Erickson’s Developmental
Stages
• Young Adulthood (20-30)
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Middle Adulthood (30-60)
- Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Older Adulthood (60+)
- Integrity vs. Despair
Area of Resolution and Behavior:
Intimacy - capacity for relationships
vs.
Isolation - impersonal relations
• “Adulthood” is characterized by a struggle
between “Generativitiy” and Stagnation.
• “Generativity”
– Giving back to society by raising children
– Being productive at work
– Being involved in the community
– Guiding, parenting, and monitoring the next
generation
• Stagnation
– Being unproductive
– Feeling anger, hurt and self absorption
• As one becomes mature, there is a struggle
between “Ego Integrity” & despair
• “Ego Integrity”
– Exploring life as a retired person who is not
identified with an occupation
– Contemplating accomplishment
– Feeling life is successful
• Despair
– Feeling guilt about the past
– Not accomplishing life goals
– The final pathway:
dissatisfied
depression
despair
hopelessness
ERIKSON
• INTEGRITY VS DESPAIR (LATE ADULTHOOD)
• ADULTS LOOK BACK AT WHAT THEY
HAVE DONE WITH THEIR LIVES
• RETROSPECT SHOWS A PICTURE OF LIFE
WELL SPENT, SATISFIED AND ACHIEVE
INTEGRITY
• RETROSPECT SHOWS FEELINGS OF
DOUBT, GLOOM, AND DESPAIR, A
FELLING OF DESPAIR RESULTS
Developmental Task
• an activity or event that arises at a
certain period in the life of an individual
• successful achievement leads to
happiness, growth, and success with
later tasks
• failure leads to unhappiness,
disapproval by society, and difficulty
with later tasks
(Havighurst, 1972)
Peck’s Developmental Tasks of Aging
• Ego Differentiation vs. Work-Role
Preoccupation
• Body Transcendence vs. Body Preoccupation
• Ego Transcendence vs. Ego Preoccupation
(Peck, 1968)
• Broader Self-Definition vs. Preoccupation with Work Roles
• people who have defined themselves mainly by their work role, now
must redefine themselves in a new structure and direction, exploring
other interests
• Transcendence of the Body vs. Preoccupation with the Body
• physical abilities decline, adjust by focusing on relationships and
activities that don’t require physical well-being
• happiness is achieved by cultivating mental and social powers
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Transcendence of the Ego vs. Preoccupation with the Ego
the hardest and most important adjustment in life
move beyond the self and accept the certainty of death
transcend the concern for self and focus on the well-being of others
Havighurst’s Developmental Tasks of
Aging
• Adjusting to decreasing physical strength
and health
• Adjusting to retirement and reduced income
• Establishing an affilitation with one’s age
group
• Meeting civic and social obligations
• Establishing satisfactory living arrangements
• Adjusting to death of spouse
• Developmental tasks of young adulthood include:
choosing education and occupation, selecting a marriage
partner, learning to live with a spouse or wife and
developing a satisfactory sex life .
• The developmental tasks faced in middle adulthood are:
adjusting to physical change, having grown children,
developing leisure-time activities and relating to aging
parents .
• The developmental tasks of the older adult are:
adjusting to decreases physical strength and loss of
health, adjusting to retirement and reduced income,
coping with death of a husband or wife and preparing for
one's own deatheating periods
Common Psychosocial Changes
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Assume Grandparent Role
Adjust to Retirement
Increase Volunteer Activity
Maintain or Develop New Interests
Cope with Death of Spouse, or S.O.
Adjust to Change in Intimacy & Sexuality
Cope with Relocation
Cope with Losses
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SOCIAL THEORIES OF AGING
Disengagement Theory
assumes that aging normally brings a gradual reduction in social
involvement and greater preoccupation with the self
accompanied by introspection and quieting of emotions
disengaging from society allows younger people to fill new roles
Activity Theory
the more active people remain, the better
activity is a major source of satisfaction
disengagement brings dissatisfaction
Atchley’s Continuity Theory
humans need to maintain some continuity or connection with the past
too much change makes life unpredictable
too little change makes life dull
we need knowledge about ourselves, such as personal history, ego identity
(internal structures)
we need knowledge about role relationships, and the physical world
(external structures)
• 1.
According to DISENGAGEMENT THEORY, the period in late
adulthood that marks a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical,
psychological, and social levels, people withdraw from the world and
the world compels the elderly to withdraw (e.g., retirement).
• a) People can become more reflective about their lives.
• b) People can become less constrained by social roles.
• c)
People become more discerning about relationships, which can
help them adjust to increasing frequency of serious illness and death
among their peers.
• d)
Disengagement is not an automatic, universal process for all
people in late adulthood.
• 2.
According to ACTIVITY THEORY, successful aging
occurs when people maintain the interests, activities, and
social interactions with which they were involved during
middle age.
• a)
Happiness and satisfaction with life are assumed
to spring from a high level of involvement with the world.
• b)
When it is no longer possible to work, successful
aging according to activity theory suggests that
replacement activities be found.
• (1) Being involved in any activity just to remain active
may not always contribute to happiness and satisfaction.
• (2) Some people are happier when they can slow down
and only do those things that bring them the greatest
satisfaction.
According to Atchley, people pass through stages in the process of
retirement.
• a)
At first there is a honeymoon period, in which former workers engage
in a variety of activities, such as travel, that were previously hindered by full-
time work.
• b)
Disenchantment may occur when retirees conclude that retirement is
not all they thought it would be.
• c)
Reorientation is the stage where retirees reconsider their options and
become engaged in new, more fulfilling activities.
• d)
A retirement routine stage occurs when retirees come to grips with the
realities of retirement and feel fulfilled in this new phase of life.
• e)
The final stage is the process of termination where the retiree either
goes back to work or health deteriorates so badly that the person can no
longer function independently.
• f)
Not everyone passes through each stage and the sequence is not
universal.
The process of adjusting to widowhood occurs in three stages.
• (1) In the first stage, preparation, spouses prepare for the eventual
death of the partner.
• (2) The second stage, grief and mourning, is an immediate
reaction to the death of a spouse.
• (a)
May last years or months.
• (b) Length depends on the degree of support and personality
factors.
• (3) The last stage is adaptation, where the widowed individual
starts a new life.
• (4) These stages do not apply to everyone.
PERSONALITY AND PATTERNS
OF AGING
• FOUR MAJOR PERSONALITY
TYPES
• 1. INTEGRATED
• 2. ARMOR -DEFENDED
• 3. PASSIVE
• 4. UNINTEGRATED
• INTEGRATED:
• FUNCTIONING WELL, WITH A COMPLEX INNER LIFE, A
COMPETENT EGO, INTACT COGNITIVE ABILITIES, AND A HIGH
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION.
• ARMOR-DEFENDED:
• ACHIEVEMENT-ORIENTED, STRIVING, AND TIGHTLY CONTROLLED
• PASSIVE-DEPENDENT:
• SOUGHT COMFORT FROM OTHERS OR WERE APATHETIC. SOME
DEPEND ON OTHERS
• UNINTEGRATED:
• DISORGANIZED, WITH GROSS DEFECTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL
FUNCTIONING, POOR CONTROL OVER THEIR EMOTIONS, AND
DETERIORATED THOUGHT PROCESSES
LIFE SATISFACTION
• HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS ARE MORE LIKELY THAN
UNHEALTHY OLDER ADULTS TO HAVE HIGH LIFE
SATISFACTION
• AN ACTIVE LIFE-STYLE IS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH LIFE
SATISFACTION
• OLDER ADULTS WITH AN EXTENDED SOCIAL NETWORK OF
FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SATISFIED
WITH THEIR LIVES
• A CLOSE ATTACHMENT TO ONE OR MORE INDIVIDUALS IS
ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH LIFE SATISFACTION
ADJUSTMENTS OF LATE
ADULTHOOD
• LIVING ON A REDUCED INCOME; WOMEN ARE
MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO EXPERIENCE
POVERTY DURING LATE ADULTHOOD
• DEATH OF SPOUSE AND FRIENDS
• DECREASED PHYSICAL ABILITIES
• LIFE SATISFACTION:
• OLDER ADULTS WITH ADEQUATE INCOME ARE
MORE LIKELY TO BE SATISFIED WITH THEIR LIVES
THAN OLDER ADULTS WITH LESS ADEQUATE
INCOME
Levinson’s theory
• According to Daniel Levinson, people enter late adulthood after passing
through a transition stage that typically occurs about age 60 to 65.
• a)
During this transition time people begin to view themselves as
entering late adulthood.
• b)
People struggle with being "old," and often must face illness and death
of one's friends and loved ones.
• c)
• d)
People can serve as resources for younger people and be in a
position to give advice.
• e)
People must struggle with the loss of power, respect, and authority.
Old age brings freedom to do things for fun and entertainment.
Levinson’s Seasons of Life
Middle Adult Transition:
Age 40 to 45
Entry life structure Entry life structure
for early adulthood:
for middle
22 to 28
adulthood: 45 to 50
Age 30 transition:
28 to 33
Age 50 transition:
50 to 55
Culminating life
Culminating life
structure for early structure for middle
adulthood: 33 to 40 adulthood: 55 to 60
Early Adult Transition:
Age 17 to 22
Era of late
adulthood:
60 to ?
Late Adult Transition:
Age 60 to 65
Marcia’s Identity Statuses
Life Events Framework
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Systems Theory
• The microsystem – this is the layer closest to the
child and contains the structures with which the
child has direct contact. The microsystem
encompasses the relationships and interactions
a child has with her immediate surroundings
(Berk, 2000). Structures in the microsystem
include family, school, neighborhood, or
childcare environments.
• At this level, relationships have impact in two
directions - both away from the child and toward
the child. For example, a child’s parents may
affect his beliefs and behavior; however, the
child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the
parent.
• The mesosystem – this layer provides the connection
between the structures of the child’s microsystem (Berk,
2000).
• Examples: the connection between the child’s teacher
and his parents, between his church and his
neighborhood, etc.
• The exosystem – this layer defines the larger social
system in which the child does not function directly. The
• structures in this layer impact the child’s development by
interacting with some structure in her microsystem (Berk,
• 2000). Parent workplace schedules or community-based
family resources are examples. The child may not be
• directly involved at this level, but he does feel the
positive or negative force involved with the interaction
with his own system.
• The macrosystem – this layer may be
considered the outermost layer in the child’s
environment. While not being a specific
framework, this layer is comprised of cultural
values, customs, and laws (Berk, 2000). The
effects of larger principles defined by the
macrosystem have a cascading influence
throughout the interactions of all other layers.
• For example, if it is the belief of the culture that
parents should be solely responsible for raising
their children, that culture is less likely to provide
resources to help parents. This, in turn, affects
the structures in which the parents function. The
parents’ ability or inability to carry out that
responsibility toward their child within the context
of the child’s microsystem is likewise affected.
• The chronosystem – this system encompasses
the dimension of time as it relates to a child’s
environments.
• Elements within this system can be either
external, such as the timing of a parent’s death,
or internal, such as the physiological changes
that occur with the aging of a child.
• As children get older, they may react differently
to environmental changes and may be more
able to determine more how that change will
influence them.
• Nature vs.
Contextual Theories
• Lev Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory focuses on how
culture is transmitted from one generation to the next.
• Development is viewed as a social process mediated
by parental and peer support, as dictated by cultural
values and traditions.
• Children and adolescents are socialized into the
cultural appropriate manner of thinking, feeling, and acting
• Process of actively internalizing the tools of the culture
such as language and other symbolic notations systems
learned socially at home or school.
Vyotsky’s Conception of Mind
• The mind originates in and is mediated by social
interaction (direct experience vs. social mediation).
• Depends on the socially engagement of the child
or adolescent with others (as an apprentice to
cultural authorities)
• Such interactions are highly regulated by the
socio -historical and cultural context of children
or adolescents and their family, friends, and
peers.
• Internalizing these interactions is the basis for
the child’s cognitive socialization into the culture.
EARLY ADULTHOOD
• ages 20-40y
• — peak of physical health & fitness (occurs on average
at approximately age 30)
• — height of cognitive abilities
• — healthy, vigorous, energetic
• PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• — in 20’s
• — may still gain height
• — gain in muscle, fat
• — brain still increasing in size & weight (although no new
neurons are being formed)
• — senses optimal
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• — Piagetan view: adult thinking quantitatively
different
• — incr. knowledge, skills
• — no qualitative change after adolescence
• — new view: adult think qualitatively different
• — post-formal stage
• i/ subjective
• ii/ pragmatic
• iii/ relativistic
• 1. Subjectivity— thinking is based on personal
experience and perceptions
• — adults learn to confront society's paradoxes
• — objectivity can limit understanding (need to know what
others think and feel and respond to that)
• — subjective thinking may be especially adaptive for this
purpose (allows one to make decisions that others will
accept
• — various possibilities in real life situation (more than
one “right” solution)
• — the solution does not always require logic (formal
operations)
• — adult predicaments must sometimes be solved by
recognizing subjective world
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2. Pragmatism—
— adults maintain style of formal-operational stage (logic)
— according to him, Piaget’s stages described a period of acquisition
— acquire basic skills/abilities required for adulthood
— adults, on the other hand, must move beyond acquisition
— enter the achieving stage
— make use of skills previously obtained to achieve goals (career goals,
domestic goals)
— to do so, they must consider contexts, consequences before
decisions
— (therefore similar to concept of relativity)
— based upon personal needs/desires (therefore associated with
concept of subjectivity)
3. Relativity— adolescent cognition is noted for its basic dualism
— something is either true or false, right or wrong
— adult experience, on the other hand, leads to reflection which, in
turn, leads to contextual relativism
— “truth” often depends on context
— not absolute
• Crystallized intelligence -verbal
reasoning that holds across the lifespan;
reflects accumulated knowledge and
vocabulary; allows best works at age of
40s, 50s, and older by historians,
philosophers, prose writers.
• Fluid intelligence
-fast and abstract
reasoning; in adults, there is a decline with
age; includes nonverbal abilities,
nonverbal puzzle solving, novel logic
problems; allows best works at age of 20s
and 30s by mathematicians, scientists,
and poets
Marcia’s identity statuses
• High Exploration- High Commitment -Achievement
• High Exploration- Low Commitment –moratorium
• Low Exploration- High Commitment -Foreclosure
• Low Exploration -Low Commitment-diffusion
• identity achievement—adolescent confusion ends with commitment to a
career path and/or a moral code; the crisis is resolved
• identity foreclosure—adolescent does not explore and does not suffer any
crisis; someone else (typically, parents) selects the youth’s career path or
makes other substantial decisions; initially, this young person may appear to
be happy, cooperative, “no trouble”; a price may be paid later, in adulthood
• identity moratorium—exploration extends into the young person’s 20s, or
even 30s; commitment is finally made, just much later than the norm
• identity diffusion—things never come together for this person
• Labouvie-Vief’s Theory: Emotional Expertise.
Early adulthood is all about pragmatic choices-
finding ways to solve real-world problems, at work
as well as within relationships.
• Elders are becoming more in touch with their
feelings and must use those feelings to reflect on
their life experiences.
• This emotional sensitivity allows elders to detach
from experiences in order to choose better how to
respond.
• Younger people are more impulsively emotional in
their coping and problem-solving. Elders are better
at emotional self-regulation.
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Characteristics of Young Adulthood
• Choice of a career
• Starting family life
• Forming close relationships with peers
• Concern about society
• Characteristics of Middle Adulthood
• • Competence, maturity, responsibility and
stability
• • Attention focused on children
• • Plans for old age
• • Occurrence of menopause in women.
Coping with the Problem
• (1) Develop an attitude of flexibility so that one may adopt to life’s
pressures and
• problems of old age.
• (2) Recognize that one has to explore new ways of coping with life events.
• (3) Greater use of information seeking and of problem solving strategies
rather than
• withdrawing or isolating.
• (4) Increasing self-confidence, self-reliance, developing healthy attitudes
about one’s
• strengths and weaknesses.
• (5) Learning and maintaining effective coping skills and adopting an active
approach
• towards the environment.
• Use of the above styles of coping can be effective in making healthy
adjustments in
• old age.
Sensory Functioning
• Hearing
• Hearing loss for high-pitched sounds (presbycusis)
• Men have twice loss rate as women
Vision
• Ability to focus declines
• Loss of near vision (presbyopia)
• Decline in visual acuity-sharpness of vision
• Need more brightness
Female climacteric
• 15-20 year period of physiological changes that bring on menopause
• Menopause
• Cessation of ovulation and menstruation
• Occurs one year after last menstrual period
• Less production of estrogen
• Periods become irregular
• Hot flashes due to expansion and contraction of blood vessels
• Lower levels of estrogen linked to higher risk of osteoporosis and heart disease
• HRT reduces above risks but increases risks of uterine cancer, breast cancer & blood clots
• Attitudes toward women and aging
• Effect of diet
Male Climacteric
• Changes begin 10 yrs later than women
• Enlargement of prostrate gland
• Causes problems with urination
• Testosterone levels decline gradually
• Sperm count declines, slower motility of sperm
• Less frequent erections & less powerful ejaculations, takes longer to
recover
• Minority experience erectile dysfunction (impotence)
• Multiple causes due to illness, stress, health habits
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