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Psychology 203
Human Development
Psychosocial Development
In
Young Adulthood
Chapter 14
10/27/2005
Part taken from Human Development 9e
1
Young Adulthood
Personality Development
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Four Views
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Normative-stage models
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Timing-of-events models
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Mental, emotional, temperamental, and behavioral traits
(cheerfulness, irritability)
Typological models
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Expected or unexpected occurrence and timing of
important life events (not age)
Trait models
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Typical sequence of age-related development that
continues throughout adult life span
Identify broader personality types, or styles that
represent how traits are organized within individuals
Part taken from Human Development 9e
2
Young Adulthood
Personality Development
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Normative-stage models
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Erikson
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Personality changes throughout life
Intimacy versus Isolation
Vaillant (1977)
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Adaptive mechanisms
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Levinson (1986)
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Evolving life structure: People shape their life structures during
overlapping eras of about 20 to 25 years each.
Validity of studies is questionable
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Mature (using humor or helping others)
Immature (developing aches and pains with no physical basis)
Psychotic (distorting reality)
Neurotic (repressing anxiety or developing irrational fears)
Based on research using mostly men
Based on small groups of all white middle-class to upper-middleclass men
Most important message is adults continue to change, develop
and grow
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
3
Young Adulthood
Personality Development
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Timing-of-Events
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Course of development depends on when certain events
occur in people’s lives.
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Normative Life Events are commonly expected life experiences
that occur at customary times
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Marriage
Parenthood
Grandparenthood
Retirement
Events are normative when they are “on time”
People are aware of their won “social clock”
Crises may result, not from reaching a certain age but from
the unexpected occurrence and timing of life events.
Model is limited because model only fits when cultures and
historical periods in which norms of behavior are stable and
widespread
Part taken from Human Development 9e
4
Young Adulthood
Trait Models (Costa and McCrae’s five Factors)
Neuroticism
Extraversion
Openness
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
5
Young Adulthood
Costa and McCrae’s
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Continuity of personality
Analysis is cross-sectional, longitudinal, and
sequential from large sample sizes
Critics of model
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Statistical and methodological problems
Based largely on subjective ratings
Model looks at only individual differences in trait
groupings
No theoretical framework for understanding how
personality works within the person
Part taken from Human Development 9e
6
Young Adulthood
Typological Models
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Typological Models
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Personality as functioning whole that affects and reflects
attitudes, values, behavior, and social interactions
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Ego-resilient
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Overcontrolled
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Shy, quiet, anxious, dependable, withdraw from conflict
Undercontrolled
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Adaptability under stress
Well adjusted self-confident, independent, articulate, attentive,
helpful, cooperative, and task-focused
Active, energetic, impulsive, stubborn, and easily distracted
Traits established in childhood may predict trajectories
(long term patterns)
Part taken from Human Development 9e
7
Young Adulthood
Integrating Approaches
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
8
Young Adulthood
Foundations of Intimate Relationships
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Resolve conflicts with parents in wholesome way or
may reenact similar conflicts in new relationships
with friends, colleagues, and partners
Seek emotional and physical intimacy in relationship
with peers and romantic partners
Gain skills in
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Self-awareness
Empathy
Communicate emotions
Sexual decision making
Conflict resolution
Sustain commitments
Part taken from Human Development 9e
9
Young Adulthood
Foundations of Intimate Relationships
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Intimate relationships are crucial task of
young adulthood (Erikson)
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Shared disclosures (self-disclosure)
Responsiveness to one another’s needs
Mutual acceptance
Respect
Intimacy includes a sense of belonging
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Form strong, stable, close, caring relationships is
powerful motivator of human behavior
Part taken from Human Development 9e
10
Young Adulthood
Friendship
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Friendships center on
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Work
Parenting activities
Sharing of confidences and advice
Young singles rely on friendships to fulfill social
needs
Women have more intimate friendships then men
Women find friendships with other women more
satisfying than those with men
Men share information and activities, not
confidences
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
11
Young Adulthood
Love
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Sternberg and Barnes elements
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Intimacy
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Passion
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Inner drives that translate physiological
arousal into sexual desire
Commitment
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Self-disclosure leads to connection, warmth,
and trust
Cognitive decision to love and to stay with the
beloved
Part taken from Human Development 9e
12
Young Adulthood
Nonmarital and Marital lifestyles
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Rules of acceptable behavior are more
elastic then during the first half 20th
century
Norms no longer dictate
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People must get married
Stay married
Have children
At what age
Part taken from Human Development 9e
13
Young Adulthood
Nonmarital and Marital lifestyles
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Single Life
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45% of 25-29 year olds had never married
Black, White, and Latina single women in
LA have difficulty finding eligible men with
similar educational and social backgrounds
Part taken from Human Development 9e
14
Young Adulthood
Gay and Lesbian Relationships
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3% of US men and 1½% women call
themselves homesual or bisexual
Ingredients of long-term satisfaction
are very similar in homosexual and
heterosexual relationships
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
15
Young Adulthood
Cohabitation
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Consensual or informal union
In US was against the law in 1970
Substitute for marriage or “trial marriage”
Relationship tend to be less satisfying than
marriages
Half US couples who marry have lived together first
Tend to have unconventional attitudes about family
life
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Likely to have divorced parents
Stepchildren
Liberal attitudes toward divorce
Part taken from Human Development 9e
16
Young Adulthood
Marriage
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Meets fundamental needs
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Intimacy
Commitment
Friendship
Affection
Sexual fulfillment
Companionship
Emotional growth
Identity and self-esteem
Part taken from Human Development 9e
17
Young Adulthood
Entering Matrimony
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Most common way of selecting a mate has
been through arrangement
Free choose of mates norm in western world
Transition to married major changes in
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Sexual functioning
Living arrangements
Rights and responsibility
Attachments
Loyalties
Part taken from Human Development 9e
18
Young Adulthood
Sexual Activity After Marriage
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Only one-third have intercourse two or more
times a week
More emotional satisfaction from sex then
single or cohabiting couples
Drops sharply after the early months and
then declines as time goes on
May seek sexual intimacy outside the
marriage after few years
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
19
Young Adulthood
Factors in Marital success or failure
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One of the most important factors is sense of
commitment
Success closely associated with
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Good marriage
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Communication
Making decisions
Dealing with conflict
Arguing and openly expressing anger
Trouble marriage
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Whining
Defensiveness
Stubbornness
withdrawal
Part taken from Human Development 9e
20
Young Adulthood
Factors in Marital success or failure
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Major predictors of success
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Age - 20-30 better then teens
Education - College grads better then non
grads
Cohabitation before marriage and having
divorced parents are predictive of divorce
No children better then pregnant or
bearing children before marriage
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Domestic Violence
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Physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment of a
spouse, a former spouse, or an intimate partner so
as to gain or maintain power or control
Nine out of ten victims in US are women
Men profile
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Less than a high school education
Unemployed or intermittently employed
Low incomes
Alcohol or drug problems
Former or estranged husband or former boyfriends
Men seeking control or dominance
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Boys taught by example to prevail though aggression and
physical force
Part taken from Human Development 9e
22
Becoming Parents
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Preindustrial farming societies
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Large families were a necessity
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Death rate in childhood was high
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Helped with family work
Care for aging parents
Having lots of children many more would
reach maturity
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Parenthood
Developmental Experience
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First baby marks a major transition in
parents’ lives
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Baby changes individuals and changes
relationships
As baby develop, so must parents
Fathers today are more involved in
children’s lives, and childcare and
housework than ever before.
10/27/2005
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Parenthood
Developmental Experience
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Men with children living with them
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Less involved in outside social activities
More likely to participate in
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School-related activities
Church Groups
Community services
Part taken from Human Development 9e
25
Parenthood
Marital Satisfaction
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Satisfaction declines during the
childraising years
Both husbands and wives report sharp
decline during the first four years
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Dual-Earner Families
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Two out of three US families with married couple
and children under 18 years
Positive outcomes
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Raises some families from poverty to middle-income
Women more independent and share of economic power
Reduces pressure on men to be providers
Equal relationship between husband and wife
Better health for both
Greater self-esteem for the women
Closer relationship between fathers and children
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Dual-Earner Families
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Downside
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Working couples face extra demands on
them and energy
Conflicts between work and family
Rivalry between spouses
Anxiety and guilt about meeting children’s
needs
Part taken from Human Development 9e
28
Division of Domestic Work
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Almost all known societies women have
primary responsibility for housework
and child raising
Psychological effects very based on
how breadwinning and household work
are divided
Effects depend on how the husband
and wife view their roles
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Division of Domestic Work
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Perception of unfairness contributes
most to marital instability
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Fairness depend on the size of the wife’s
financial contribution
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Co-provider
Supplementing husband’s income
Meaning and importance wife or husband
place on wife’s work
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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When Marriage Ends
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Average marriage ends in seven to
eight years
43% of first marriages end in
separation or divorce within 15 years
90% of separated couples go on to
divorce within 5 years
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Part taken from Human Development 9e
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When Marriage Ends
Why the increase?
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Possible causes
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More liberal divorce laws
No-fault laws
More women financially independent
Greater damage to children if they stay together
More childless couples
Young couples expect too much from marriage
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Take place of their parents
Take place of their friends
Both confidantes and lovers
Conflicts between what men want and what women
want
Part taken from Human Development 9e
32
When Marriage Ends
Adjusting to Divorce
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Divorce is a process not a single event.
Some people adjust rather quickly but may tend to reduce
long-term well-being
Reasons
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Disruption of parent-child relationships
Discord with a former spouse
Economic hardship
Loss of emotional support
Moving out of family home
Feelings of
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Failure
Blame
Hostility
Self-recrimination
Depression
Illness
Most important factor is emotional detachment from the former
spouse (average time is three years)
10/27/2005
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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Remarriage and
Stepparenthood
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Remarriages are more likely than first
marriages to end in divorce
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Greatest during the first five years and
stepchildren
Stepparent more challenging for women then
men
The more recent the current marriage and
the older the stepchildren, the harder
stepparenting seems
Less able to separate feelings about the
marriage from feelings about success as
stepparents
10/27/2005
Part taken from Human Development 9e
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