gain
- -Wrinkles
- -Stiffing of joints
- -Loss of stamina
- -Loss of visual acuity
- -Loss of hearing
Middle adulthood factors
- -Maintaining career, sometimes changing career path
- -Emptying the nest
- -Maintaining changing relationships with children, parents, spouse
- -Time to take inventory
- -Time to make changes
- -For most, time of productivity
Eriksen’s stage for middle adulthood
–Generativity vs. Stagnation
RC Peck’s elaborates on Erikson’s 7th stage
- -Valuing Wisdom vs. Physical Power
- -Socializing v. Sexuality
- -Emotional Flexibility vs. Emotional Impoverishment
- -Mental Flexibility vs. Mental Rigidity
Erikson’s Valuing Wisdom vs. Physical Power
Wisdom compensates for diminished physical abilities and loss of youthful appearance.
Erikson’s Mental Flexibility vs. Mental Rigidity
It is important to remain mentally flexible and open to new ideas.
Erikson’s Emotional Flexibility vs. Emotional Impoverishment
Emotional flexibility involves the shifting of emotional investment between people and between activities. this is an important ability as people age and change roles (child to adult, parents die, or one’s spouse dies)
Erikson’s Mental Flexibility vs. Mental Rigidity
It is important to remain mentally flexible and open to new ideas
Mid-Life Crisis Theories
- -Levinson_ Season’s of a Man’s Life 40-45, involves serious re-examination of life, goals and ambitions
- -Sheehy: New Passages. Spans wider age range; 30- 50. Earlier for women than men. Resolution is different for men and women also
How men and women respond to mid-life crisis
Men: turn inward, more concerned with family and emotions
Women: more assertive, goal oriented, achievement oriented
At mid-life, men and women become more like each other
Some question that mid-life crisis exists at all, at best 10% experience it.
