HDFS 1070 Study Guide - Final Guide: Midlife Crisis, Apache Hadoop, Libido
23 Jan 2017
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HDFS FINAL EXAM
11/16 Middle Adulthood (40-60)
Chronological versus Psychological Age
- chronological age begins to mean less in terms of the quality of how they’re developing
- psychological age becomes more important → how you feel about your age, experience
of your age, your framing of it → determinant of the stage of your age
Physiological Changes + Psychological Adaptations → Trajectory of Middle Adulthood
- health + psychological responses → determines how you experience the stage you’re in
and how you cope with these challenges
- body begins to remind you in slow and subtle ways as you age
- you become aware of the physical changes of ages
Stage Specific Sources of Anxiety – Mid-Life Polarities (focusing on the works of
Levinson, Sheehy and Erikson)
- each stage in life has associated with it developmental demands and stage specific
sources of anxiety
- stage specific sources of anxiety = mid-life polarities
- use this term to capture the fact that anxieties have to do with these opposite force that
they’re experiencing
Polarity One: Young versus Old
- start experiencing anxiety about how you’re not young but you’re not yet old
- aware of the fact that you’re aging, you’ve lived longer that you have left to live
- impacts of you psychologically, raises anxiety about how to use your time and
what you have accomplished in your life
● Behavioral slowing - your body is slowing down, not as strong as you used to be, eye
sight is changing, hearing is changing
● Women and the changes in the markers of youth/femininity
○ menopause → not a discrete event, emerges overtime, happens somewhere
between 45-55, irregularity in your menstrual cycle may cause swings and
changes in your mood (ex: night sweats, mood swings, hot flashes, body hair
thins)
○ ordinary physiological changes that tell you you’re getting old → How do you
react to this? → shows psychological age
○ not deadly BUT symbolic of getting older
○ As your hormone shifts, testosterone goes down(lowers sex drive).
● Men and changes in the markers of youth/masculinity
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○ weight changes
○ reduction of testosterone, lowers sex drive
○ may take longer to have an erection
○ erectile dysfunction pills → side effects include headaches, blood pressure
changes, changes in heart rhythm
○ you’re getting older → how you manage that → indicates how you’ll live your life
Polarity Two: Masculine versus Feminine
- people experience tensions about the gender path they’ve been living
● Gender convergence
○ women become more masculine
■ If you’re a woman and you’re doing caretaking, as you get older, maybe
you start thinking about the benefits of being masculine.
■ Women shifting their lives into being a good employee not just a good
mother and wife.
■ Mother is no longer to take care of you because she’s too busy working
takes children by surprise.
■ “It’s important to be successful”
○ men become more feminine
■ shut off from their feelings and only focused on activity
■ open to feelings and the importance of the connection to others
■ don’t really know their kids and friends deeply
■ “It’s really important to be happy rather than successful”
Polarity Three: Attachment versus Separation
- tension between continuing to be in the path you’ve been on vs. making changes to your
path to define yourself in a different way
- sense of urgency because you feel you’re getting older, friend has died, etc
● Attachment – should I continue to do what I have been doing?
● Separation – should I reclaim my right to define myself?
○ Discourse on Mid-life Divorce: ¾ of divorces occur in the first 3 years of
marriage, only 25% of those who get divorced, get divorced later on
■ would you continue in a bad marriage or are you going to get out of this
■ children could be getting older, might be financially better off
■ sense of urgency when their marriages haven’t been rewarding only
tolerable
■ mid-life man who divorces → 90% will be remarried within two years, big
pool of eligibles for men, more men die, men can consort with younger
women
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
■ mid-life woman who divorces → 85% chance of living their life single,
lower pool of eligibles
○ Discourse on Mid-life Crisis
- full blown crisis isn’t a likely occurrence (less than 5%), but those who do
experience aging in a dramatic way
- anxious about aging changes → identity disruption
- most people have identity transitions they experience
- changes symbolic of their right to define themselves
■ Who are “at risk” for a crisis?
● Identity Foreclosure
○ experience aging as a big identity disruption
○ ex: not being happy with care they picked out too early on
● Identity Disruption
○ they begin to have changes that are symbolic of their right
to change themselves
○ making small changes
○ ex: men and motorcycle gangs, women and convertibles
Polarity Four (Erikson’s Psychosocial Crisis): Generativity versus Stagnation
- developmental pressure that middle aged people experience
- choose things to help society vs. choose things to help yourself
● Indicators of Generativity
○ has the means to take care of future generations
○ responsibility for future societies rest on the shoulders of middle aged people,
young people are still finding themselves, middle aged people have the means
and time to use resources to fight for something
● Indicators of Stagnation
○ being preoccupied with yourself and your own adulthood
○ endlessly confronted with dilemmas
Central Process: Person x’s Environment and Creativity
- each of has different resources, up to each of us to figure out how to be creative in our
environment in order to be generative
- Bill Gates: can give money, your dad: volunteer to coach, volunteer at school
What Influences Generativity – Why are some generative and others not?
- a barrier to generativity is the successive amount of anxiety
- absence of generativity impacts on future generations
- people become anxious, become less empathic
● Cohort influences
● Personal health
● Financial well-being
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Middle adulthood (40-60) chronological age begins to mean less in terms of the quality of how they"re developing. Psychological age becomes more important how you feel about your age, experience of your age, your framing of it determinant of the stage of your age. Physiological changes + psychological adaptations trajectory of middle adulthood. Health + psychological responses determines how you experience the stage you"re in and how you cope with these challenges. Body begins to remind you in slow and subtle ways as you age you become aware of the physical changes of ages. Stage specific sources of anxiety mid-life polarities (focusing on the works of. Each stage in life has associated with it developmental demands and stage specific sources of anxiety stage specific sources of anxiety = mid-life polarities. Use this term to capture the fact that anxieties have to do with these opposite force that they"re experiencing.
