Introduction
Adulthood is a hard thing to define. Unlike many cultures, the American culture does not have
one single rite of passage into adulthood. There is not one agreed upon definition of being an
adult. The most commonly agreed upon definition is that one is an adult when he or she arrives
at a self-concept of being responsible for his or her own life, being self-directing, etc. It is a
combination of the various aspects of development including physical, social and psychological.
As adults progress through early adulthood into middle adulthood they experience many
cognitive and physical changes that impact their quality of life.
Physical and Cognitive Development in
Early Adulthood
Many cultures and countries have specific initiation rituals signaling a transition into adulthood.
Because the United States is a blend of cultures as well as other reasons, there really is no one
specific initiation ritual that signals the transition from adolescence to early adulthood.
Researchers are more apt to identify social or secular activities that signal maturity or a transition
into adulthood. These activities include:
RELIGIOUS
Confirmation, bar mitzvah, etc.
PHYSICAL
Masturbation, first sexual encounter, etc.
SOCIAL
Senior prom, marriage, joining armed forces, etc.
EDUCATIONAL
Driver’s license, high school graduation, organized sports, etc.
ECONOMIC
Getting a car, job, etc.
Emerging Adulthood
There is a new period of development that is considered emerging adulthood. This is a period,
between ages 18 and 25 that occurs before long-term adult habits are formed. This period often
includes rebellious behavior and delinquency. Some researchers believe that this rebellious
behavior is helpful for healthy long-term development.
Knowles (1989) provides four different definitions for adults:
BIOLOGICAL DEFINITION
One becomes an adult once they become of age where they can reproduce.
LEGAL DEFINITION
One becomes an adult when the law states such as driving a car, age to vote, marriage
without parental consent, etc.
SOCIAL DEFINITION
One is an adult when the person begins to perform adult roles.
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFINITION
One is an adult when they arrive at a self-concept of being responsible for their own
life, being self-directing, etc. This is the definition that will be used mostly in this
lesson.
Physical Development
A key concept here is organ reserve. Each organ has a capacity (maximum output), which is
usually well beyond what we need to function daily. As we get older, this capacity will diminish
and so will the amount of reserve we have available. The good thing is that it takes many years
before we begin to notice this diminishing of our regular activities. Professional athletes, during
early adulthood, are a perfect example of the biopsychosocial model in action. Physical
limitations are set by biology (our body) but psychological factors (such as pride) and social
factors (such as cheering crowds) will help determine whether an athlete will push his or her
biological limits to the edge!
Physical development at this age dramatically slows compared to earlier stages. It is a time
when individuals achieve their physical peak. For example, females usually hit their peak height
at age 18 and males at age 20. It is also a time when young adults are in their prime physical
condition for speed and strength, which is the time period when we see the highest performing
athletes. Surprisingly, it is a time when most bodily functions will start to decline slightly, such
as cardiac output. As stated, organs in the body are generally at peak capacity but will begin to
slightly decline.
Healthy Choices
We have seen in previous lessons that physical health can be linked to good genetic makeup, age,
and medical treatment available. Research over the last 20 years has conclusively shown that
cost-free choices under an individual’s control have more effect on health than expensive
medical alternatives.
These cost-free choices include food, drinking alcohol, smoking, and physical fitness.
•
NUTRITION
We have discussed nutrition in many of the earlier stages of development. In
adulthood, we start discussing the idea that nutrition is very closely linked to heart
disease and cancer. The single biggest cause of heart disease is cholesterol. Cholesterol
includes two types of proteins. It includes low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which are
considered the bad protein. Diets high in fat tend to lead to higher LDL levels. Highdensity lipoproteins (HDL) are known as good cholesterol and have been shown to
help prevent build-up. Poor nutrition can in the end lead to obesity, which is becoming
a national epidemic. The number of obese Americans increases annually and the
health ramifications from obesity continue to escalate.
•
ALCOHOL AND SMOKING
Young adults also are forced to make choices regarding the use of alcohol and
smoking. These choices can have long-term effects. Alcohol decreases a person’s
reaction time in the brain and nervous system. It also significantly impairs a person’s
judgment (or ability to make good decisions). One large-scale problem that still exists
in college is binge drinking. Most young adults can work through this period of
alcohol exploration but for some it can lead to addictive behavior, which stays with
them for years. Smoking is another long lasting choice that is made during this period.
Although the number of smokers has declined around one percent each year since
1987, it still is the leading cause of preventable death annually. Young people make
the choice to start smoking due to peer pressure, as a way to acting older, and for
some, losing weight.
•
EXERCISE
On the other hand, many young adults have joined the fitness craze in America. There
is enormous social pressure, especially for women to stay fit. The choice for engaging
in physical fitness activities at this age is a perfect fit because of the physical potential
that exists at this age. Physical fitness can also lead to many psychological benefits, as
well.
Cognitive/Ethical Development in Early
Adulthood
New cognitive opportunities exist for young adults today more than they ever have in the past.
New technologies have changed both the workforce and demands from educational institutions.
There are increasing demands for critical thinking and problem solving. In addition to changes in
learning, there is a progression of intellectual/ethical development that becomes profound during
this period of development.
Intellectual/Ethical Stages of Development
Perry (1981) provides a theory of intellectual/ethical development that occurs from late
adolescence into young adulthood. There are three main stages, with three smaller stages in each.
•
DUALISM
The first main stage is dualism, which is the stage where things are absolutely right or absolutely
wrong. In the substages individuals move from:
•
•
•
Clear black and white, right or wrong, to
Some uncertainty can exist, to
An understanding that diversity and uncertainty are acceptable but only temporary until
the authority decides
•
RELATIVISM
Relativism is the second stage of ethical development where the attitude and philosophy is that
anything can be right or wrong depending on the situation; all views can be equally right. In the
substages here, individuals move from:
•
•
•
Anyone can have an opinion and sometimes teachers encourage us to think for ourselves
and support our ideas, to
An understanding that knowledge and values exist in context and that there is rarely a
simple solution, to
An understanding that an individual must make a commitment to an idea and concept
rather than be told what to think
•
COMMITMENT
Commitment is the third stage of development where an individual realizes that certainty is
impossible but realizes commitment to a certain position is necessary. In the sub stages here,
individuals move from:
•
•
•
A person begins to choose the commitments, to
Understanding the implications of the commitments, and
An understanding that his or her identity is affirmed through the interaction of
commitments
The first main stage is dualism, which is the stage where things are absolutely right or absolutely
wrong. In the substages individuals move from:
•
•
•
Clear black and white, right or wrong, to
Some uncertainty can exist, to
An understanding that diversity and uncertainty are acceptable but only
temporary until the authority decides
Progression through Stages
Most individuals will progress through these stages but some can have development stalled for
three different reasons:
•
•
•
Some individuals will get stuck at a stage for more than a year while
they explore implications, called temporizing
Some will refuse to take responsibilities for commitments because they
believe everyone’s opinions are equally right (escape)
Some retreat into earlier stages for fear of moving forward
Like earlier theories that we have discussed that were developed on the 1960s – 1980s; Perry’s
theory has often been applied more to males than females. As a result, research on females and
ethical development sprouted from this original research.
Female Ways of Knowing and Viewing the
World
Belenky, Bond, and Weinstock (1997) took Perry’s theory and applied it to understanding how
women accept and apply knowledge. One difference from Perry is that they indicate that women
do not necessarily progress from one phase to another. Rather, their development is based on
their experiences. These phases include:
SILENCE
The first phase is silence and is characterized by concepts of right and wrong. Women
at this stage feel passive and are dependent on others for knowledge. Women at this
stage feel they should be seen but not heard and need desperately to gain a voice.
RECEIVED KNOWLEDGE
Received knowledge is Belenky's second phase of women's thinking; characterized by
being awed by the authorities but far less affiliated with them than in the first phase.
They learn through listening and assume truths come from authorities. They receive
knowledge and use the increased sense of self into care for others.
SUBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
Subjective knowledge is Belenky's third phase of women's thinking; characterized by
some crisis of male authority that sparked a distrust of outside sources of knowledge
and some experience that confirmed a trust in women thinkers themselves. At this
stage, they value their gut or experiences as the best source of knowledge.
PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE
Procedural knowledge is Belenky's fourth phase of women's thinking; characterized
by a distrust of both knowledge from authority and the female thinker's own inner
authority, or “gut.” Women at this stage have a strong sense of control and are more
concerned about form rather than content (how you say something rather than what is
said). They are usually analytical thinkers or learn through having empathy for others.
CONSTRUCTED KNOWLEDGE
Belenky's fifth phase of women's thinking, constructed knowledge is characterized by
an integration of the subjective and procedural ways of knowing. At this stage,
women begin to question systems of constructing knowledge.
Psychosocial Development in Young Adults
When conversations come up in our society today about increased crime rates, drug use, etc., one
will often hear that the reason we are seeing these problems is the breakdown in the American
family. This is certainly a point of argument for many researchers. Opponents of this statement
cite evidence that adults entering therapy today, that were brought up during this golden age of
family, indicate deep hidden secrets of abuse and neglect in family upbringing. Opponents also
argue that due to social media and other open avenues for communication today, we are just way
more aware of problems that exist in families but those problems have always been there.
Regardless of either view, young adults’ lives are deeply influenced by marriage and family;
work and leisure; and personal development.
Trends in Marriage and Family
Almost 95 percent of Americans will get married at some point in their life. But when and with
whom this marriage happens, has drastically been shifting over the years, especially in the last 20
years.
▪
About 54 percent of current adults are married and around 30 percent of children are
living with a single parent. The increasing number of children living with single parents
has been one trend. Another trend has been the shift in the average age of marriage.
▪
In 1900, the average age of marriage for a female was 22 and males 26. In
2003, that had changed to 25 for females and 27 for males. This change
obviously impacts the development of young adults because their focus is no
longer on marriage during this period. This delay can be attributed to more
women entering the workforce, thereby delaying marriage for career. In 1970,
36 percent of all males had not been married by age 24 and in 2004 that number
had grown to 86 percent. In a similar pattern, in 1970, 11 percent of all males
had not been married by age 29 and in 2004 that number had grown to 57
percent. People are getting married later and later.
▪
A third trend has been the increase in the number of people getting divorced, as we have
discussed in earlier lessons. These increased divorce rates can be attributed to
liberalization of divorce laws, growing social acceptance of divorce and single parents;
reduction in the cost to get a divorce; and increased economic independence for women.
This last reason is a clear change in gender equity in our society. Other factors for
increased divorce include ethnicity barriers (because more people are getting married
outside their own culture), husband’s employment status and residence status.
Family can be defined as a group of two or more people who reside together
▪
and are related by birth, marriage or adoption. Since young adults are waiting
longer to get married they are also waiting longer to have children, which in
turn are resulting in an overall decrease in the number of children Americans
are having. In 1970, the average number of children in an American family was
3.58 but that number has dwindled to 3.18 in 2005. The number of children in
both non-Hispanic white and African American families has declined while
there has been a slight uptick in Hispanic children to an average of 3.92
children per family.
Types of Marriage
As discussed earlier, the shape of marriage is also changing in our society. There are still the
same types of marriage available to people as there has always been but the dynamic is changing
due to the increase in same sex marriage. The standard types of marriage still include:
MONOGAMY
Standard marriage form in the United States and most other nations, in which there is
one husband and one wife
POLYGAMY
Marriage in which there is one husband but two or more wives
POLYANDRY
Marriage in which there is one wife but two or more husbands
GROUP MARRIAGE
Marriage that includes two or more of both husbands and wives, who all exercise
common privileges and responsibilities
SAME SEX MARRIAGE
Marriage that includes two members of the same sex
When the classroom text was written, same sex marriage was not legal in most states. As of
today, same sex marriage legal in all 50 states. In a national study conducted by Statistic Brain
(2016), 42 percent of all adults support same sex marriage while 37 percent oppose it. Although
same sex marriage is not supported by a majority of Americans, the opinion has changed
drastically over the last ten years.
Personal Development Theory Concept
Daniel Levinson (1990) proposed one of the most influential theories on adult personal
development, called adult life cycle. He conducted extensive interviews and psychological
testing in both men and women. We will focus on his conclusions with male development.
Before discussing the actual stages of development he proposed, it is important to understand
some key concepts of his theory.
•
LIFE COURSE
Life Course refers to all aspects of living, everything that is significant in life; course refers to
the flow or unfolding of an individual’s life.
•
LIFE CYCLE
Life cycle refers to a general pattern of adult development, which differs from life
course because course is unique to each individual.
•
ERAS
During a person’s adult stages, there exists what are called eras, which are a period of
time made up of the interaction between biological and psychological make-up
interacting with social environment. There are also transition periods, holding periods,
that exist between each era.
•
LIFE STRUCTURE
These different eras are defined by what he calls Life Structure, which are the
underlying patterns and design of a person’s life at a given time. This period is made
up of relationships and other components. Levingston describes the evolutionary
development of life structure as a series of structure building, which are five to sevenyear periods where a person builds structures to support decisions, they have made
structure changes – this is a five-year period where a person is exploring new life
choices. Each era or structure building period is a time when a person can try out and
modify new life choices.
Life Course refers to all aspects of living, everything that is significant in life; course refers to
the flow or unfolding of an individual’s life.
Levinson’s Personal Development Theory
Levinson’s actual theory proposes a sequence eras and development periods for male adult
development. He believes that men go through stages, which occur during early through middle
adulthood in order to progress through a process he called individualism. He defined this as a
process of becoming an individual while developing a separate and special personality from the
one that was derived from teacher, peer and family influence through adolescence. He developed
three main stages, including 10 substages during this period. The three stages are novice, settling
down and mid-life. We will discuss novice here and the other two stages will be discussed in
Lesson 7.
Novice occurs from ages 17 to 33 and is represented by four major tasks being completed.
Overall, during the novice stage of development, young adults will often question their life
choices, make adjustments to the four task choices, and experience self-doubt. But this is very
much based on an individual’s prior cognitive and emotional development, along with cultural
beliefs.
VISION
The first task occurs when an adult creates a vision for their future. For example, John
decides that in later adulthood, he wants to be married with three children, work in the
medical field, and live in a suburb of Chicago. He has created a vision for his
development.
MENTOR
The second task that occurs is when the adult finds an older adult male that serves as a
mentor through the stages of making important life choices. For example, John has
become very close with his boss at work and begins to confide in him and ask him for
advice.
STRENGTHS
The third task in the novice stage is when an individual really recognizes their
strengths and chooses a career path. John has recognized that although he likes many
aspects of the medical field, he feels that nursing aligns to his strengths the best.
RELATIONSHIP
The fourth task occurs when the individual chooses what type of partner they want to
settle down and the type of relationship he wants to have with his wife and family.
John combines all his life experiences about relationships and decides that really
wants to have a collaborative relationship with his wife where they both have
professional careers and share responsibilities for raising their children.
Sexual Identity and Gender Roles
Sexual identity and gender roles greatly influence development in early adults. Sexual
identity is defined as a result of the physical characteristics that are part of our biological
inheritance. In Lesson 5, we discussed a variety of physical characteristics that define the
differences between men and women. In other words, men and women are born with these
features. On the other hand, gender roles are defined as roles that are created from social and
cultural expectations that occur at a particular time. What does society say is acceptable for
women and men?
There are three aspects to gender roles, which include:
1. Orientation: individuals differ in how confident they feel about sexual identity
2. Preference: the extent to which a person is comfortable with gender roles
3. Adaptation: the extent to which an individual acts appropriately within their assigned
gender role
Interpersonal Relationships
Another area of development in early adults is their progression through interpersonal
relationships. These relationships take the form most often during this phase in sexual
relationships and in marital practices. Sternberg (1997) provided some interesting ideas about
love, which affect both sexual relationships and marriage. He argues that love is made up of
three different components:
PASSION
A strong desire for another person, and the expectation that sex with them will prove
physiologically rewarding.
INTIMACY
The ability to share one's deepest and most secret feelings and thoughts with another.
COMMITMENT
The strongly held conviction that one will stay with another, regardless of the cost.
Sternberg believes that healthy relationships and marriage include all three different types of
love. He also believes that the amount of each will depend on the stage of a marriage. For
example, generally early in a marriage there exists a lot of passion but may not involve much
intimacy. As intimacy occurs more often, couples must work to navigate these new truths in their
relationship. And as you can imagine, the variety also depends on the cultural and environmental
experiences brought to the marriage by each individual.
Trouble in marriage often comes because a couple may have different ideas about these three
aspects of love. The value in understanding this work is that couples and even marriage
counselors can work with couples to explore their comfort with the different aspects of love and
hopefully bring those feelings to the surface so common ground can be found between the
couple.
Physical and Cognitive Development in
Middle Adulthood
The idea of middle adulthood is a relatively new concept in our society. This stage is generally
considered to last from age 35 to age 64. You often hear people of this age say they are not
getting older, just better but the reality is that physical systems do begin to decline. Health
becomes a primary concern for adults during this period as individuals and peers start to struggle
with more serious health issues.
1. The first cause for many problems is increased weight gain. Weight gain is somewhat due
to genetic influences (if parents are obese, one is more likely to also be obese) but the
main reason is that people do not compensate for the lowering of a person’s basal
metabolism rate. The rate drops with age. If a person continues to eat at the same pace
and maintain the same level of exercise, a person will increase in weight because of the
natural decline in BMR. Fortunately, there is a growing trend that middle age adults are
engaging in more aerobic exercise and are starting to combat this weight gain, which in
turn can lead to other health problems. Cardiovascular health is one such problem. In
addition to weight gain, drinking, smoking and stress have all been linked to
cardiovascular disease.
2. Individuals in middle adulthood also see a decline in muscle growth and
sensory abilities during this age span. Muscle decline is common but not
necessary. Through aerobic activity and weight training, many middle aged
men and women are maintaining muscle density.
3. Adults in this age range also begin to see a decline in hearing, vision, taste and
smell. Eyes begin to change at age 40 and by age 50, most adults respond less
to light, meaning their eyes do not adjust to increased or decreased light. This
means that they often struggle to drive at night. In addition, this is the age that
many adults begin to require reading glasses because they struggle to focus on
objects close to them. Hearing also begins to wane around age 40. At this age
many adults begin to struggle to detect high frequency sounds and also begin to
struggle with articulation, or understanding what words people are saying.
Finally, the sense of smell and taste are closely related and both begin to
decline during this age period as well.
4. One other physical change that occurs in both men and women is
called Climacteric is defined as an abrupt change in the body brought on by
hormonal imbalances.). For women, the result is the cessation of menstruation.
This is a drastic change for women and occurs because the ovaries cease to
produce estrogen and progesterone. Men go through a similar change but it is
more gradual and affects the sex drive. It is generally described as loss of
sexual libido (desire) and sexual potency (the ability to react to sexual stimuli).
Although first linked to hormone changes, recent research indicates that it is the
result of a gradual slowing of the central nervous system.
Intelligence
Intelligence is one of the most studied characteristics in human development, especially the
question of whether or not intelligence declines with age. Most researchers agree that some types
of intelligence decline but others do not; some adults seen declines while others seem not to; and
the decline only happens late in life. One important theory, which has been used as a springboard
to other research, was conducted by Horn (1975). His theory defines two types of intelligence.
•
FLUID INTELLIGENCE
The first is fluid intelligence, which results from tasks supported by the central
nervous system. An example of this would be reaction time to stimuli (for example a
simple question and answer session with a younger friend).
•
CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE
On the other hand, crystallized intelligence is based on sum of cultural learning of
tasks associated with verbal ability and cultural knowledge. This type of intelligence
does not seem to decline with age and rather may actually increase. Other research
studies supported this hypothesis. One study indicated that educational attainment was
related to maintaining long-term intelligence and another indicated that ethnicity
impacted the ability to maintain intelligence.
The first is fluid intelligence, which results from tasks supported by the central nervous system.
An example of this would be reaction time to stimuli (for example a simple question and answer
session with a younger friend).
New Views on Intelligence
Recent theories view intelligence as including memory, language, reasoning, and the ability to
remember numbers (or some other subgroups). These different skills are then broken down into
further subprocesses. This new view of intelligence has created new theories that have shifted
from looking at intelligence as a whole to more cognitive specific intelligences. For example,
how does intelligence look in visual processing, auditory processing, long term memory, etc.?
Another theory that we discussed in Lesson 4 is that people are strong in some of eight different
intelligences including musical, linguistic, logical-mathematical, etc. The theory of multiple
intelligences shows the trend towards breaking down the study of intelligences into smaller
concepts.
Steinberg’s (1988) theory argues that intelligence should not be viewed as “natural ability” but
rather an accumulation of achievement (this really supports Horn’s idea of crystallized
intelligence). He proposed that intelligence is based on achievement in analytic components
(problem solving); creative components (deciding what problems to solve or attack); and
practical components (devising effective solutions). Although he indicates that intelligence can
be broken down into these three parts, he believes that overall intelligence of individuals is their
ability to use all of three cognitive aspects together and apply them to situations in the right
context.
Creative Development in Adults
Creativity is of growing importance in today’s society. As we described earlier, technology has
changed all dynamics in our society from workforce to social lives. As a result, there has been a
growing interest in how adults can develop creativity. Creative individuals are generally
described as: liking to do their own planning, make their own decisions, and need the least
training and experience in self-guidance; taking a hopeful outlook when presented with complex,
difficult tasks; being most likely to stand their ground in the face of criticism; being able to
tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity better than others; and being more original with their ideas
which are qualitatively different from those of the average person. Early research in creativity
focused on putting people into categories such as scholars, artists, scientists and measuring at
what point in their life did people do their most creative work. Across all groups, most creativity
occurred after the age of 40. The most recent research in creativity has revealed that creative
quantity does seem to decline with age but quality does not.
Learning Ability
There is a lot of disagreement between researchers on whether or not middle adults see a decline
in their ability to learn. One study indicated that older adults performed poorly on having the
ability to match relationships between two sets of words. But this result has been challenged on
the basis of motivation. Having a strong motivation to learn something has a big influence on a
person’s ability to learn. As a result, were the results based on a true decline of cognitive ability
or more associated with lack of motivation? The other question that is often looked at here is
whether or not middle age adults see a decline in cognitive ability or simply a delay in
processing. This has been hard to measure since most studies involved timed activities.
In the end, middle age adults can certainly continue to learn and develop as long as they continue
to use current neural pathways and create new pathways through repetition and by connecting to
existing pathways. The brain function at this stage is just like for an adolescent. Middle age
adults find learning enjoyable, especially in areas of high interest (motivation) but learning at
this stage does not usually occur in formal school settings but rather occurs through workforce
development opportunities and through social situations such as church or volunteering.
Patterns of Work
As the baby boomers continue to remain in the workforce, employers are experiencing a
changing landscape. Employers are being forced to a more welfare-based approach to employees
with a focus on physical and mental health to try and curb rising health care costs.
1. Women in the workforce have also changed drastically with more women being career
minded and reaching new levels of leadership. Because of these changes, employers have
had to be more focused on creating flexible work schedules, allowing some employees to
work from home, and even provide childcare.
2. In addition, professional development at work is also shifting. Training was
focused on younger employees with a concentration on skills needed to be
successful in the specific job. But due to the aging workforce, employers are
providing training on topics such as work relationships, balancing home and
work, and handling stress.
3. The increased amount of women in the workforce has also lead to unique challenges for
both the women and employers. These challenges include sexual harassment, equal pay
and promotion criteria, and work-family conflict.
4. The lucky adults are those who find value in their work and who view their
work as part of their identity. Those adults tend to have warmer, more caring
relationships both at work and at home. Unfortunately, some middle age adults
experience mid-career crisis, which is the stage that some persons go through in
middle age during which they come to question their career and personal goals
and dreams. These crises can lead to self-doubt, a reflection on the fact they
have wasted many of their adult years in a job going nowhere, a growing sense
of being outdated or left behind. All of these factors lead to stress and
sometimes even financial crisis.
Conclusion
As adults transition from early adulthood (18-25) through middle adulthood (ages 25-60), they
move from peak performance in physical, social and cognitive development to a slower pace of
progression and often times even decline. These changes have a profound impact on the
psychological well- being of adults. Those that learn to adapt to these changes and even embrace
them tend to live healthier lives.
References
Baltes, P. B., & Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Wisdom: A metaheuristic (pragmatic) to orchestrate
mind and virtue toward excellence. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 122–136.
Belenky, M. F., Bond, L. A., & Weinstock, J. S. (1997). A tradition that has no name: Nurturing
the development of people, families, and communities. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Dacey, J. S., Travers, J. F. & Fiore, L. (2008). Human development across the
lifespan. McGraw Hill Publishing.
Horn, J. L. (1975). Psychometric studies of aging and intelligence. New York: Raven Press.
(DACEY 541)
Levinson, D. (1990b). A theory of life structure development in adulthood. In C. N. Alexander &
E. J. Langer (Eds.), Higher states of human development. New York: Oxford University Press,
35–54.
Perry, W. (1981). Cognitive and ethical growth. In A. Chickering (Ed.), The modern American
college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Statistic Brain (2016). Retrieved December 19, 2016, from http://www.statisticbrain.com/gaymarriage-statistics.
Sternberg, R. (1988). The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York: Viking
All images are public domain or available courtesy of 123rf.com
Introduction
One major factor for adults is the impact of stress on development. The ability to proactively
combat and then cope with stress is very important for healthy development in middle age adults.
A strong marriage and various other healthy relationships are critical for providing support to
handle stress. On the other hand, personality development is also critical for being able to handle
stress in adulthood. Understanding key theories can assist in the development of effective
prevention programs for adults. In addition, adulthood is marked by aging but understanding
why people age is not as clear cut as one might imagine.
Stress in Adulthood
Stress in adulthood is different because more and more adults need to deal with stress on their
own rather than having support from others in dealing with it. Adults must deal with several
causes of stress and develop strategies for dealing with it. Ultimately though, most stress is
caused by change.
Hans Selye (1936) who is known as the father of stress research, created a theory on how stress
impacts the body. He applied his theory to humans after studying the result of stress on animals.
He called this theory the general adaptive syndrome. There are three stages that occur once a
stressor is added to the body.
As a person gets older, their ability to adapt to stress (stage 2) gets shorter and shorter.
Ultimately, a person will die because they just cannot adapt to a stressor.
ALARM REACTION
The first stage occurs once a stressor is introduced. It is called the alarm reaction,
which is the body’s “call to arms” of its resistive forces. For example, if an adult gets
an infection (stressor) and gets sick, the body immediately releases white blood cells
to fight the infection (alarm reaction).
STAGE OF RESISTANCE
The second stage is called the stage of resistance, which is the body’s reaction that
generally leads to a reversal of the initial reaction. In the example, the white blood
cells fight the infection and the person starts to feel better (reversing the feelings of
being sick).
STAGE OF EXHAUSTION
The third stage occurs if the body runs out of energy to adapt to the stressor. This is
called the stage of exhaustion and is defined as the body reverting to its original stage
when it experienced the initial alarm. In our example, if the infection persists then the
person resorts to being sick again.
Resilience
Individuals who deal with stress well without ending up with too many psychological,
behavior or learning problems have resilience. Researchers have been studying the
characteristics (protective factors) of resilient individuals. In this research, they have
identified several risk factors or stressors that people commonly deal with. These include
poverty, illness, relationship problems, family experiences, etc. Research has also identified three
successful protective factors, which include family environments, supportive networks, and
personality characteristics. Successful prevention programs combine both prevention of risk
factors and teaching of protective measures.
Family Environments and Supportive
Networks
•
MID-LIFE TRANSITION
Middle age of adulthood is the time when most adults begin to reflect on their life.
This is called a mid-life transition, which is defined as a phase that lasts from ages 40
to 45 and is a period when people seriously re-evaluate their lives. Sometimes at this
age adults question their marriage and allow tensions (that have been kept under the
surface while raising children) to come to the surface. During the time of raising
children, some parents experience emotional divorce, which occurs when partners
learn to withstand each other rather than actually live with one another. But, this is not
a time when divorce commonly occurs. After dealing with the empty nest syndrome,
most couples come together, reflect on successfully achieving the goal of raising their
children together, and enjoy the additional freedom that follows.
•
MARRIAGE SUCCESS AND DIVORCE
There are many reason cited for having a happy marriage. These reasons include friendship,
love, similar interest and backgrounds, and the ability to balance the different roles required in
family life (work, parenting, leisure activities, etc.). Because of these reason, it follows that both
culture and gender have a significant impact on these reasons. In addition, the ability to settle
conflict through listening and remaining respectful has shown to be a predictor for successful
marriages. Finally, high marriage satisfaction was also linked to satisfaction with parenting.
There are also several divorced middle age adults. Although divorce is not common during this
period, there are many individuals that became divorced in early adulthood and have remained
single into this age span. As discussed in Lesson 6, the rate of divorce is higher for African
Americans, second and subsequent marriages, the less educated and those from a background of
poverty. The increase in divorce stemmed from the liberalization of divorce laws, especially
the no-fault law, which allows divorce without placing blame on one individual. While this law
made it easier for women to get out of bad marriages; it is generally divorced women that
struggle economically during the middle age period.
•
OTHER RELATIONSHIPS
One family relationship that often impacts middle age adults is the relationship with aging
parents or parents-in-law. During this stage, the role is reversed and the middle age children
become the caregivers for parents. Generally relationships improve between the child and aging
parents because the children have a new appreciation for parenting since they have raised their
own children. But, in the end, the quality of relationship is usually defined by the strength of
relationship from when the child was younger. This new dynamic can lead to increased
depression in the middle age adults (who are still the children in this case), especially if the aging
parent is chronically ill. And, most adults underestimate the level of emotional and financial
stress caused by the changing dependency.
Sibling relationships are another important relationship during this age span. This type of
relationships is often the longest relationship for a person and can last for 60 to even 80 years.
Generally, growing maturity usually lessons sibling rivalry and allows siblings to work together
to make important decisions such as parent wellness decisions.
Friendships are also important during this age period. During early adulthood (ages 18-30),
adults begin to narrow the number of close friendships. Around the age of 30, people tend to
select a few individuals as a means of support and stability. Because there are fewer close
relationships, they tend to have a lot of depth and are very important.
•
SEX AND LOVE
Love remains pretty constant to love during early adult age during this age span. Sex,
on the other hand, does change quite a bit because of physical changes. Men
experience lower levels of testosterone and fewer viable sperm. Women experience a
reduction in estrogen during and after menopause, which negatively affects sex due to
vaginal irritation and less lubrication. Generally, both men and women need extra
time for arousal. But contrary to a common stereotype, sex during this age range
actually increases rather than decreases.
Middle age of adulthood is the time when most adults begin to reflect on their life. This is called
a mid-life transition, which is defined as a phase that lasts from ages 40 to 45 and is a period
when people seriously re-evaluate their lives. Sometimes at this age adults question their
marriage and allow tensions (that have been kept under the surface while raising children) to
come to the surface. During the time of raising children, some parents experience emotional
divorce, which occurs when partners learn to withstand each other rather than actually live with
one another. But, this is not a time when divorce commonly occurs. After dealing with the empty
nest syndrome, most couples come together, reflect on successfully achieving the goal of raising
their children together, and enjoy the additional freedom that follows.
Personality Development
One great debate is whether or not personality remains constant throughout life. One set of
theories argues that personality does remain constant is very much affected by development in
the early childhood years. Another set of theories argues that personality is ever changing and
developing.
TRAIT THEORISTS
Trait theorists measure personality traits through the use of questionnaires. These
researchers usually conclude that personality remains fairly constant through life.
STAGE THEORISTS
Stage theorists, on the other hand, believe that research on personality traits is too
narrow of a focus on that we must study the stages of change each person goes
through during their life. This group argues that the way a person interacts with the
world around them is important. They generally argue that personality changes and
develops throughout a person’s life. There have been several key theories on the topic
over the years.
Levinson’s Theories
•
LEVINSON: SEASON OF A MAN’S LIFE
Levinson provided a theory about the transition during middle adulthood for men. He argues that
men go through six different stages during the middle age of development (there are earlier
stages in Levinson’s that apply to early adulthood that won’t be discussed here):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Settling down age 33 to 40
Mid-life crisis age 40 to 45;
Middle adulthood ages 45 to 50
Age 50 transition age 50 to 55
Culmination of middle adulthood ages 55-60
Late adult transition ages 60-65
Dacey and others (2008) focus on the first two stages. The settling down stage is when a man
begins to solidify his occupation, establish his niche in society, advance at work; break away
from dependency on his mentor, and become more and more independent. The midlife transition
is a time when an adult deals with several polarities (or the relationship of opposite forces). The
first one is young versus old. Although we grow old, we want to maintain our youth. But during
this stage a man struggles with physical decline and the realization he is on the downward part of
the age arc. The second one is destruction versus creation. A man realizes during this time that
he has the power to be very destructive and even evil while at the same he is realizing his ability
to construct and build. The third is masculinity versus femininity. During early adulthood men
are influenced by society to shy away from their feminine side. During this stage, the man
realizes the value of his feminine side and embraces his ability to express his feelings, to nurture
and even be dependent on others. The fourth and final polarization is attachment
versus separation where the man breaks away from those he was dependent upon while
becoming more independent.
•
LEVINSON ON WOMEN
Levinson (1990) turned his study to the development of women. After conducting extensive
research on middle age women, he proposed that women go through a series of stages much like
men do and many of those stages are similar in nature. But, he also cited three socio historical
(relating to, or involving social history or a combination of social and historical factors)
differences that we will explore next.
•
Gender Splitting
The first is gender splitting. Levinson defines gender splitting as the idea that there should be
a clear difference between what is considered appropriate for males and for females. Gender
splitting appears to be universal and traditional roles are that women stay at home to raise the
children and the fathers go to work to be the provider for the family. Obviously, over the last 20
years, our society has seen a substantial change in this view but that view is deeply rooted in our
society and will take years to be removed from our culture.
•
Traditional Marriage Enterprise
The second is the traditional marriage enterprise, which has as the main goal to form and raise a
family. Gender splitting had defined this enterprise for years but as stated, that dynamic is
changing with many more dual career families. Dual career couples are being required to find
new ways of maintaining a healthy relationship.
•
Gender Revolution
The third social historical factor cited by Levinson is the gender revolution, which he defines as
the meaning of gender is changing. The increase in life expectancy, decrease in birth rates,
increase in divorce rates, and increased education for women are all reasons cited for the
changing role of women in middle age. It has become more of a balancing act of a dual role or
caregiver and provider. All of these factors have impacted the personality development of
women in our society.
Levinson is definitely considered a stage theorist!
Erikson’s Theory on Personality
Development
We have discussed Erikson’s first six stages of development in the first six lessons. He believes
that the seventh stage is marked by either generativity, which is defined as having the ability to
be useful to self and society or by stagnation, which is defined as boredom, self-indulgence
and the inability to contribute. He proposes that middle age adults fall into one of the two
categories. Obviously, healthy development occurs when an adult experiences generativity. The
goal is to be productive in society and productivity is seen as helping others and by itself is a
reward. Individuals that reach generativity are more happy and mature, have increased
satisfaction with work and relationships, and are affected positively with strong support networks
such as marriage and family. Ultimately, Erikson’s conclusion is that an individual can only
reach generativity if he or she has successfully navigated through the first six stages. And, those
that have a chance to reach the final stage of development, which he calls integrity. Remember,
Erickson indicates that only 10-15 percent of adults successfully reach stage seven!
Continuous Traits Theory
Using years of research of various personality traits, McCrae and Costa (1999) established the
five-factor model for personality. This model basically states that there are five different
personality traits, with several subcategories within. The five traits are:
This trait theory differs from stage theories in that the authors’ argue that a person’s personality
remains relatively stable throughout adulthood although habits, life events, opinions, etc. do
change throughout the life. Remember, stage theories argue that person’s personality changes by
going through stages. Trait theory also argues that their traits are influenced by their culture. And
that their’ traits in turn, influence a wide range of wellness such as career success, relationship
success, etc.
▪
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is the tendency to experience some kind of breakdown under stress, such as sadness,
depression, or guilt. An individual possesses a negative view of themselves, is a perfectionist,
and/or is pessimistic about the future.
▪
Extraversion
Extraversion is the tendency to be outgoing and social and seems to spill over into almost all
aspects of the personality. An extraverted individual has an overriding interest in people and
social connections.
▪
Openness to Experience
Openness to experience is exactly that, openness to new ideas, fantasies, actions, feelings, and
values. This type of individual demonstrates a lack of rigidity in regard to the unfamiliar
characteristics openness to experience.
▪
Agreeableness
Agreeableness is the willingness to cooperate and defer to others in social interactions. An
individual may be forgiving and willing to comply with others’ wishes in an effort to avoid
interpersonal conflict.
▪
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is a strong sense of purpose with high expectations. An individual may
possess strong leadership skills and have expertise directed at specific goals and expectations.
Theories on Aging
During the early 2000s, about 12 percent of the population in our society was considered to be in
late adulthood, over 65 years of age. By 2040, estimates are that the number will increase to 20
percent. Understanding this age of developing is becoming increasingly important because more
and more people are living longer lives. Old age is often thought of as being a bad time in a
person’s life. It is a pretty accepted assumption in our culture. But, there are many older adults
that seem to be having the time of their life. There have been many theories that have studied the
reasons for aging and the decline of physical and cognitive processes. These theories of aging
will be explored in the next few sections.
Physiological Theories of Aging
▪
Wear and Tear Theory
Aging is due to cumulative effects of hard work and lifelong stress.
▪
Aging by Program
All animals seem to die when they have reached their purpose. For example, many animals die
after reproduction occurs, but humans have prolonged life well beyond reproduction.
▪
Homeostatic Imbalance
Aging is due to the failure of systems that regulate proper interaction of organ systems. It is not
the decline of organs themselves but rather the way the systems interact, and stress impacts this
balance.
▪
Cross Linkage Theory
Proteins that make up a large part of cells are composed of peptides and when crosslinks are
formed between peptides, proteins are altered in a negative fashion. For example, collagen is a
major connective tissue that provides elasticity in our skin but when proteins are altered skin
deteriorates.
▪
Accumulation of Metabolic Waste
Aging occurs because waste products from metabolism build up in parts of the body (such as
cholesterol on arteries).
▪
Autoimmunity
Aging occurs due to a process when the immune system in the body rejects its own tissue. This
occurs when the body creates antigens, which is a substance in the blood that produces
antibodies, which in turn fight to kill the antigen.
▪
Gene Theory
Aging is due to certain harmful genes that exist in our bodies from birth.
Besides these physiological theories of aging, researchers have looked many other factors that
may influence aging. These factors include the natural environment (disease, natural disasters,
etc.) training, practice, motivation, nutrition, organic malfunction, illness, injury, stress level,
educational level, occupation, personality type, and socioeconomic status.
Physical and Cognitive Development of
Late Adulthood
Physical and cognitive decline can be linked closely together during this age.
Physical decline in older adults has been well documented and researched. One area of research
has looked at reaction time or the time between the onset of a stimulus and the actual muscle
reaction to the stimulus. In other words, if you were to toss a ball at a man the age of 70 and also
at a man the age of 50, will the reaction time of the older person be slower than the younger?
Although there does seem to be some decline in muscular dexterity, most of the noted decline in
reaction time has been attributed to factors other than muscular decline. These reasons include:
motivation, depression, anxiety, lack of practice with sensory stimulation, etc. Another
explanation has to do with ageism, which is a prejudice that elderly cannot perform as well as
younger adults. This prejudice can lead to older adults lowering expectations of their abilities.
Sensory skills are definitely impacted by age. There is a clear decline in these areas although
new treatments are slowing that decline. Vision declines due to eye lenses becoming less
transparent, thicker and elastic. In addition, there are several conditions that negatively impact
vision: floaters, dry eye, age related macular degeneration (blurred central vision), cataracts and
glaucoma (increase eye pressure due to fluid). Hearing also declines but is less treated than
vision because of the stigma of hearing aids. Speech and language does not seem to be directly
affected by age but rather is more impacted by individual differences just as speech and language
is affected during earlier periods of development. The ability to smell is weakened because of the
breakdown in olfactory fibers in the nose. Since taste is so closely linked to smell, there is also a
decline in the ability to taste. Younger adults are said to have around 250 taste buds and older
adults are said to have around 100.
After the age of 40 and well into the older adult age group of 65 and over, health problems are
the leading causes of death. Significant health problems include alcoholism, prostate cancer,
cancer, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Several of these health problems are a result of
weight gain. But these health problems very much differ by segments of the population. For
example, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death but is the fourth leading cause for Hispanics
and third for African Americans.
One health crisis in the elderly that does not seem to be affected by race or socioeconomic status
is Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a form of cognitive dementia. Identification of this disease
became very popular in the 1970s and had grown ever since. As a society, we are becoming
more and more aware of this disease because we have more and more adults living into later
years. Symptoms include deterioration of memory, the ability to learn, and behavior. The
symptoms often start slow and accelerate. Post death autopsies have revealed neurological
damage in the brain of adults with dementia, including the death of neural pathways. As we
discussed in earlier chapters, once neural pathways are pruned away (or are gone) that memory is
gone forever. There have been several theories that have attempted to explain the cause for
Alzheimer’s disease. These have included infections that cause disease and environmental
factors. But the most agreed upon theory is that people are genetically predisposed to it.
Although there is currently no cure and treatment is not always effective, there have been recent
breakthroughs that will hopefully lead to improved care. These include: new ways to combat key
enzymes that contribute to Alzheimer's; new understanding of how to immunize people against a
protein that becomes abnormal; the emergence of human gene therapy capable of vitalizing
damaged brain cells; and new educational techniques.
In Lesson 6, we discussed several theories on intelligence and the impact that aging had on
intelligence. Years of research have led to the conclusion that mental deficits do occur with old
age. Specifically, elderly adults seem to take longer to learn new material, they have difficulty in
performing two mental tasks at one time, and significant delays are caused by mental illness. On
the other hand, further research has indicated that brain deterioration in the elderly is not that bad
and that losses in neural pathways are often replaced with new neural pathways. And, any mental
differences can be made up with the increased amount of vocabulary and experiences that
generally go with older adults.
So, do they have a decline in mental ability or don’t they? Unfortunately, it is very hard to create
an assessment that allows for unbiased observation. In other words, is the observer seeing a
decline in performance or are they just expecting that decline because of their bias on aging.
There are also other problems associated with testing. Does the test measure pure cognitive
ability or performance of real-life tasks because these results would have a different meaning? Is
the person being tested representative of an average elderly adult or is he or she an exceptionally
high or low performing adult? And finally, is performance on a task being impacted by prior
knowledge? All of these reasons have made testing cognitive ability in older adults challenging.
Creativity is another area studied in adults. In Lesson 6, we concluded that generally as
adults age they see a decline in creative quantity but not necessarily in quality. In other words, an
older adult may be producing less original paintings than he did when he was younger but the
original paintings he does produce have the same creative quality that his original paintings
always have. In a study conducted by Jaquish and Ripple (1980), they developed a test of
creativity (specifically on divergent thinking) that would not be familiar to anyone in the test
population regardless of age group. They did this to ensure a more valid assessment (is the
assessment measuring what it’s intended to measure). The results indicated that as adults grew
older, they saw an increase in divergent thinking but once they hit age 65 and beyond, they saw a
decline. And the decline was more pronounced in quantity rather than quality (as we discussed
earlier). But the researchers also cited that a limitation of the study was that they did not control
for the loss of senses (such as hearing and vision) that may have impacted performance in the
adults over 65.
Another important cognitive topic that must be discussed when talking about elderly adults is the
concept of wisdom, which can be defined as superior insight and judgment that can only come
from experience. Steinberg (1990) explained wisdom by comparing how the concepts of
wisdom, intelligence, and creativity look in six different aspects of life (knowledge, processes,
intellectual style, personality, motivation, and environmental context).
We will explore one of these for clarification. In the life aspect of knowledge, he defined the
terms in the following way: wisdom would be the understanding of presuppositions and
meanings as well as limitations; intelligence would be recall, analysis and use of the knowledge;
and creativity would be going beyond what is available or evident.
Let’s say for example that an older adult is getting ready to work with a team to apply principles
of architecture to design a new structure. He would show his wisdom by expressing his
experiences in working with similar buildings and how those projects went in similar
environmental conditions as this structure. He is able share his wealth of knowledge and
experiences to save the team from making common errors. His intelligence would be expressed
in his actual ability to use and apply these architectural principles effectively in his designs. And,
he could show creatively by applying the principles to create a new building design never seen
before.
Baltes and Staudinger (2000) argue that wisdom is a result of five different factors: intelligence,
including both fluid and crystallized types; personality traits, such as openness to experience,
generativity and a continuing willingness to meet life's challenges; the personality-intelligence
interface, which includes creativity and social intelligence; life experience; and age (by and
large, the older the person, the greater their wisdom).
Conclusion
Personality development is one of the most important aspects of development research on adults.
Are individuals’ personalities a result of acquiring specific personality traits that remain stable
through adulthood? Or do personalities change and progress through stages that occur through
adulthood? Or is it more likely that an adult’s personality is a combination of the two
viewpoints? As adults progress from middle age adulthood to older adulthood (after age 65),
they begin to age and see changes in physical and cognitive functions. But, these changes are not
as drastic as perceived by society and the reasons for these declines are not always clear.
References
Baltes, P. B., & Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Wisdom: A metaheuristic (pragmatic) to orchestrate
mind and virtue toward excellence. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 122–136.
Dacey, J. S., Travers, J. F. & Fiore, L. (2008). Human development across the
lifespan. McGraw Hill Publishing.
Erikson, E. (1978). Adulthood. New York: Norton.
Jaquish, G., & Ripple, R. E. (1990). Cognitive creative abilities across the adult life
span. Human Development, 34 (2), 143–152.
Levinston, D. (1990). A theory of life structure development in adulthood. In C. N. Alexander &
E. J. Langer (Eds.), Higher states of human development. New York: Oxford University Press,
35–54.
Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sternberg R. (1990). Metaphors of mind: Conceptions of the nature of intelligence. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
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