Sign Up

Have an account? Sign In Now

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Don't have account, Sign Up Here

Forgot Password

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.

Have an account? Sign In Now

Please type your username.

Please type your E-Mail.

Please choose the appropriate section so the question can be searched easily.

Please choose suitable Keywords Ex: question, poll.

Please choose an appropriate title for the question so it can be answered easily.

Sign InSign Up

IGNOU Answers

IGNOU Answers Logo IGNOU Answers Logo
Search
Ask A Question

Mobile menu

Close
Ask a Question
  • Home
  • Categories
    • All Questions
    • Commerce
    • Computer Science
    • Economics
    • English
    • General Queries
    • Political Science
    • Public Administration
    • Psychology
    • Sociology
    • Others
  • Tags
  • Users
  • Contact Us
Home/ Questions/Q 292
Next
In Process
Adv
Anonymous
  • -1
Anonymous
Asked: April 16, 20202020-04-16T09:54:25+05:30 2020-04-16T09:54:25+05:30In: Psychology

Describe psychosocial changes during middle adulthood.

  • -1
Describe psychosocial changes during middle adulthood.
  • 1 1 Answer
  • 0 Followers
  • 0
  • Share
    Share
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Share on LinkedIn
    • Share on WhatsApp

1 Answer

  • Voted
  • Oldest
  • Recent
  1. admin
    2020-04-16T13:29:43+05:30Added an answer on April 16, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    Middle adulthood is a fluid stage that is not confined by chronological age like the previous stages are. During middle adulthood, personality tends to stabilize and relationships become more intimate. While some adults may face marital struggles, many find family ties, marriage, and parenting to be sources of generativity. Employment can also be a means by which one contributes to the next generation. However, middle-aged adults may find the changing job market to present its own set of unique challenges.

    Erikson stated that the primary psychosocial task of middle adult-hood–ages 45 to 65–is to develop generativity, or the desire to expand one’s influence and commitment to family, society, and future generations. In other words, the middle adult is concerned with forming and guiding the next generation. The middle adult who fails to develop generativity experiences stagnation, or self-absorption, with its associated self-indulgence and invalidism.

    Perhaps middle adulthood is best known for its infamous midlife crisis: a time of reevaluation that leads to questioning long-held beliefs and values. The midlife crisis may also result in a person divorcing his or her spouse, changing jobs, or moving from the city to the suburbs. Typically, beginning in the early- or mid-40s, the crisis often occurs in response to a sense of mortality, as middle adults realize that their youth is limited and that they have not accomplished all of their desired goals in life. Of course, not everyone experiences stress or upset during middle age; instead they may simply undergo a midlife transition, or change, rather than the emotional upheaval of a midlife crisis. Other middle adults prefer to reframe their experience by thinking of themselves as being in the prime of their lives rather than in their declining years.

    During the male midlife crisis, men may try to reassert their masculinity by engaging in more youthful male behaviors, such as dressing in trendy clothes, taking up activities like scuba diving, motorcycling, or skydiving.

    During the female midlife crisis, women may try to reassert their femininity by dressing in youthful styles, having cosmetic surgery, or becoming more socially active. Some middle adult women try to look as young as their young adult children by dying their hair and wearing more youthful clothing. Such actions may be a response to feelings of isolation, loneliness, inferiority, uselessness, nonassertion, or unattractiveness.

    Middle-aged men may experience a declining interest in sexuality during and following their male climacteric (male menopause). Fears of losing their sexual ability have led many men to leave their wives for younger women to prove to others (and to themselves) that they are still sexually capable and desirable. In contrast, middle-aged women may experience an increasing interest in sexuality, which can cause problems in their primary relationship if their significant other loses interest in sexual activity. This leads some middle-aged women to have extramarital affairs, sometimes with younger sexual partners.

    The field of life-span development seems to be moving away from a normative-crisis model to a timing-ofevents model to explain such events as the midlife transition and the midlife crisis. The former model describes psychosocial tasks as occurring in a definite age-related sequence, while the latter describes tasks as occurring in response to particular life events and their timing.

    In other words, whereas the normative-crisis model defines the midlife transition as occurring exactly between ages 40 and 45, the timing-of-events model defines it as occurring when the person begins the process of questioning life desires, values, goals and accomplishments.

    In 1978 Daniel Levinson published a book entitled The Seasons of a Man’s Life in which he presented a theory of development in adulthood. Levinson’s work was based on in-depth interviews with 40 men between the ages of 35-45. Levinson (1978) indicated that adults go through stages and have an image of the future that motivates them.

    This image is called “the dream” and for the men interviewed, it was a dream of how their career paths would progress and where they would be at midlife. According to Levinson the midlife transition (40-45) was a time of reevaluating previous commitments; making dramatic changes if necessary; giving expression to previously ignored talents or aspirations; and feeling more of a sense of urgency about life and its meaning. By the time the men entered middle adulthood (45-50), they believed they committed to the new choices made and placed one’s energies into these commitments.

    Vaillant (2012) believed that it was the cross-sectional design of Levinson’s study that led to the erroneous conclusion of an inevitable midlife crisis. Instead, he believed that longitudinal studies of an individual’s entire life was needed to determine the factors associated with optimum health and potential.

    Levinson believed that a midlife crisis was a normal part of development as the person is more aware of how much time has gone by and how much time is left. The future focus of early adulthood gives way to an emphasis on the present in midlife, and the men interviewed had difficulty reconciling the “dream” they held about the future with the reality they experienced. Consequently, they felt impatient and were no longer willing to postpone the things they had always wanted to do. Although Levinson believed his research demonstrated the existence of a midlife crisis, his study has been criticized for his research methods, including small sample size, similar ages, and concerns about a cohort effect. In fact, other research does not support his theory of the midlife crisis.

    • 0
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
Leave an answer

Leave an answer
Cancel reply

Browse

Sidebar

Ask A Question

Stats

  • Questions 319
  • Answers 318

Related Questions

  • Explain the different types of variables

  • How is psychodiagnostic assessment conducted of children?

  • bpc 003 assignment reference material

  • Key issues in the study of personality

  • examine the controversies related to IQ testing.

  • Popular
  • Answers
  • Anonymous

    I need MCS-014 Assignment solution. ...

    • 14 Answers
  • himanshu

    i want answers of assignment ...

    • 11 Answers
  • Anonymous

    Can anyone provide answers of ...

    • 8 Answers
  • Vandana

    Calculate the physical address ...

    • 6 Answers
  • Anonymous

    What does the IGNOU BCA ...

    • 6 Answers
  • admin
    admin added an answer Just click on the image to see in full screen. April 29, 2022 at 1:42 pm
  • Fyor
    Fyor added an answer I wanna see first photo in full size because below side is missing. Can you send me? April 29, 2022 at 1:41 pm
  • admin
    admin added an answer Puritans opposed to drama during the Jacobean drama age. They were one of the reasons behind the decline of drama in the age of John Webster. They had been opposing… April 29, 2022 at 1:24 pm
  • admin
    admin added an answer A true Christian can only be awarded by divine and never failing judgement or by Christ himself. In St. Peter’s words on Christian speech, Milton made changes effectively. It suggests… April 29, 2022 at 1:17 pm
  • admin
    admin added an answer Tragedy requires a tragic hero who generally performs deeds after which the hero luck suffers a decline and resulted to death. The tragedy is a mixed composition of corrupt characters… April 29, 2022 at 1:12 pm

Top Members

admin

admin

  • 2 Questions
  • 1k Points
Pooja Sharma

Pooja Sharma

  • 7 Questions
  • 39 Points
Roushani Kumari

Roushani Kumari

  • 1 Question
  • 34 Points

Trending Tags

Free Assignments Free Solved Assignments IGNOU BCA Solved Assignments IGNOU BCOM Solved Assignments

Explore

  • Home
  • Categories
    • All Questions
    • Commerce
    • Computer Science
    • Economics
    • English
    • General Queries
    • Political Science
    • Public Administration
    • Psychology
    • Sociology
    • Others
  • Tags
  • Users
  • Contact Us

Footer

IGNOU Answers

About

IGNOU Answers is a social Questions & Answers platform which will help you to find answers to your questions..

Question Tags

BA Sociology ESO-11 Export Procedures and Documentation fst-01 International Business Finance ma psychology mpc-004 mpc-005 question The Study of Society

Categories

  • Commerce
  • Computer Science
  • Economics
  • English
  • General Queries
  • Others
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Public Administration
  • Science
  • Sociology

Useful Links

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Buy Assignments
  • IGNOU Updates

© 2021 IgnouAnswers.com. All Rights Reserved
Created With Love by KHOJINET.

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.