UNIT 7

• Until the 1970s, psychologists tended to treat adulthood as a single developmental stage, with few or no distinctions made between the various periods that we pass through between adolescence and death
• Present-day psychologists realize that physical, cognitive, and emotional responses continue to develop throughout life, with corresponding changes in our social needs and desires
• Stages of adulthood


  • Early adulthood
  • Middle adulthood
  • Late adulthood
• Emerging adulthood (Jeffrey Arnett, 2006)


  • Identity exploration, especially in love and work
  • Instability
  • Self-focused
  • Feeling in-between
  • The age of possibilities
• Markers of being an adult

  • Having a fulltime job
  • Being responsible for oneself
  • Living independently
• Physiological peak


  People in their twenties and thirties are considered young adults, with their body's growth completed and reproductive, motor, strength, and lung capacity operating at their best
• Early adulthood is a particularly risky time for violent deaths, with the leading causes being unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide
• Emerging adults


  Have more than twice the mortality rate of adolescents
• Emerging adults engage in more health-compromising behaviors, have more chronic disorders, are more likely to be obese, and are more likely to have a mental disorder than adolescents
• Emerging adults often don't apply the information they know about preventing illness and promoting health to themselves
• Sexual responsiveness


  Men tend to peak in late teens/early 20s, women often peak in late 30s/early 40s
• Premarital sex is more common today (90%) compared to the 1950s/60s (75%) among 20-24 year olds in the US
• Unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections/diseases are a central issue for emerging adults
• As emerging adults move through this stage, they are more likely to engage in monogamous sexual relationships and practice safe sex
• Forcible sexual behavior (rape) and sexual harassment are other issues in sexuality in young adulthood
• The mean age of first-time mothers in the US increased from 24.9 in 2000 to 26.3 in 2014, as more women delay childbearing until their late 20s/early 30s
• Infertility affects about 6.7 million women or 11% of the reproductive age population in the US
• The most common causes of infertility are lack of sperm production/low sperm production in men, and ovulation disorder, blocked fallopian tubes, pelvic inflammatory disease, and Chlamydia in women
• Work defines people in fundamental ways, impacting their financial standing, housing, time use, friendships, health, identity, emotions, self-esteem, and more
• Work stress can be due to making career decisions, salary, hours of work, lack of career growth, and interpersonal concerns
• Temperament


  An individual's behavioral style and characteristic emotional responses
• In early adulthood, most individuals show fewer emotional mood swings than in adolescence, and become more responsible and engage in less risk-taking behavior
• Some dimensions of childhood temperament are linked to adult personality
• Consensual validation


  Our own attitudes and values are supported when someone else's attitudes and values are similar to us
• Matching hypothesis


  • Although we may prefer a more attractive person in the abstract, in the real world we end up choosing someone who is close to our own level of attractiveness
• Intimacy


  Self-disclosure and sharing of private thoughts are hallmarks of intimacy
• Erik Erikson's Stage: INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION


  Intimacy and independence. There should be a delicate balance between intimacy and commitment on the other hand and independence and freedom on the other
• Gender differences in friendships

  • Women have more close relationships than men
  • Women are labeled as "talking companions"
  • Adult male pattern of friendship often involve keeping one's distance
  • Men are less likely than women to talk about their weaknesses
  • Men seek practical solutions than sympathy
• Pros of cross gender friendships


  • Learning more about common feelings
  • Understanding knowledge and beliefs typical of the other gender
• Cons of cross gender friendships


  • Unclear sexual boundaries
  • Tension and confusion
• Romantic love


  a.k.a. passionate love or eros, has strong sexual and infatuation components
• Affectionate love


  a.k.a. companionate love, characterized by deep, caring affection
• Consummate love


  fullest form of love, characterized by passion, intimacy and commitment
• Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

  Liking (intimacy), Romantic love (passion + intimacy), Companionate love (intimacy + commitment), Consummate love (intimacy + passion + commitment), Infatuation (passion), Fatuous love (passion + commitment), Empty love (commitment)
• Positive outcomes of a break-up


  • Person positives: I am more self-confident, I found I could handle more on my own, I didn't always have to be the strong one
  • Relational positives: Better communication, I learned many relationship skills that I can apply in the future
  • Environmental positives: I rely on my friends more, I can put so much more time and effort toward school, I believe friends' and family's opinions count-will seek them out in future relationships