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CHAPTER 3 Affirmative Aging - Adulthood Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Chapter Summary Adult Development Decisions, Decisions, Decisions – Early Adulthood Leaving Home Choosing A Career Establishing Close Relationships Starting A Family Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Chapter Summary Cont’d Same Old, Same Old – Middle Adulthood Midlife Transition Or Midlife Crisis? Physical And Cognitive Changes Possible Career Changes Sexual Changes Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Chapter Summary Cont’d Aging Gracefully – Late Adulthood Physical And Cognitive Changes Personal And Social Adjustment Retirement Successful Aging Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Adult Development Definition: Adulthood can be defined as the period of life from physical maturity on, consisting of a sequence of physical and physiological changes throughout early, middle, and late adulthood. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Adult Development Cont’d Certain themes are important to adult development: One theme is the increased importance of individual differences as we age. The other theme is that adulthood, as is childhood, is a period of continued development and personal change. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Decisions, Decisions, Decisions – Early Adulthood Leaving Home An important task in early adulthood is perceiving ourselves as separate from our families. External aspects of this transformation include moving out of our childhood home and being less dependent financially on our parents. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Leaving Home Cont’d Internal aspects include differentiating ourselves from our parents and becoming a more autonomous decision maker. Any life transition such as this can cause personal adjustment problems. Interestingly, more and more young adults are moving back in with their parents. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Choosing A Career Choosing a career entails more than mere selection; we must prepare for any given career as well. The developmental aim of choosing a career is to “make something of ourselves” and to provide some stability in our lives. Again, such major life transitions can cause problems of adjustment. Many young adults today put off higher education and attend college later as mature adults. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Establishing Close Relationships Forming close relationships with peers is another developmental task of young adulthood. Young adults who have yet to find themselves may be afraid of establishing close ties with someone else. When intimate, young adult relationships are tentative or noncommittal, the relationship is unstable and the more committed partner may feel vulnerable. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Starting A Family Young couples today are more thoughtful about marriage and families. Often the result is to marry and start a family later than did previous generations. There is more voluntary childlessness than in the past, too. Studies show that working parents have fewer hours a week to spend with their children than in the past. Women’s educational and career plans are influenced more heavily by family needs than are men’s. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Same Old, Same Old - Middle Adulthood Definition: Middle adulthood can be categorized as that era between the late thirties and the sixties that is generally characterized by fulfillment of career and family goals. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Midlife Transition or Midlife Crisis? The midlife transition is a period of personal evaluation that comes sometimes with the realization that one’s life is about half over. Some people try to hide the obvious signs of middle age. There are important changes or transitions that can cause problems of adjustment at this stage, too. The death of one’s parents Children leaving home Friends and neighbors retiring or moving Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Midlife Transition or Midlife Crisis Cont’d Middle age need not be a period of instability nor of crisis. In middle age, our emotions tend to mellow. In fact, research demonstrates that middle aged adults report as much happiness and satisfaction as people in their twenties and thirties. Various factors are predictive of happiness and stability in midlife such as religiosity, a stable marriage, and good health. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Physical And Cognitive Changes Physical Changes: At midlife people tend to gain weight around their middles. Middle aged people slow down a bit and take longer to recover from illness. Having built up some resistance, middle aged people seem to be less susceptible to disease. Those individuals who remain physically active also remain healthier. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Physical And Cognitive Changes Cont’d Cognitive Changes Starting around age 50, people begin to differ more and more in their cognitive abilities. Spatial ability and abstract reasoning may begin to decline. Alzheimer’s disease, a dementia of old age, can actually begin at midlife in people manifesting mild cognitive impairments (MCI). Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Possible Career Changes Middle aged people who feel they are in dead-end jobs may seek new jobs or new careers. Women react somewhat differently than men. Women who have worked may make a late attempt to start a family, while women who stayed home may return to the workforce. Some of the women seeking midlife employment return to school where they are nontraditional students. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Sexual Changes Women Middle aged women experience menopause, the cessation of menstruation, which also signals an end to the childbearing years. Some women opt to use hormone replacement therapy to ease the physical symptoms of menopause. This therapy has recently been shown to cause serious adverse side effects. Most middle aged women find other changes (e.g. caring for elderly parents) to be more distressing than the changes caused by menopause. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Sexual Changes Cont’d Men Men also experience changes known as the climacteric, the loss of reproductive capacity. The climacteric includes the diminution of sexual vigor, decrease in testosterone secretion, and reduced fertility. Men reach the climacteric 5 to 10 years later than women reach menopause. Men and women who take these changes in stride are able to find continued sexual satisfaction in middle age. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Aging Gracefully – Late Adulthood Definition: Late adulthood is the final stage of adult development, from mid-sixties to death and is characterized by adjustment to changing health, income, and social roles. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Introduction Older people are more likely than other age groups to encounter ageism, negative attitudes and treatment (especially of older Americans) because of age. The federal government has age-related protections in place to prevent discrimination against older Americans. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Personal and Social Adjustment Old age can be an age of integrity if the elderly remain active and involved. Older individuals prefer to control life events themselves rather than react to what happens to them. That is, they prefer to maintain an internal locus of control. For example, most elderly Americans prefer to live in their own homes rather than in alternative forms of housing. Older women typically outlive their husbands so have more adjustments to make. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Retirement People’s attitudes about and reasons for retirement vary greatly from person to person. Generally, the more voluntary the retirement, the better the adjustment to it. An adequate income is important to successful retirement; social security alone is no longer sufficient. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Retirement Cont’d Retirement does not cause a decline in self-esteem. Older Americans are placing more importance on postretirement activities such as volunteer work or parttime employment. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Successful Aging Some psychologists support the activity theory of aging; individuals who remain active age most successfully. Other psychologists favor the disengagement theory of aging; individuals who disconnect from society as they age, age more normally. It is probably accurate, though, to say that each person adopts a style of aging that best suits his or her needs and personality. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall Successful Aging Cont’d Older people like to engage in the life review, a naturally occurring process of self-review prompted by the realization that life is approaching its end. These reminiscences help the older person to assess his or her life as well as leave a record of the past for others. Individuals who felt satisfied with their earlier lives will likely age most successfully. Duffy/Atwater © 2005 Prentice Hall