Middle Adulthood

Middle Age (3460) is generally the most powerful stage in life in terms of earning capacity,
influence on other people and impact on society in general. Middle age is the age of society's norm-
bearers and decision-makers.
Career and work are the most important things at this stage, along with family. Middle adulthood
is also the time when people can take on greater responsibilities and control.
Major life shifts can occur during this stage. For example, children leave the household, careers
can change, and so on. Some may struggle with finding purpose. Significant relationships are those
within the family, workplace, local church and other communities.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Middle-aged adults often show visible signs of aging such as loss of skin elasticity and graying of
the hair. Physical fitness usually wanes, with a 510 kg (10-20 lb) accumulation of body fat,
reduction in aerobic performance and a decrease in maximal heart rate. Strength and flexibility also
decrease throughout middle age. However, people age at different rates and there can be significant
differences between individuals of the same age.
Menopause occurs, on average, at about age 51, following the physiological changes of per
menopause. Attitudes toward menopause, and symptoms experienced, may depend on personal
characteristics, past experiences, and cultural attitudes.
Although men can continue to father children until late in life, many middle-aged men experience a
decline in fertility and in frequency of orgasm.

Sexual activity generally diminishes only slightly and gradually, and the quality of sexual relations
may improve.
Among women, sexual dysfunction decreases with age; in men, it is just the opposite. A large
proportion of middle-aged men experience erectile dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction can have
physical causes but also may be related to health, lifestyle, and emotional well-being.
The "double standard of aging" causes women to seem less desirable as they lose their youthful
appearance. For both men and women, anxiety about getting older is heightened in a society that
places a premium on youth.

HEALTH
Most middle-aged people are healthy and have no functional limitations.
Diet, exercise, alcohol use, and smoking affect present and future health. Preventive care is
important.
Hypertension is a major health problem beginning in midlife. AIDS tends to be more severe in older
people because of weakened immune functioning.
Leading causes of death in middle age are cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and stroke.
Diabetes also is a major cause of death.
Postmenopausal women become more susceptible to heart disease and bone loss leading to
osteoporosis. Chances of developing breast cancer also increase with age, and routine
mammography is recommended for beginning at age 40.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Cognitive development is multidirectional
- Gains in some areas, losses in others
Cross sectional measures of intelligence show decreases with age
- May be cohort effect of better/more schooling
Longitudinal measures show increase, at least until fifties
- May be inflated due to practice effects and attrition
Uneven performance due to influences of neurological aspects, which decline with age and cultural
aspects which improve with age

Fluid intelligence peaks during early adulthood and then declines

- Ability to apply mental powers to new problems
-Perceiving relationships, forming concepts, drawing inferences
-Decline probably due to changes in brain
Crystallized intelligence improves through middle age and on
- Ability to remember and use information acquired over a lifetime
- Depends on education and culture
- Uses stored information and automatic processing
Adults face real-life problems
- Need measures of practical problem solving

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MIDLIFE CRISIS
A time of re-evaluation that leads to questioning long-held beliefs and values. The midlife crisis
may also result in a person divorcing his or her spouse, changing jobs, or moving from the city to
the suburbs. Typically beginning in the early- or mid-40s, the crisis often occurs in response to a
sense of mortality, as middle adults realize that their youth is limited and that they have not
accomplished all of their desired goals in life.

Male midlife crisis - Men may try to reassert their masculinity by engaging in more youthful male
behaviours, such as dressing in trendy clothes, taking up activities like scuba diving, motorcycling, or
skydiving.

Female midlife crisis - Women may try to reassert their femininity by dressing in youthful styles,
having cosmetic surgery, or becoming more socially active. Some middle adult women try to look as
young as their young adult children by dying their hair and wearing more youthful clothing. Such
actions may be a response to feelings of isolation, loneliness, inferiority, uselessness, nonassertion,
or unattractiveness.

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
MANAGING A CAREER
Understanding and managing leadership and authority
One must identify the authority structure operating in the work setting and begin to establish a
position in it
Career advancement means assuming leadership in some areas, while recognizing and cooperating
with the leadership of others
Leadership is a relationship among people; leaders provide a sense of vision or direction; and
leaders have an impact on getting the group to work toward achieving its vision

Expanding interpersonal relationships

Most occupations place a great deal of emphasis on the development and use of interpersonal
skills, especially the ability to interact well with customers and co-workers, and the ability to
communicate effectively as underlying criteria in the selection and promotion process.

Meeting new skill demands

The characteristics of the occupation and the work setting determine what kinds of work-related
skills will dominate the adults energies
Substantive complexity is the degree to which the work requires thought, independent judgment,
and frequent decision making
Intellectual flexibility is the ability to handle conflicting information, grasp several perspectives on a
problem, and reflect on ones own values and solutions

Midlife Career Changes

A management of a career does not necessarily mean remaining within the same occupational
structure throughout adult life
Between the ages of 18 and 30 a young person is likely to have held 7.5 jobs

Balancing Work and Family Life

Almost everyone manages a career while juggling commitments to spouse, children, parents, other
household members, and friends
Role overload occurs as a result of too many demands and expectations to handle in the time
allowed
Role conflict refers to ways that the demands and expectations of various roles conflict with each
other

Role spillover occurs when the demands or preoccupations about one role interfere with the ability
to carry out another role
The combination of role overload, role conflict, and role spillover can lead to reduced satisfaction at
work and in family roles
Areas of conflict that arise in dual-earner couples often focus on the management of household
tasks and child care

The Impact of Joblessness

There is a difference in how people cope with seasonal or short-term (less than 5 weeks)
unemployment and chronic unemployment
Job loss has been associated with both physical and psychological consequences, such as self-
doubt, passivity, and social withdrawal

NURTURING AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

Although people derive a significant sense of personal identity from their jobs and may worry a lot
about them, happiness in an intimate relationship is a stronger predictor of overall well-being in
adulthood than is satisfaction with work
Partners must be committed to growth both as individuals and as a couple
Caring and acceptance of each other deepen as each person willingly permits changes in attitudes,
needs, and interest in the other

The couple must develop an effective communication system

For many couples who do not have an effective communication system, resentments accumulate
with no opportunity to resolve them
A vital marriage is sustained through the couples ability to make creative use of conflict
Although high levels of negativity and discord are disruptive to a marriage, some amount of conflict
must be permitted in order to sustain the sense of individuality that is central to a vital marriage
Preserving Passion in Long-Term Relationships
According to Sternbergs three-dimensional model of love, passion is the first thing to go
Preserving an erotic and sexual aspect to intimacy continues to play a role in fostering vital
relationships
Nurturing vitality in an intimate relationship is a long-term task

EXPANDING CARING RELATIONSHIPS

Parenting
In parenting we see the critical intersection of adult development and child development
Being a parent is a difficult, demanding task that requires a great deal of learning
Developmental stages of the family
The years when children are in early and middle childhood
The years when children are adolescents
The years when no children are living at home
Grandparenthood


Caring for Ones Aging Parents
What is filial obligation? Feeling of responsibility to care for ones parents
Who provides help? Evidence suggests that daughters assume much more of the responsibility of
their aging parents than do sons
Adult children are sometimes in a position of trying to supplement the care and support they
provide their parents by coordinating social services and agencies
Research on care giving within the family has begun to examine the rewards as well as the costs in
its relationship

MANAGING THE HOUSEHOLD

Managing Resources and Meeting Needs and Building Networks and Coalitions
Household is a term that describes an entity that is created by people for a particular style of living
The value of the many tasks required to establish and maintain a supportive household
environment is difficult to assess
The household system has the potential for providing an environment is a developmental task for
the middle adult years

Remarriage and Blended Families

About 40% of marriages involve a remarriage for the bride, the groom, or both
In remarriage, partners must find ways to create boundaries around the blended family so that
children can benefit from the love and support of their parents, grandparents, and other relatives
while protecting the new family from unwanted intrusions and pressures for competing loyalties

One-Parent Families
About 32% of all families are one-parent families
The greatest stressor for single mothers is the lack of financial resources
In addition to the stresses of poverty, single parents may suffer from social isolation, continuous
pressure to meet the needs of their children, and experiencing overload in trying to combine work,
parenting, and household decision making without a partner

PSYCHOSOCIAL CRISIS: GENERATIVITY VS STAGNATION

During this time, adults strive to create or nurture things that
will outlast them; often by having children or contributing to
positive changes that benefits other people.
Contributing to society and doing things to benefit future
generations are important needs at the generativity versus
stagnation stage of development.
Generativity is the capacity to contribute to the quality of life for future generations
Stagnation is a lack of psychological movement or growth during middle adulthood that may result
from self-aggrandizement or from the inability to cope with developmental tasks

CENTRAL PROCESS: PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT AND CREATIVITY
Person Environment Fit is personal growth that depends on the interaction between a persons
needs, skills, and interpersonal style and the demands of the environments in which he or she is
embedded
Creativity is the willingness to abandon old forms or patterns of doing things and to think in new
ways

THE PRIME ADAPIVE EGO QUALTIY:

Care is the commitment to be concerned
CORE PATHOLOGY
Rejectivity is the unwillingness to include certain others or groups of others in ones generative
concerns