01:830:335 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Childlessness, Adult Development, Attachment Theory
14 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Adult development & aging 20 - 1
Lecture 20 - Social relationships, Personality Pt. 1
LATE LIFE DIVORCE
• Divorce increasing among older adults.
– More and more people are getting divorce at older ages
• Effects may be experienced by adult children.
– Estrangement.
• Children have their own family responsibilities, where to spend holidays?
– Financial challenges immediately after divorce.
• Based on income coming in, two incomes BUT if split, one spouse has to mange
household based on his/her income
• One income is now little and very difficult overall to maintain certain expenses
– Financial challenges in parets’ late life through increased caregiving burdens on children.
• Divorced (and Remarriage) Adults
– Divorce and remarriage add more complexity to adult roles.
• Women are less likely to marry than men
• Men have a harder time being alone
• Adult children might not accept the new person
• Depends when remarriage takes place, but it is cause for a lot of problems
– Increases the chance for role conflict and role strain.
LESS TYPICAL SOCIAL ROLES
LIFELONG SINGLES
• Singlehood is increasing in the US.
• By 65, only 4% qualify as lifelong single
• Lifelong singles must cope with violating social expectations.
• Expect a person to be with another person, if not, it seems that he/she is gay
• On the other hand, great health, report satisfaction with being single, financially well
• Unusual and rare
• Challenge to find a supportive network
• IF you do not have a family, you do not have a good social support network
The percentage of never-married men and women decreases with age, and by the age of 65, more
than 95% have married at least once.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Adult development & aging 20 - 2
CHILDLESS (unusual situation)
• Childlessness is often choice.
• Rate of US childlessness is increasing.
• Children are expensive.
• Less time at work
• Need to feed, clothe, entertain them
• For women, major career differences when childless.
• Childless couples are not faced with generational squeeze and as happy in late adulthood as couples
with children.
• In the US, 15% age range of 40-44 women are childless.
THEORIES OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
• Social relationships: dynamic, recurrent patterns of interactions with others.
• Theories:
– Attachment Theory
– The Convoy Model
– Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory
– Evolutionary Psychology
ATTACHMENT THEORY
• Attachment: strong affectional bond formed by an infant to her primary caregiver and inferred
by behavior.
• Key underlying features:
– Feelings of security
– Increased during times of stress.
– Attempts to avoid, or to end, separation from the attachment figure.
• You are also attached to your significant other.
Two sides of attachment
• Internal working model or attachment orientation
• Attaching to other people as well.
• This model is what to expect in a person.
• Caregiving orientation
• The desire to take care of the person you are attached to.
• Infants calls up the desire to take care/worry/concern of them.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Late life divorce: divorce increasing among older adults. More and more people are getting divorce at older ages. Financial challenges in pare(cid:374)ts" late life through increased caregiving burdens on children: divorced (and remarriage) adults. Increases the chance for role conflict and role strain. Singlehood is increasing in the us: by 65, only 4% qualify as lifelong single. Lifelong singles must cope with violating social expectations. Expect a person to be with another person, if not, it seems that he/she is gay: on the other hand, great health, report satisfaction with being single, financially well, unusual and rare. If you do not have a family, you do not have a good social support network. The percentage of never-married men and women decreases with age, and by the age of 65, more than 95% have married at least once. Childless (unusual situation: childlessness is often choice, rate of us childlessness is increasing, children are expensive, need to feed, clothe, entertain them.
