Adulthood

• Adulthood


  • Period when opposite factors affect lives
  • Can be a time when a person matures fully into what he or she is
  • Can be a time when life closes in and what was once possibility is now limitation
• Adulthood (etymology)


  Derived from the Latin word "adutus" meaning grown to full size & length or matured
• Adults

  Individuals who have completed their growth & are ready to assume their role/status in society
• Adulthood is the longest period in human development, varying from culture to culture
• Subdivisions of adulthood


  • Early: 18-40 years old
  • Middle: 40-60 years old
  • Late: 60 and above
• Characteristics of adulthood


  • Period of adjustment (New life patterns, new social expectations)
  • New roles to play
  • Development of new attitudes
  • Settling down age
• Characteristics of early adulthood (18-40)


  • Time of commitments
  • Time of value change
  • Adjustment to new lifestyle
  • Creative age
  • Change in interests
  • Change is social perception
  • Emotional tension
  • Social isolation or dependency
• Characteristics of middle adulthood (40-60)

  • Time of transition
  • Time of achievement & evaluation
  • Change in appearance
  • Change in sensory ability & physiological functioning
  • Status Symbolism
  • Age of Double Standards
  • Time of Empty Nest
  • Time of Boredom & Stress
• Characteristics of late adulthood (60-above)

  • Closing period & decline
  • Role Change
  • Desire for rejuvenation
  • Interest in self & social disengagement
  • Religious interest
  • Waiting for death
• Physical changes with aging

  • Aging is the result of normal wear and tear on the body
  • Process of physical decline is slow and gradual
• Physical changes in middle age

  • Hair starts turning gray and begins to thin
• Physical changes in old age

  • Muscles and fat that have built up over the years begins to break down
  • People lose weight, become shorter, develop more wrinkles
• Common causes of death in old age

  • Heart Disease
  • Cancer
  • Cirrhosis of the liver
• Sexual activity does not automatically decline with age
• The ability to comprehend new material & think improves with years and experience
• Levinson's Theory of Seasons of Life


  • Transition periods occur at age 30, 40, 50, and 60
  • Each transition lasts about 5 years
• Empty Nest Syndrome


  Grief that many parents feel when their children move out of home
• Empty Nest Syndrome does not have to be traumatic, stable marriages make this event bearable
• Depression


  Most common in middle aged women, who are more likely to have had the role of primary carer
• Fear of Growing Old


  One of the most common fears in society, people see old age as being one step from the grave
• Ageism


  Prejudice or discrimination against the elderly
• We think that old people suffer from poor health, live in poverty and are frequent victims of crime, and that the aged withdraw from life and sit around doing nothing
• Changes in life situations

  • Young people experience positive transitions like graduation, marriage, parenthood
  • Older people experience negative transitions like retirement, widowhood
• Majority of people over the age of 65 continue to be interested in sex, healthy partners enjoy sexual activities into their 70s and 80s
• Reasons for not engaging in sexual activity in old age

  • Poor health
  • Death of a spouse
• Crystallized Intelligence


  Ability to use accumulated knowledge and learning in appropriate situations
• Fluid Intelligence


  Ability to solve abstract relational problems and generate new hypothesis
• Senile Dementia


  Memory loss, forgetfulness, disorientation of time & place, decline in the ability to think, impaired attention, altered personality & difficulties in relating to others
• Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle


  • Denial- avoidance, confusion, elation, shock fear
  • Anger- frustration, irritation, anxiety
  • Bargaining- struggling to find meaning, reaching out to others, telling one's story
  • Depression- overwhelmed, helplessness, hostility, flight
  • Acceptance- exploring options, new plan in place, moving on
• Thanatology


  Study of dying and death
• • Ages 22-28: Considered a novice in the adult world, conflict between need to explore and need to establish stability
• The Age-Thirty Crisis: Questions about choices of marriage, career & life goals are reopened
• • Settling Down 36 – 40: Begin actively carving out a niche in society, concentrating on "making it" in the adult world
• The Midlife Transition: What have I done with my life? What have I accomplished? What do I still wish to accomplish?
• • Age 19-30 years old; Time of acquisition of Intimacy
• • 60's: Culmination of life structure
• • Psychosexual Mode: Procreativity - assuming responsibility for the care of one's children and other people's children
• • Young adulthood Psychosocial Crisis: Generativity vs Stagnation
• Generativity is generation of new beings and products and ideas; Guiding next generation with altruistic concern
• Stagnation – self-absorption