PSYC 304 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: Midlife Crisis, Senescence, Gender Identity
● 40-65 years of age.
● Parenting demands decline.
● Psychosocial development in middle adulthood
○ Period of psychological awakening and inner development.
○ Midlife crises.
○ Erikson’s generativity vs. stagnation
■ Giving back.
■ Commitment to community and society at large.
■ Guiding the next generation.
■ Stagnation if not generativity.
● Self-absorption.
○ Levinson’s seasons of life
■ Development consists of qualitative shifts in challenges.
■ The life structure.
● Constructed, then tested and modified.
○ Midlife crisis
■ Deal with failure to achieve the dreams of youth and decide how to
restructure life.
■ Reevaluate goals and relations with their social context.
■ Develop a sense of generativity.
■ Not many people actually have a midlife crisis.
● The self in middle adulthood
○ Becoming aware of biological aging, changes in skin, bodies, and athletic ability.
○ Self-concept
■ Integrate autobiographical information and life experiences into their self-
descriptions.
■ Western cultures define aging as a more negative experience for women
than men.
■ Women retain more youthful identities than men.
■ Possible self is a motivator for behavior.
● Failure to achieve the hoped for self or avoid the feared self
results in negative self-evaluations.
○ Gender identity
■ Becomes more fluid and integrated.
■ Androgyny provides a greater repertoire of skills for meeting the demands
of midlife.
● Associated with high self-esteem, advanced moral reasoning,
psychosocial maturity, and life satisfaction.
○ Self and well-being
■ Perception of and adaptation to age-related physical changes are
important influences.
■ The healthiest midlife adults are those who recognize their age but
remain active and healthy, engage in prevention, and do not become
stricken and paralyzed by age-related physical changes.
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Document Summary
Period of psychological awakening and inner development. Commitment to community and society at large. Development consists of qualitative shifts in challenges. Deal with failure to achieve the dreams of youth and decide how to restructure life. Reevaluate goals and relations with their social context. Not many people actually have a midlife crisis. Becoming aware of biological aging, changes in skin, bodies, and athletic ability. Integrate autobiographical information and life experiences into their self- descriptions. Western cultures define aging as a more negative experience for women than men. Women retain more youthful identities than men. Possible self is a motivator for behavior. Failure to achieve the hoped for self or avoid the feared self results in negative self-evaluations. Androgyny provides a greater repertoire of skills for meeting the demands of midlife. Associated with high self-esteem, advanced moral reasoning, psychosocial maturity, and life satisfaction. Perception of and adaptation to age-related physical changes are important influences.
