Module 10 Flashcards
Erikson’s early adulthood crisis: Intimacy versus Isolation
Intimacy
- Requires identity achievement
- Willingness to:
- > make self vulnerable
- > give up some independence
- > redefine identity
- > finding oneself then losing oneself in another
Isolation
- Lonely, self-absorbed
- Hesitant to form close ties
- Fear losing independence and identity
Erikson’s crisis for middle adulthood - generativity
- Giving to & guiding next generation
- Commitment beyond self
- Typically, child rearing
- > Also other family, work mentoring, community relationships
- Core ego quality: care, love given without expectation of return
- Too much generativity: overextension, no time for self
Erikson’s crisis for middle adulthood - stagnation
- Put own comfort & security ahead of challenge & sacrifice
- Self-centred, self-indulgent, self-absorbed
- Lack of involvement or concern with young people
- Little interest in work productivity, self-improvement
Erikson’s late adulthood crisis - ego integrity versus despair
Ego Integrity
- Feel whole, complete, serene
- Adapted to success, failure, loss
- Accept life’s course & ageing
- Death loses its “sting”
Despair
- Realize made wrong choices, too late to repair
- Bitterness, defeat, hopelessness
- May express anger and contempt (towards self)
- Dread death
- Core psychopathology: Disdain for life
Sternberg’s triangular theory of love
3 components
- Passion
- Commitment
- Intimacy
Results in different styles of love
passion alone -> passionate love or infatuation
passion and intimacy -> romantic love
all 3 -> consummate love
commitment and intimacy -> companionate love
commitment alone -> empty love
Western versus Eastern emphasis for relationships
Western emphasis on passion and intimacy, romantic love
Eastern emphasis on companionship and practicality
- High intimacy and commitment
Childhood attachment and adult relationships - secure
- Internal working model of self as lovable, others as capable of giving love
- Comfortable with intimacy, satisfying sex lives
- Greater relationship satisfaction
- > Divorce less likely
- Large circle of friends
- Positive work relationships
- Balance work with relationships
Childhood attachment and adult relationships - avoidant
- Internal working model of self as disliked and others as untrustworthy
- Emphasize independence
- Jealous, distant, unaccepting
- Less likely to have been in love
- Substitute with brief sexual affairs or workaholism
- Relief at end of relationships
Childhood attachment and adult relationships - anxious-ambivalent/resistant
- Internal working models of self completely merged with other but of others being overwhelmed by self
- Jealous, emotionally labile, desperation
- Fall in love quickly
- > brief affairs
- > surprise at relationship ending
- > rapidly into another
Marriage
- Virginia Longitudinal Study of Divorce and Remarriage
- 5 marriage types
- > Associations with divorce
- From Hetherington, E. M. (2003). Intimate pathways: Changing patterns in close personal relationships across time. Family Relations, 52, 318-331.
- look up images -> 1 and 2
Marriage - Dr John Gottman
FOUR HORSEMEN
- Criticism
- Defensiveness
- Contempt
- Stonewalling
Magic ratio: 5 to 1
Factors of divorce
Ineffective problem solving
-> demand-withdraw pattern (pursuer-distancer style)
Little conflict but separate lives
-> disengaged style
Major problems
-> infidelity, money issues, substance abuse
Background factors
-> age, religion, prior divorce, family history divorce
Consequences of divorce
Immediate:
- Disrupted social networks
- Increased anxiety, depression, impulsive behavior
- Loneliness
- Women: drop in income
Traditional women: identity loss
- May be drop in self-esteem, persistent depression over longer term if fail to disengage from ex-spouse
Noncustodial fathers: distress from loss of contact with children
Long-term consequences of divorce
Women generally adjust better over time
Longer term: re-partnering increases life satisfaction
-> Men faster to re-partner
-> Adjust better when partnered
Higher risk of divorce in second & subsequent marriages
- > Higher stress
- > No learning from first divorce
- > Divorce acceptable solution
