we are experiencing. Thus, theories often present detailed descriptions of the problems and concerns of adulthood. However, the question of how widely and how universally they apply to adult development remains open. Researchers are especially wary of the definition of “stages” of development.
^ Development objectives according to Hayvinghurst
In 1953, Robert Havehurst (1991) created his classic and pragmatic account of the human life cycle. He viewed adulthood as a series of periods during which it is necessary to solve certain developmental problems; they are summarized in table. 13.3. In a sense, these tasks create the broader context in which development occurs. Their solution requires a person to use his intellectual abilities. During early adulthood, these tasks mainly include the start of family life and a career. During middle adulthood, the main task is to maintain what we have previously created, as well as adapt to physical and family changes. In later years, however, the individual must adapt to other aspects of life (Chapter 18).
Table 13.3 Development objectives according to Hayvinghurst
Tasks of early adulthood
Choose a spouse
Learn to live with your marriage partner
Start family life
Raise children
Keep house
Start your professional activity
Accept civic responsibility
Find a congenial social group
Tasks of middle adulthood
Achieve civic and social responsibility as an adult
Establish and maintain economic living standards
Organize leisure time
Helping teenage children become responsible and happy adults
Create a relationship with your spouse as a person
Accept and adapt to the physiological changes of midlife
Adapting to aging parents
Challenges of late adulthood
Coping with Declining Physical Strength and Health
Adapt to retirement and reduced income
Accept the fact of your spouse's death
Join your age group
Fulfill social and civic responsibilities
Arrange for satisfactory physical accommodation
Source: Human development and education, by Robert J. Havinghurst. Copyright © 1953 by Longman, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Longman, Inc., New York.
588 Part IV. Adulthood
Are these concepts of adult development applicable in the new millennium? Yes, but not to everyone. For many people, the developmental challenges of mid-adulthood include establishing a single life or starting a family and raising children, adjusting to a new partner after divorce or a career change, or facing early retirement as a result of corporate downsizing. Although in the West the lives of most people generally correspond to the time boundaries of Hevinghurst's development goals, there are now more exceptions than ever before. We are again witnessing that the path of a person's life largely depends on his cultural environment.
^ Developmental tasks according to Erikson
Many theorists turn to Erikson's theory of psychological stages when defining the central tasks of adult development. Recall (Chapter 2) that Erikson's theory includes eight psychological stages (crises) and that each of them is based on the previous one. Adult development depends on the success of solving the problems of previous periods: trust and autonomy, initiative and hard work. During adolescence, the central problem that needs to be solved is the definition of identity. It can persist into early adulthood, giving meaning to the integrity of adult experience (Erikson, 1959). People define and redefine themselves, their priorities, and their place in the world.
The crisis of intimacy and isolation is the most characteristic problem during early adulthood. Intimacy involves establishing a mutually satisfying close relationship with another. It represents a union of two identities in which the unique qualities of neither are lost. In contrast, isolation involves an inability or failure to establish reciprocity, sometimes because the personal identity is too weak to form an intimate alliance with another person (Ericson, 1963).
Erikson's theory is basically a stage theory, but Erikson interpreted it more flexibly (Erikson & Erikson, 1981). Like Havenghurst's theory, it can be seen as a normative theory. Issues of identity and intimacy are present throughout the lifespan, especially among people living in industrialized countries. Major life events, such as the death of a family member, can simultaneously create crises of both identity and intimacy as a person struggles to cope with the loss and tries to re-identify in the absence of a close companion. Moving to a new city, new job, or returning to college are major changes that require psychological adjustment. Therefore, Erikson’s theory determines the developmental features of those problems of an individual that repeatedly arise throughout his life. For example, after moving to a new place, there may be a need to re-establish basic trust, develop autonomy, and regain competence and hard work so that you can feel like an adult again.
Consequently, for many researchers today, both identity and intimacy processes are central to understanding development in adulthood (Whitbourne, 1986b). Still an achievement
Chapter 13. Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 589
intimacy and identity may be more common in Western culture. For example, differently-minded students who come to the United States from collectivist countries may find an independent identity and greater intimacy in marriage.
^ Periodization of men's lives according to Levinson
Daniel Levinson (1978, 1986) conducted a large study of adult development in the United States; its participants were 40 men aged 35 to 45 years, selected from various ethnic and professional groups. For several months these people engaged in self-observation. They explored their experiences, attitudes and life experiences and reported their observations during the interview process. In addition to reconstructing the biographies of these men, Levinson and his colleagues also studied the biographies of great men such as Dante and Gandhi to determine the developmental process during adulthood. However, the researchers did not use objective tests and scales. Overall, Levinson's approach differs significantly from Freud's (Chapter 2). Levinson's theory also focuses on traditional roles and relationships between men and women; the question of the possibility of applying this theory beyond their boundaries requires further discussion.
Researchers identified three main stages in the life cycle of men, which were later found to be comparable to similar stages in the lives of women (see below). Each of them lasts approximately 15 to 25 years (Fig. 13.6). During each stage, a person creates what Levinson calls structure of life. This model functions as both a boundary between the internal and external world of the individual, and a means by which the individual builds relationships with the environment. The structure of life consists mainly of social relationships and relationships with the environment and includes what the individual gains from them and must invest in them. These relationships can occur with individuals, groups, systems, or even objects. For most men, work and family relationships are the main ones. At a certain age, people begin to explore their existing systems of life. They then create a new structure consisting of their current needs, which dominates until the person “grows” out of it and begins the process again.
Levinson focused his research on the period of life from 35 to 45 years, but he found that maturity and adaptability at this age are largely determined by the growth of the personality at the initial stage, the “novice” stage, lasting from 17 to 33 years (not shown in drawing). In the United States, this is usually the age of resolving the conflicts of adolescence, finding one’s place in adult society, and developing stable and predictable patterns of behavior. The initial stage, according to Levinson, is divided into three periods: early transition to adulthood (from approximately 17 to 22 years); penetration into the world of adults (from 22 to 28 years old) and transition beyond the age of 30 (from 28 to 33 years old). Developmental crises occur when difficulties arise in an individual at one time or another.
To achieve true adulthood, according to Levinson, it is necessary to solve four developmental tasks: 1) formulate what constitutes an adult;
590 PartIV,Adulthood
Rice. 13.6. Stages of life according to Levinson
losiness and what is needed to achieve it; 2) find a mentor; 3) start building a career; 4) establish close relationships.
Definition of a dream. During the early transition to adulthood, a man's dream of achieving it is not necessarily connected with reality. It may be a special goal, such as winning a Pulitzer Prize, 1 a grand dream of becoming a film producer, a financial tycoon, or a famous writer or athlete. Some men have more modest aspirations, such as becoming a skilled craftsman, local philosopher, or loving family man. The most important aspect of a dream is its ability to give inspiration to a person. Ideally, a young person begins to structure his adult life in a realistic and optimistic way that helps him realize his dreams. Fruitless fantasies and unattainable goals do not promote growth.
Annual awards for excellence in drama, literature, music and journalism, established by the bequest of Joseph Pulitzer, publisher New York World. - Note. translation
Chapter 13. Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 591
Signs of successful career growth
A dream may not come true not only due to its illusory nature, but And due to a lack of opportunities, parents planning their child’s future differently, due to individual traits such as passivity and laziness, and lack of acquired special skills. In this case, the young man may begin to master a profession that is poorer than his dreams and does not contain, from his point of view, anything magical. According to Levinson, such decisions cause constant career conflicts and reduce enthusiasm and the amount of effort spent on work. Levinson suggested that those who try to achieve at least some compromise, at least partially realizing their dream, are more likely to experience a sense of accomplishment. However, the dream itself is also subject to change. A young person who enters early adulthood with hopes of becoming a basketball star will later find satisfaction in coaching without putting all the elements of his dream together.
^ Finding a mentor. Mentors can be of great help to young people on the path to pursuing their dreams. A mentor gradually inspires self-confidence by sharing and approving of this dream, as well as passing on skills and experience. As a patron, he can promote the student's career growth. Nevertheless, its main function is to ensure the transition from the relationship between parents and children into the world of equal adults. The mentor must behave somewhat like a parent, adopting an authoritative style while still maintaining enough empathy to bridge the generation gap and smooth the relationship. Gradually, the student can achieve a sense of autonomy and competence; he may eventually catch up with his mentor. Usually the mentor and the young man break up at this stage.
^ Building a career. In addition to creating a dream and acquiring a mentor, young men face a complex career development process that is not determined solely by their choice of profession. Levinson assumed that this developmental task covers the entire initial period when a young person is trying to define himself professionally.
^ Establishing close relationships. The formation of close relationships also does not begin and end with the “signature” events of marriage.
592 Part IV. Adulthood
and the birth of the first child. Both before and after these events, the young man studies himself and his attitude towards women. He must determine what he likes in women and what women like about him. He needs to evaluate his strengths and weaknesses in sexual relationships. Although some of this kind of self-observation occurs as early as adolescence, such questions nevertheless puzzle young people. From Levinson's point of view, the ability for serious romantic cooperation arises only after 30 years. An important relationship with a female inspiration satisfies needs similar to the need for a mentor-mentee bond. Such a woman can help a young man realize his dream by giving him permission to do so and believing that he has what it takes. She helps him enter the adult world by supporting adult expectations and being tolerant of dependent behavior or other shortcomings. According to Levinson, a man's need for a female inspiration declines later in the midlife transition, by the time most have achieved a high degree of autonomy and competence.
^ Periodization of women's lives according to Levinson
Levinson's work has attracted much criticism, most of which point out that he did not include women in his study. These comments were taken into account in subsequent research (Levinson, 1990, 1996). Levinson worked with a group of 45 women, 15 of whom were homemakers, 15 were in business, and 15 worked in higher education. In part, the findings supported his theory that entering adulthood involves identifying a dream, finding a mentor, choosing an occupation, and establishing a relationship with an inspirational person. The growth model he proposed for women is generally similar to the model for men (Fig. 13.6). It also included a critical transition around age 30, a time of doubt and dissatisfaction when career goals and lifestyle are reconsidered. However, women's experiences appear to be quite different from those of men. Moreover, although Levinson argued that both transitions are closely related to age, a number of researchers have found that
Unlike young men who are usually focused on their work, many young women want to combine career and marriage
Chapter 13. ^ Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 593
that for women, stages of the family life cycle appear to be a better indicator of transition than age alone (Harris, Ellicott, & Hommes, 1986). Women's transitions and crises may have less to do with age than with events such as the birth of children or their separation from the family.
^ Dreams and their differences. Perhaps the most significant difference between the sexes is how they define their dreams. Indeed, it was so significant that Levinson labeled it a gender difference. While men tend to have a single, career-focused vision for their future, many women tend to have “separate” dreams. In Levinson's work, both higher education workers and businesswomen wanted to combine career and marriage, albeit in different ways. Women in education were less ambitious and more willing to give up their careers after having children if they were involved in intellectually active activities in their neighborhood. Businesswomen wanted to continue their careers but reduce their activity levels after having children. Only housewives had the same dream as men: they wanted to stay at home as a wife and mother, as their own mothers did.
Accordingly, most women in other studies using Levinson's methods reported dreams that included career advancement and marriage, but the majority of them placed greater importance on starting a family. Only a minority of women focused their dreams solely on career success; Even fewer limited their vision of the future to the traditional roles of wife and mother. However, even those women who dreamed of both career and marriage contained their dreams by coordinating them with the goals of their spouse and thereby realizing traditional expectations in a more modern lifestyle (Roberts & Newton, 1987).
Many women expressed their dissatisfaction with one aspect or another of their shared dreams (Droege, 1982). Some people believe that career and family are incompatible. The women in Levinson's study also found it extremely difficult to integrate career and family. For example, none of the businesswomen rated their decision as more than just “adequate.” Although businesswomen are often considered successful by colleagues and family members, businesswomen themselves often feel that they have sacrificed one aspect of their dreams to achieve another (Roberts & Newton, 1987).
^ Differences in relationships with mentors. Another area in which men and women appear to have different experiences is the mentor relationship. It was found that women are less likely than men to engage in such contacts. Part of the problem is that there is currently a lack of female managers, consultants or sponsors who can fill this role for young women seeking professional careers. If a woman's mentor is a man, sexual attraction may interfere with their relationship (Roberts & Newton, 1987). Sometimes the husband or lover acts as a mentor, but in such cases the mentoring function is often complicated by conflicting needs. If women insist on their independence and devote themselves entirely to their careers or demand equality in relationships, their partners sometimes refuse to support them.
594 Part IV. Adulthood
Women may also have trouble finding a male inspiration who will support her dreams (Droege, 1982). Although this role is often filled by a husband or lover, especially during the period of leaving parental influence in early adulthood, traditional male partners rarely support a woman's dream if it begins to threaten his dominance in the relationship. In other words, male partners do not necessarily fulfill all the functions of a male inspiration in promoting women's personal and career growth.
^ Differences in career development. Women not only face greater difficulties than men in finding someone who can help them realize their dreams, but their careers develop much later. Early work by Levinson (1978) noted that most men “complete the stage of vocational adjustment and achieve full adult status in the professional world” by the end of their 30s; they are no longer beginners. In contrast, women often achieve this status several years after reaching middle adulthood (Droege, 1982; Furst & Stewart, 1977). Ruth Droedge found that even women who established their careers in their 20s and 30s largely did not complete the novice stage of work by age 40 or later. Drouge also noted that women in mid-adulthood were still preoccupied with success at work and were not willing to re-evaluate their professional goals or achievements. Another study (Adams, 1983) found that a group of female lawyers followed masculine career patterns until their mid-30s, but that most then shifted their focus from career success to relationship satisfaction.
^ Difference in revaluation (revision of goals). Turning 30 is stressful for both women and men. However, they show different reactions to the reappraisal process that occurs during this stage. Men may change their career or lifestyle, but their commitment to work and career remains. In contrast, women tend to change their priorities established in early adulthood (Adams, 1983; Droege, 1982; Levinson, 1990; Stewart, 1977). Women who are focused on marriage and raising children tend to shift to professional goals, while those who are focused on careers now shift their attention to marriage and raising children. More complex dreams make it harder to achieve your goal.
^ Women's dreams and changes in society
Probably one of the reasons that women's dreams are more complex is that they are more strongly influenced by the changes taking place in society in the 20th century. One study (Helson & Picano, 1990) found that in the late 1950s and 1960s, “fittest” women had a very specific dream: to be a homemaker. This dream became obsolete as social change saw women actively participating in professional activities at all levels. By the period of middle adulthood, women with traditional views were no longer the most adaptable. They were more dependent or overly controlled than women with less traditional views. It is obvious that for
Chapter 13. ^ Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 595
individual well-being is important to be in accordance with the social role. The roles open to young women today typically combine career and family. On the other hand, young people are usually expected to pursue a career and not assume all household responsibilities (Kalleberg & Rosenfeld, 1990).
^ Transformations according to Gould
Researchers of adult development are often faced with the difficult task of organizing extensive biographical data. The results of processing such materials often depend on the field of attention and interests of the scientist. Thus, in one of the works, Levinson relied on data from 15-hour biographical interviews with 40 men. He looked at various aspects of the career start-up process and lifestyle.
Roger Gould (1978) mainly focused on cognitive aspects. He was interested in individual assumptions, ideas, myths and views of the world at different periods of life. Gould conducted research among people of both sexes living in the United States. He and his colleagues studied the life histories of a large group of men and women aged 16 to 60 years. Based on their findings, they developed descriptions of how people perceive the world around them, characterizing different stages of adulthood. According to Gould, growth is best viewed as a process of letting go of childhood illusions and false assumptions in favor of a sense of confidence and self-acceptance. Like Kegan, he believed that a person’s semantic system determines his behavior and life decisions.
Gould believed that between the ages of 16 and 22, the main false assumption to be changed is “I will always belong to my parents, to believe in their world.” To understand and eliminate this illusion, people in early adulthood must begin to construct an adult identity that is not subject to the control of their parents. However, young people's sense of self at this stage is still fragile, and self-doubt makes them vulnerable to criticism. Young adults begin to see their parents as flawed and fallible human beings rather than as the all-powerful and controlling forces they once were.
Between the ages of 22 and 28, people often have another false assumption that reflects their continued doubts about their self-sufficiency: “If you do as your parents did and apply willpower and persistence, it will pay off. And if I get too upset, confused, or tired, or just can’t cope, they will come to the rescue and show me the right path.” To overcome this obstacle, young adults must take full responsibility for their lives, abandoning the expectation of constant parental support. This involves much more than simply leaving the control of mother or father; an active and positive attitude is required in the process of creating an adult life. Taking on the world on your own also takes energy away from constant introspection and self-focus. Gould found that the dominant mode of thinking developed during this period from flashes of insight to persistent, regular and controlled experimentation and goal orientation.
596 Part IV. Adulthood
In the period from 28 to 34 years there is a significant shift towards the position of an adult. The main false assumption at this time is: “Life is simple and controllable. There are no significant contradictory forces within me.” This view differs from the views of the preceding stages in two important respects: it suggests a sense of competence and/knowledge of limitations. A sufficiently mature understanding and acceptance of internal contradictions has been achieved; they now do not cause the individual to doubt his strength and integrity. Talents, strengths and desires, suppressed in the period of 20-30 years due to their incompatibility with the unfolding projects of adulthood, can now re-emerge. Gould cites the examples of an ambitious young partner at a prestigious law firm who is considering a move into the public service sector, and of a suave, carefree bachelor who suddenly realizes that he is frustrated by his own shortcomings in numerous intimate relationships. (This development fits well with Levinson's assumptions about dreams: those who ignore and suppress dreams during early adulthood will be plagued by unresolved conflict later in life.)
Even those who have realized the aspirations of their youth still experience some doubt, confusion and depression during this period of life. They may begin to question the very values that helped them achieve independence from their parents. Growth entails breaking down the rigid expectations of your 20s and 30s and adopting a more reasonable attitude: “What I get is directly related to how much effort I am willing to put in.” People stop believing in magic and begin to invest their faith in regular work in the appropriate direction. At the same time, they begin to cultivate interests, values, and qualities that will persist and develop throughout adulthood.
Between the ages of 35 and 45, full inclusion in the adult world occurs. Parents no longer have control over people at this age, and their children have not yet established their independence. As Gould puts it, they are “in the thicket of life.” At the same time, they feel time pressure and fear that they will not achieve their goals. The physical changes of middle adulthood frighten and dishearten them; the lack of any meaningful career changes makes them feel locked in. The desire for stability and reliability, which was paramount for them in their 30s and 40s, is replaced by the need for immediate action and results. It is no longer acceptable to delay. The death of their parents and the awareness of their own mortality lead them to think about the constant injustice and suffering of life. By learning the negative side of human experience, they part with their childhood need for security. They are also finally free to examine and let go of the feelings of inadequacy and weakness that have persisted since childhood. This, Gould suggested, represented full autonomous adult self-awareness.
In conclusion. It is important to remember that theories that emphasize periods or stages contribute to understanding the process of adult development. However, there are some reasons not to accept them unambiguously. First, the idea of stages leads to the fact that some stable aspects of personality that exist in adulthood elude the attention of research.
^ Chapter 13. Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 597
vateley. Second, these theories pay little attention to the unpredictability of life events (Neugarten, 1979). Third, until now, most research participants have been men, and researchers have tended to focus on the same age groups: individuals born in the first half of the 20th century.
Various theoretical views on the main tasks of adulthood are summarized in Table. 13.4.
^ Table 13.4Determination of the main tasks of adulthood by individual theorists
| Erickson | Continued development of a sense of identity; resolving the crisis of intimacy and isolation |
| Gould | Letting go of false assumptions about addiction and taking responsibility for your life; developing competence and recognizing personal limitations |
| Hayvinghurst | Start of family life and career |
| Kegan | Structuring and restructuring of semantic systems |
| Leibowi-Wif | Development of autonomous and independent decision making |
| Levinson | Development of preliminary life structure and implementation of the 30-year-old transition and other transitions; includes defining a dream, finding a mentor, developing a career, and establishing intimacy with a special partner |
| Peri | Progress from dualistic to realistic thinking |
| Rigel | Achieving Dialectical Thinking |
| Sheyo | Flexible application of intellectual abilities to achieve personal and professional goals - a period of achievement |
^ Security questions for the topic
“Periodization and developmental tasks in adults”
Havenghurst's theory is based primarily on resolving the crisis of intimacy and isolation.
From the perspective of Levinson's theory of adult life spans, both men and women define their dreams and seek a mentor.
From the point of view of Levinson's theory of periodization of adult life, for development during adulthood in both men and women, the best criterion is chronological age.
Gould's theory focuses on adults achieving self-confidence and self-acceptance.
^ Question to think about
What do all the theories discussed in this section have in common? What are their differences?
598 Part IV. Adulthood
Chapter Summary
Beginning in early adulthood, chronological age has received relatively little use in developmental research.
Significant events and stages of adulthood may be normative or idiosyncratic and culturally dependent.
^ Prospects for development in adulthood
Age clocks indicate when certain achievements may occur according to a given cultural context.
In the United States, many traditional observations about adult development have become less clear.
Biological, social and psychological ages, in their interaction, give us a more reliable picture of adult development than chronological age.
There is no universal definition of maturity.
Contextual approaches are one way of looking at adult development.
^ General physical development
Early adulthood is the time of maximum development of strength, endurance, and most perceptual and motor skills; They generally begin to decline gradually after about 40 years of age.
Early adulthood is generally a period of health; Healthy lifestyle and exercise habits established during this period usually continue throughout life.
With some exceptions, most athletes reach their peak performance in their 20s and 30s; Improvements in the quality of training and nutrition have led to the fact that modern athletes are leaving behind the records of previous years.
During early adulthood, the leading cause of avoidable death is accidents, the second is HIV/AIDS.
People may develop diseases during early adulthood that show their symptoms only in later periods of life.
^ Sex and sexuality
Most people in the United States are monogamous; they have few sexual partners throughout their lives.
Cohabiting or married couples have the most active sex lives and are likely to experience greater sexual satisfaction, which does not necessarily involve regular orgasm.
Changes in the attitudes of adults in the United States during the second half of the 20th century included an increased emphasis on satisfaction and greater flexibility.
^ Chapter 13. Early adulthood: physical and cognitive development 599
The intensity of sexual behavior in the United States peaked in the 1960s and 1970s and then gradually declined.
Women ovulate regularly throughout early adulthood until they reach menopause in middle adulthood; Men produce sperm capable of fertilization during their lifetime after reaching puberty.
In the past in the United States, sexual intimacy was not often mutually satisfying for men and women; the situation changed by the 1990s.
Sexual orientation helps define gender identity, which in turn is part of a person's overall identity.
Forming a gender identity can be especially difficult for gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, who often do not come out publicly until early adulthood.
Widespread homophobia in the United States, and the abuse and discrimination that can accompany it, are a major source of difficulty for people with a same-sex sexual orientation to adjust.
People infected with homophobia are found in all social strata, including in different professions; heterosexual men tend to exhibit stronger homophobic attitudes compared to heterosexual women.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual people have much in common with other people, although they have some obvious differences due to their homosexual experiences; They also show higher rates of psychological distress and a higher risk of suicide due to other people's homophobia.
The causes of homosexual orientation are currently unclear, but the interaction of heredity and environment most likely plays a role.
In the United States, the spread of HIV/AIDS began through homosexual relations and intravenous drug use; Today, HIV/AIDS is primarily transmitted through heterosexual relationships and affects all populations in the United States.
^ Cognitive continuity and variability
It is clear that people continue to acquire more knowledge during early adulthood and beyond; researchers disagree on whether other changes occur.
Early studies found early cognitive decline due to a group effect; Subsequent longitudinal studies have demonstrated that cognitive decline in all domains occurs much later and is more gradual.
In Peri's studies, students first demonstrated a commitment to dualistic thinking, then moved toward conceptual relativism and eventually toward self-accepted beliefs.
600 Part IV. Adulthood
Riegel insisted that dialectical thinking is the fifth stage of cognitive development after the stage of formal operations. Labovey-Wief emphasized the evolution of logic and self-regulation as aspects of cognitive development during early adulthood, leading to the ability to make decisions independently of others. Sheyo paid special attention to achievements beyond early adulthood, social responsibility and executive functions in middle adulthood, and re-integration in older adulthood, including the flexible use of intelligence.
^ Periodization and tasks of adult development
Havenghurst based his theory of adult development on tasks that must be accomplished; these days they are not as defined or widely applicable.
Erikson emphasized the crisis of intimacy and isolation that occurs during early adulthood.
Men's life periods, according to Levinson, are based on chronological age; Developmental challenges encountered during these stages include defining dreams, finding a mentor, developing a career, and establishing close relationships.
Levinson defines the periods of women's lives in a similar way, but their developmental problems take different forms; Researchers also believe that for women it is more appropriate to consider the stages of the family cycle than chronological age.
Gould's transformations are based on developmental changes that, over time, culminate in an accurate understanding of the world and, at the same time, self-confidence and self-acceptance.
QUESTIONS:
§ 1. Periodization of adult development.
§ 2. Early adulthood: physical, cognitive and personal development.
§ 3. Middle adulthood: midlife crisis, physical, cognitive and personal development.
§ 4. Late adulthood: periodization, physical, cognitive and personal development; theories of aging.
§ 1.Periodization of adult development
S. Bühler identified 5 phases of the life path. The phases do not have names, but are determined by age in years and general characteristics of the phases:
0 – 16/20 years: no family, no profession, no life path;
16/20 – 25/30 years: preliminary self-determination, choice of a spouse;
25/30 – 45/50 years: maturity – own family, a calling has been found, specific life tasks and goals are set, self-realization;
45/50 – 65/70 years: aging person; difficult age of mental crisis; by the end of the phase, self-determination and setting life goals disappear;
65/70 – ... years: old person; no social connections; aimless existence; turning to the past, passive anticipation of death, self-completion.
This periodization (S. Bühler) is from the beginning of the 20th century. (Morgun, Tkacheva).
E. Erickson(1902-1994) in the book “Childhood and Society” (1963) divided human life into 8 separate stages of psychosocial development EGO(for eight human ages).
Stage 6: early maturity: 20 – 25 years (youth); development task: can I give myself completely to another person? Paths of development: 1) warmth, understanding, trust → the result of which: closeness(intimacy); 2) loneliness, fear of losing oneself in relationships with others → the result of which: isolation.
Stage 7: average maturity (adulthood): 25 – 65 years; development challenge: what can I offer future generations? Paths of development: 1) determination, productivity → generativity (ego productivity); 2) impoverishment of personal life, regression → inertia (ego stagnation).
Stage 8: late maturity (maturity): 65 years and ...; development task: am I satisfied with my life? Paths of development: a sense of completion of life’s journey, the implementation of plans and goals, completeness and integrity → ego integrity (ego integration); 2) lack of a sense of completion, dissatisfaction with life lived → despair. (Theories of Personality: Craig).
Periodization according to D. Levinson(1978, 1986, 1990). This periodization was first developed for men, and later research confirmed its applicability to the development of women.
In the life cycle of adults, Levinson identified 3 main eras, each lasting about 20 years. During each era the individual builds structure of life. This structure forms the basis of a way of life, serving both as a boundary and a link between the individual and society. The structure of life is formed primarily from the individual's relationship with the outside world. These can be relationships with individuals, groups, systems, and even objects. At certain age periods, people begin to experience doubts and destroy the existing structure of life. They then create a new structure to meet current needs. (These periods are called transitional or developmental crises). This structure is dominant during a sustained period of activity until a person “outgrows” it - and the whole process begins anew.
Pre-adulthood era: 0 – 22 years(Levinson did not consider it, he only pointed to it);
Era of early adulthood: 17 – 45 years old; includes:
transition to early adulthood: 17 – 22 years(this may be a crisis in determining life goals);
structure of life in period of entry into early adulthood : 22 – 28 years old;
30th anniversary transition: 28 – 33 years;
structure of life in climax of early adulthood : 33 – 40 years old.
Middle Adulthood Era: 40 – 65 years, includes:
transition to middle adulthood: 40 – 45 years(mid-life crisis);
structure of life in early middle adulthood : 45 – 50 years;
transition of the 50th anniversary: 50 – 55 years;
structure of life in climax of middle adulthood : 55 – 60 years old.
Late adulthood era: 60–…, includes:
transition to late adulthood: 60–65 years, and Levinson did not consider further. (Craig).
B.G. Ananyev adulthood cycle divided into 4 stages: 1) early adulthood (21 – 25 years); 2) middle adulthood (25 – 40 years); 3) late adulthood (40 – 55 years); 4) pre-retirement age (55 – 65 years), which is transitional to the cycle of old age .
As part of our course, we will adhere to the following periodization (3 stages):
early adulthood: 20 – 40 years;
middle adulthood: 40 – 60 years;
However, this periodization strongly depends on the socioeconomic status, environment (urban - rural), ethnic group, cultural and historical period (wars, economic depressions, etc.). In general, there is one tendency or pattern: the boundaries of the stages of adulthood are partly determined by social class: the higher it is, the more likely it is that a person enjoys “lingering” in the transition from one stage to another. For example, an adult who is associated with heavy physical labor, and an adult associated with mental labor (the 2nd can work productively even after 60 years, and the 1st is unlikely, i.e. he will reach late adulthood earlier).
In connection with this (relativity of age stages) the concept was introduced age hours , along which adults move from one stage to another. Age hours – the type of internal life timeline used as a criterion for development in adulthood; a means of finding out how much a person is behind or ahead of key social events in his development that occur during a specific period of adulthood(stage). For example, studying at a university can be immediately after school or after 30 years, or 40 years.
It is noted that in the last 20 years there has been a blurring of the boundaries of traditional periods of life. If in 1950 80% of men and 90% of women believed that the best time for a man to get married is between the ages of 20 and 25, then in 1970 only 42% of men and women agreed with this.
Examples of changes in the boundaries of age periods:
in 1890, 14% of women (USA) lived to be 80 years old, and in 1980 → 50% of US women;
in 1600, 50% of children survived to adulthood;
in 1860, 16% of 50-year-olds had living parents, then in 1960 - up to 60%;
in 1940, people spent only 7% of their adult lives as pensioners; in 1977, the proportion of retirement years increased to 23%.
Age hours is an internal chronometer, and an outside observer needs to use knowledge about determining age. It can be: 1) biological – average human life expectancy; it varies considerably among different people. As a rule, the higher the life expectancy, the longer the age stages “stretch” and vice versa; 2) social – the degree to which a person’s position corresponds to the norms existing in a given culture (a 50-year-old man with 3 children and a career and a 50-year-old bachelor spending time in bars looking for a partner for the night); 3) psychological – indicates how much a person has adapted to the requirements of the environment. It includes the level of intelligence, learning ability, motor skills, as well as subjective forms such as feelings, attitudes and motives.
Combining the factors of biological, social and psychological age leads to the concept of maturity.
There are quite a lot of periodizations of age development. The most detailed and meaningful periodizations of development are in childhood and adolescence. This is no coincidence. The first stage in the human life cycle is the origins, the time of formation of both mental functions and personal formations; it is very significant genetically and has been well studied. In adulthood, there will be no qualitative changes (“metamorphoses”) in the development of psychological processes: an adult has creative thinking, voluntary semantic memory, voluntary attention, developed forms of speech, including writing, etc. Some of their indicators fluctuate in one range or another, but such significant changes as in childhood are not observed in adulthood.
Child psychologists talk about personality starting from preschool age. The formation of the motivational sphere, self-awareness, value orientations, etc. can be traced throughout primary school and adolescence. At the end of adolescence, stabilization of personal development begins, although in adolescence it is in this regard that significant changes can occur.
Thus, the mental development of a child and adolescent is intensive and covers all areas. It has general patterns, primarily because the living conditions at this time are the same. In the family, kindergarten and school, the basic norms of behavior and relationships with adults and peers are mastered, the most important types of activities are direct emotional communication with the mother, manipulation of objects, play, learning.
American psychologists consider the influence of three types of factors on personality development - normative age, normative historical and non-normative. As can be seen in Fig. 1.12, age-related changes in the psyche for everyone are maximum in childhood, minimal in adolescence and adulthood; the role of the normative age factor increases somewhat in old age. Historical conditions (economic boom or recession, war, revolution, political stability, etc.) affect the development of personality most strongly in youth. For children who have not seen anything different in their lives, and for older people, whose worldviews and values have long been formed and depend little on circumstances, this factor is of little significance. And finally, the role of non-normative factors steadily increases with age - individual living conditions, the achievement or failure of a particular person to achieve his goals, major events, such as finding love, the birth of a child, the loss of a loved one, serious illness, etc.
Rice. 1.12.
(according to G. Craig):
Normative age factors;
Normative historical factors;
– – – - non-normative factors
In childhood and adolescence, development depends on normative age factors and is subject to general laws. As a result, age periods have a certain content and fairly clear time boundaries.
Age periods occurring in the middle and end of the life cycle are more difficult to characterize: individual-typical differences increase with age. Personal development at each stage of maturity depends on the life plan and its implementation, “the roads that we choose.” Along with the content, the boundaries of the periods also become less defined. When analyzing the development of a mature personality, one should proceed not so much from general patterns, but from development options.
At the same time, there are periodizations of adult development. They reflect ideas, sometimes completely different, about a holistic life path, tasks to be solved, experiences and crises. The age range of periods is most often determined as follows. The boundary of youth and youth is set at about 20-23 years, youth and maturity - 28-30 years, sometimes it is pushed back to 35 years, the boundary of maturity and old age - approximately 60-70 years. Some periodizations highlight decrepitude. The final boundary of life is especially difficult to define. According to modern statistics, in developed Western countries it is 84 years for women and 77 years for men. But individual differences are so great that some centenarians extend their final age to 100 years or more.
The most famous and recognized in world psychology is E. Erikson’s periodization, which covers the entire life cycle. It is presented in the next chapter.
Let us give as an example two different periodizations of the development of a mature personality: S. Buhler and R. Gould, D. Levinson, D. Weillant.
Highlighting five phases of the human life cycle, S. Bühler focuses on maturity - the time of heyday; After 50 years, aging begins, coloring life in gloomy tones.
The periodization of American psychologists R. Gould, D. Levinson, and D. Vaillant is more optimistic. In a person's adult life, they emphasize two crises - 30 and 40 years; the rest of the time, including in old age, peace of mind sets in.
In Russian psychology, in comparison with Western psychology, the problem of periodization of the development of a mature personality has received less attention; Interest in it has increased recently.
In the periodization of V.F. Morguna 10 stages.
The content side of the periodizations of development of a mature personality is presented in more detail in A.V. Tolstykh and G.S. Abramova. To the provisions of A.V. Tolstoy, who did not give a strict framework for age periods, we will address in Section III of the book. Let us indicate the age limits according to G.S. Abramova.
Youth - 18-22 years
Growing up - 23-30 years old
Transitional age - 30-33 years
Maturity - 36-50 years
Old age - 51-65 years
Old age - over 65 years old
Normative crises of adulthood. Personality development during adulthood still remains one of the most complex and insufficiently studied problems in psychology. For example, psychoanalytic theories focus more on cases of personality anomalies, pathological variants. The norm is considered to be a state of absence of symptoms of the disease. Another approach, developed from the standpoint of humanistic psychology, absolutizes outstanding representatives of humanity, self-actualizing individuals. personality is sometimes considered as a certain target state towards which social and psychological development is directed, and then a simple change in personal properties occurs. Many modern domestic and foreign psychologists believe that a person is capable of self-development, especially at the time of maturity. However, simply stating this situation is completely insufficient; complete, deep and accurate knowledge about the patterns and factors of this development is necessary. Age-psychological and the idea of adulthood. ON THE. Rybnikov in the 1920s. proposed to call “acmeology” a special branch of developmental psychology that studies the patterns of development of an adult. This idea has been embodied in recent decades in the establishment of an independent scientific discipline of acmeology, which studies the phenomenology, patterns and mechanisms of human development at the stage of maturity. Acmeology studies the ways, means, conditions for the flourishing of a person as an individual (physical perfection), as a bright personality, a talented subject of activity and an original individuality, as well as as a citizen, parent, spouse, friend. Acmeology and developmental psychology use the biographical method in its various forms: collection and comparison of biographical material, spontaneous and provoked autobiographies, synthesis of typical stories of personality movement in adulthood, questionnaires, interviews, tests, eyewitness accounts, content analysis of diaries, notebooks, letters . Literary and clinical material is also used for analysis.
The acme phenomenon. According to A.A. Bodaleva, “the peak in the development” of an adult, the peak of maturity, the acme phenomenon is a multidimensional state, variable and changeable, and peaks in different “hypostases” are usually achieved at different times. Tracing a person’s life path, developmental characteristics separately and their integration indicates the importance of each “stage” (infancy, preschool and preschool age, etc.) in preparing the content and form of manifestation of a person’s future macroacme. In the biographies of outstanding people who left a noticeable mark on culture and science, microacmes are visible at every age stage of their lives, peculiar harbingers of future achievements. A comparison of acme in different people shows that its manifestation can be local, within one area of activity, one area of knowledge, or it can be wide, covering a large spectrum (a striking example of acme is in Leonardo da Vinci, M.V. Lomonosov, who took place as scientists - encyclopedists and at the same time as artists). In terms of level, in terms of “caliber,” acme can be an extremely high, socially significant breakthrough, or it can be ordinary and reproductive, and even pseudo-acme (inflated achievements, authority, recognition). Other characteristics of the acme phenomenon are the time it takes a person to achieve it and the duration of its implementation. Personal acme, as one of the most important components of the peak of maturity, is based on spiritual and moral values, which have become deeply significant personal values of a person, which he is ready to effectively defend. The integrity of a person as an individual is determined by the harmony of the ensemble of relationships to different aspects of reality, to the past and future, to close and distant people and the dominance of certain values. In extreme conditions, the depth of commitment to certain values and orientations is revealed very clearly. Persecuted by the persecutors of genetics, Academician N.I. Vavilov said: “We will burn, but we will not give up our convictions.”
There are a number of factors that help or hinder the achievement of acme by a person:
- social macrofactors (socio-economic conditions of his contemporary society, the specific historical time of his life, social affiliation, specific social situation, a person’s age, his gender);
- social microfactors (family, school, other educational institutions, production team, influence of individual family members, teachers, social circle);
- factor of self-development - a person’s own work on himself, the continuous activity of the inner world.
According to A. A. Bodalev, personality development during adulthood involves the following new formations: 1) changes in the motivational sphere with an increasing reflection of universal human values; 2) an increase in the intellectual ability to plan and then practically carry out actions and actions in accordance with the named values; 3) the emergence of a greater ability to mobilize oneself to overcome difficulties of an objective nature; 4) a more objective assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses, the degree of one’s readiness for new, more complex actions and responsible actions. An essential point is the non-uniformity or heterochrony of the appearance of neoplasms, the relationship in their development, when the appearance of some is a condition for triggering the development of others or for them to reach a higher level. Thus, strengthening achievement motivation creates conditions for the development of a person’s abilities, which allows him to solve more difficult problems, achieve success and experience it, and gives rise to the setting of new goals.
A significant area of research is the problem of “meaning in life and age.” The meaning of life is considered as an integrative formation in the mental development of a person, which allows the subject to transform ideas about his own life as a set of individual age stages into a “single line of life.”
Age-related crises of adulthood. In Western psychology, the consideration of age-related crises is one of the most important approaches to the analysis of development during adulthood.
We can identify some age periods during which personality changes most often occur: about 20 years, about 30 years (28 - 34), 40-45, 55 - 60 years and, finally, at a late age. The chronological dates of normative age-related crises are very approximate. The moment of occurrence, duration, and severity of crises during adulthood can vary markedly depending on personal life circumstances. The driving force of development is recognized as the internal desire for growth and self-improvement; a number of external factors acting on the “trigger” principle are also important. Among the circumstances that provoke a crisis are sudden changes in health (sudden illness, long-term and serious illness, hormonal changes), economic and political events, changes in conditions, requirements, social expectations, etc. Under the pressure of social cataclysms, a double crisis may arise (a social crisis superimposed on an age one), which aggravates its course and sets us up for a deeper understanding of all life.
Moreover, the form of the critical period may be different. Not all researchers support the idea of a “crisis” of this period. The crisis model includes a deliberately negative component: weakness in confronting changed circumstances, the collapse of illusions, failures, and the painful experience of dissatisfaction. Some consider a more appropriate transition model when upcoming changes (status, etc.) are planned and the individual is able to cope with difficulties. The “second half of a person’s life” was of great interest to C. Jung. He viewed the middle of life as a critical moment when a “deep, amazing change of the soul” occurs. Forced socialization is replaced by a line of self-development. In adulthood, a person must carry out the inner work of self-knowledge, which Jung called “individuation.” At this age, a person is able to integrate both the “feminine” and the “masculine” principles into his self, unite all aspects of the personality around the self, and find harmony between himself and the world around him. In the second half of life, a person, through balancing and integrating various elements of the personality, can achieve the highest level of development of his personality, relying on symbolic and religious experience. According to Jung, very few people reach this highest level of personality development.
D. Levinson’s approach to analyzing the life process of adults has become widely known. Levinson studied a group of 40 American men aged 35 to 45, conducting 15-hour biographical interviews with each of them, and also studied the biographies of great men. His goal was to discover stable, regular characteristics of development in adulthood, to highlight periods when a person needs to solve certain problems and create new structures of life. As a result, three main eras were identified in the life cycle of a man, each of which lasts approximately 20 years. During each era, the individual builds the structure of life, implements it in the way of life until he exhausts all the tasks and moves on to the next stage, starting all over again. For most men, relationships at work and family take center stage.
Levinson highlighted the transitions:
- to early adulthood - 17 - 22 years;
- transition of the 30th anniversary - 28 - 33 years;
- to middle adulthood - 40-45 years;
- transition of the 50th anniversary - 50-55 years;
- transition to late adulthood - 60-65 years.
Entering adulthood, the period of beginnings, occurs between the ages of 17 and 33. To become a full adult, a young man must master four developmental challenges:
1) link dreams of achievement and reality: groundless fantasies and completely unattainable goals, as well as the complete absence of dreams, do not contribute to growth;
2) find a mentor to make the transition from parent-child relationships to relationships in the world of adult peers;
3) build a career for yourself;
4) establish an intimate relationship with a “special woman” (Levinson’s term) who will help him enter the adult world, who will encourage his hopes, tolerate his dependent behavior and other shortcomings, help him achieve his dreams, making his partner feel like a hero. Transition periods, according to Levinson, are stressful, since during this time goals, values and lifestyle are subject to revision and reassessment. American researcher G. Sheehy, inspired by Levinson's searches, used the autobiographical method in a comparative analysis of the lives of spouses. Her findings largely confirmed Levinson's data. Thus, the first crisis (20 - 22 years old) is the transition to early adulthood, the crisis of “severance from parental roots.” The main tasks and problems of youth: clarification of life plans and the beginning of their implementation; searching for oneself, developing individuality; final awareness of oneself as an adult with one’s rights and responsibilities, choosing a spouse and creating one’s own family; specialization and acquisition of mastery in professional activities.
Around 30 years of age - the transition to middle adulthood, the “golden age”, the period of highest performance and productivity. 30 years is the age of the normative crisis of adulthood, associated with the discrepancy between the area of the present and the area of the possible, desired, experienced in the form of anxiety and doubt. The crisis of the 30th anniversary is associated with the task of correcting the life plan from the height of accumulated experience, creating a more rational and orderly structure of life both in professional activities and in the family. Trying to overcome unpleasant feelings, a person comes to re-evaluate previous choices - spouse, career, life goals. There is often a desire for a radical change in lifestyle; breakup of early marriages; professional reorientation, which without personal restructuring and without in-depth reflection often turn out to be just “illusory” ways out of the crisis.
The period after 30 years - “roots and expansion” - is associated with solving material and housing problems, moving up the career ladder, expanding social connections, as well as analyzing one’s origins and gradually accepting parts of oneself that were previously ignored. The midlife crisis, the 40th birthday crisis, has received the greatest fame and at the same time the most controversial assessments. The first signs of a crisis, discord in the inner world are a change in attitude towards what previously seemed important, significant, interesting or, on the contrary, repulsive. An identity crisis is expressed in the experience of a feeling of not being identical to oneself, of having become different. At least one of the moments of the crisis is associated with the problem of diminishing physical strength and attractiveness. The discovery of diminishing vitality is a severe blow to self-esteem and self-concept. Jack London in one of his stories compares the attitude towards the upcoming fight of a forty-year-old and a young boxer. The physical fatigue accumulated in a middle-aged boxer and the consequences of injuries and illnesses are vividly described. He has a different perception of the fight and life in general than in his youth, associated with an awareness of responsibility to his family, wife and children. He is aware that his muscles are not so strong, but he hopes for the accumulation of knowledge and experience, skillful distribution of forces, and intellectual superiority. But - alas! -the result of the fight is in favor of youth...
The period from 30 to 40 years is often called the “decade of doom.” This is the age of summing up preliminary results, when dreams and ideas about the future created in youth are compared with what has actually been achieved. Such crisis contradictions are usually recognized by the person himself as a clear discrepancy, a depressing discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, between the realm of the present and the realm of the possible, desired. People in creative professions are experiencing this crisis especially acutely. In addition, social expectations are changing. The time has come to meet the hopes of society and create some kind of socially significant product, material or spiritual, otherwise society is transferring its expectations to representatives of the younger generation.
The crisis of the 40th anniversary is interpreted as a time of dangers and great opportunities. Awareness of the loss of youth, the decline of physical strength, changes in roles and expectations are accompanied by anxiety, emotional decline, and in-depth introspection. Doubts about the correctness of the life lived are considered as the central problem of this age. G. Sheehy identified several models (styles) of living life for both men and women: “unstable”, “closed”, “prodigies”, “educators”, “hidden children”, “integrators”, etc. In addition, Sheehy showed the specifics age crises of women as opposed to men. The stages of women's life path are much more closely related to the stages and events of the family cycle: marriage; the appearance of children; growing up and isolation of children; “empty nest” (grown children left the parental family).
“Live to be a hundred years old, David Danilych,” Rimma reassured, but still it was nice to dream about the time when she would become the mistress of an entire apartment, not a communal one, but her own, make a big renovation, cover the ridiculous pentagonal kitchen from top to bottom with tiles and change the stove . Fedya will defend his dissertation, the children will go to school, English, music, figure skating... well, what else can you imagine? Many people envied them in advance. But, of course, it was not the tiles, not the well-developed children that shone from the vastness of the future with a colored, rainbow-colored fire, a sparkling arch of frantic delight (and Rimma honestly wished old Ashkenazi long life: everything would work out in time); no, something more, something completely different, important, alarming and great, was rustling and sparkling ahead, as if Rimmin’s boat, sailing in a dark channel through the flowering reeds, was about to be carried out into the green, happy, raging ocean.
In the meantime, life was not quite real, life was waiting, life out of suitcases, careless, easy - with a bunch of rubbish in the corridor, with midnight guests: Petyunya in a heavenly tie, childless Elya and Alyosha, someone else; with Pipka’s nightly visits and her wild conversations. ... And the episode was forgotten. But, for the first time, something broke in Rimma - she looked around and saw that time was passing by, and the future was not coming, and Fedya was not so good-looking, and the children learned bad words on the street, and old Ashkenazi coughed and lived, and the wrinkles have already crawled towards the eyes and mouth, and the rubbish in the corridor just lies and lies. And the sound of the ocean became muffled, and they never went south, they kept putting it off for a future that did not want to come. Troubled days have passed. Rimma gave up, she kept trying to understand at what moment she had taken the wrong path leading to distant singing happiness, and often sat, lost in thought, while the children grew up, and Fedya sat in front of the TV and did not want to write a dissertation, and a cotton blizzard was falling outside the window. , then the fresh city sun peeked through the summer clouds. The friends grew older and became slower to move, Petyunya completely disappeared somewhere, bright ties went out of fashion, Elya and Alyosha got a new capricious dog, which they had no one to leave in the evenings. At work, Rimma had new colleagues, Big Lucy and Little Lucy, but they did not know about Rimma’s plans for happiness and did not envy her, but envied Kira from the planning department, who dressed expensively and variedly, exchanged hats for books, books for meat, meat for medicine or for tickets to hard-to-find theaters and irritably said to someone on the phone: “But you know very well how much I love jellied tongue.” “Fedya, shall we go south?” - asked Rimma. “Definitely,” Fedya answered readily, as he had done many times over the years. That's good. So, we'll go after all. South! And she listened to the voice, which was still barely audible whispering something about the future, about happiness, about a long, sound sleep in a white bedroom, but the words were already difficult to distinguish. “Hey, look: Petyunya!” - Fedya said in surprise. On the TV screen, under the palm trees, Petyunya, small and gloomy, with a microphone in his hands, stood cursing some cocoa plantations, and the blacks passing by turned to look at him, and his huge tie burst into the African dawn, but there was nothing happy on his face either. was seen. Now Rimma knew that they had all been deceived, but she could not remember who did it and when. She went through it day after day, looking for a mistake, but did not find it. She rode in a quiet, sad taxi and said to herself: but I have Fedya and children. But the consolation was false and weak, because everything was over, life showed its empty face - matted hair and sunken eye sockets. And the coveted south, where she had been yearning for so many years, seemed to her yellow and dusty, with protruding tufts of hard, dry plants, with muddy, stale waves, swaying with spit and pieces of paper. And at home - an old, mossy communal apartment, and the immortal old man Ashkenazi, and Fedya, familiar before the howl, and the whole viscous stream of future years, not yet lived, but known in advance, through which to wander and wander, as if through dust that covered the path up to the knees, along chest, up to the neck. And the singing of the sirens, deceptively whispering sweet words about the impossible to the stupid swimmer, fell silent forever.”
The founder of the medical and pedagogical movement, B. Livehud, who devoted many years to practical help to people during periods of age-related crises, directly connects the prospects for further human development with the success of overcoming the crisis of middle age. The crisis, in his opinion, is caused by doubts about the authenticity of the values of the extensive life that a person has led until now, doubts about the supremacy of material values and achievements based on efficiency and pragmatism. This is “a special chance to advance the process of potential maturation” by answering the question: “What is my actual task?” Moreover, it is more difficult for those who, in the first period of life, managed to establish themselves in their personal attitude and become confident in the correctness of their previous line, to rethink themselves, to understand their new purpose, the “desired leitmotif” of life. About his own experience of the crisis for 40 years, B. Livehud wrote: “Knowledge of certain processes does not eliminate the need to survive and suffer through them when faced with them. For several years I lay awake at night and asked myself what the meaning of my life was. At the same time, I had an interesting job as a child psychiatrist, and I was in charge of a large institution. I could often be convinced that a push comes from outside, but that you don’t react to it if you haven’t matured yet. Achieving maturity is a developmental process that no one, even those who know, can avoid.” Knowledge about the crisis still gives an advantage: a person realizes that he should not look for someone else to play the role of “ruining his life” and blame extraneous obstacles; you need to rethink what you have lived and set guidelines for yourself that lead to values of a higher order. Livehud himself found a way out in new work, which set a new leitmotif of life related to providing spiritual and emotional support to other people in extreme situations for them.
According to, during middle adulthood a person develops a sense of preserving the race (generativity), expressed mainly in interest in the next generation and its upbringing. This stage of life is characterized by high productivity and creativity in a variety of areas. The greatest risk for personal development is the reduction of life to the satisfaction of exclusively one’s own needs, the impoverishment of interpersonal relationships, and the freezing of married life in a state of pseudo-intimacy.
R. Pekk, developing Erikson’s ideas, identifies four sub-crises, the resolution of which serves as a necessary condition for subsequent personal development:
- developing a person's respect for wisdom (as opposed to physical courage);
- replacement of sexualization of relationships by socialization (weakening of sexual roles);
- opposition to affective impoverishment associated with the loss of loved ones and isolation of children; maintaining emotional flexibility, striving for affective enrichment in other forms;
- the desire for mental flexibility (overcoming mental rigidity), the search for new forms of behavior. To successfully overcome crisis experiences, a person must develop emotional flexibility and the ability to give emotionally in relation to growing children and aging parents. Resolution of the sub-crises of middle age - revision of life goals towards greater restraint and realism, awareness of the limited time of life, correction of living conditions, development of a new image of the Self, giving more and more importance to spouses, friends, children, perception of one’s situation as quite acceptable, which leads to a period new stability. Finding a new goal, meaningful and at the same time more realistic, allows you to build a new structure of life and new warmth of relationships. For people who have successfully overcome the crisis, after 50-60 years of age, everyday problems are put aside and their horizons expand. It is possible to achieve a second creative culmination on the basis of generalizing life experience, organizing it, bringing it into work and transferring it to young people, observing whose professional and personal development brings joy. The unresolved crisis experiences and the refusal to renew themselves return the crisis with renewed vigor to the age of 50. Then in the future, ignoring the changes happening to him, the person plunges into work, clinging to his administrative position, to his official position. A person who is “stuck” on the values of achievement in hopeless attempts to strengthen his authority treats young people as a threat to his position: “I’m still here, I must be taken into account, for a few more years the matter will be in my hands.” Often observed in adulthood, the reluctance to take even justified risks leads to a slowdown in the accumulation of new capabilities of a person, ultimately to a loss of the sense of the new, a lag behind life, and a decrease in professionalism. Moreover, as a result of the unprecedented pace of accelerating the development of society in the era of information, there is a tendency for the crisis to become younger, with the onset of its characteristic experiences at a relatively younger age.
In modern reality, the role of education as one of the forms of human life in any period of life is increasingly realized. Continuing education is one of the ways to successfully resolve the crisis, a way for a person to gain new opportunities and a social mechanism for preserving and reproducing some characteristics of youth. Of course, it is necessary not only to replenish knowledge, but to acquire spiritual, mental flexibility, and a new professional worldview. If new values, including those of a spiritual nature, are not found, then all subsequent phases of life become a line leading to a tragic end. Closer to the age of 60, there is a change in all motivation in connection with preparation for the retirement period of life. Thus, beyond adolescence, development never proceeds linearly, simply as the accumulation and expansion of once developed motivational aspirations and a semantic attitude towards the world. From time to time, quite dramatic transitions to other motivational paths, to a different semantic orientation of the main types of activity naturally arise.
Differences between normative crises of adulthood and childhood crises:
- in adulthood, the list and nomenclature of main activities often remains constant (labor, productive activities, family, communication, etc.) in contrast to the period of childhood, when there is a periodic change of leading activities;
- profound changes occur within the very basic activities of an adult, in their relationship with each other;
- crises of maturity occur less frequently, with a large time gap (7-10 years), they are much less tied to a specific chronological age and more closely depend on the social situation and personal circumstances of life;
- development in the intervals between crises occurs more smoothly, the chronological framework is quite arbitrary;
- crises of maturity pass more consciously and more secretly, not demonstrably to others;
- exiting the crisis, overcoming it is associated with the need for one’s own active intrapersonal work; The decisive role in the development of personality in all its completeness and uniqueness belongs to the person himself. “Knowledge of the normal patterns of human life can be the beginning of a way out of problems of this kind,” emphasized B. Livehud. Thus, a normal mature personality is not a personality devoid of contradictions and difficulties, but a personality capable of accepting, realizing and evaluating these contradictions, productively resolving them in accordance with their most general goals and moral ideals, which leads to new stages, stages of development .
Various researchers have studied the combinations of intellectual abilities, personal needs and social expectations of adults, trying to determine the stages, or periods, of their development. The data underlying these theories is often obtained through extensive interviews conducted with different age groups. Researchers are trying to identify specific periods of development based on the “crises” or conflicts that we all supposedly experience. Thus, theories often present detailed descriptions of the problems and concerns of adulthood. However, the question of how widely and how universally they apply to adult development remains open. Researchers are especially wary of the definition of “stages” of development.
Development objectives according to Hayvinghurst
Robert Hayvinghurst created his classic and pragmatic description of the human life cycle. He viewed adulthood as a series of periods during which it is necessary to solve certain developmental problems; these are summarized in the summary. In a sense, these tasks create the broad context in which development occurs. During early adulthood, these tasks mainly include the start of family life and a career. During middle adulthood, the main task is to maintain what we have previously created, as well as adapt to physical and family changes. In later years, however, the individual must adapt to other aspects of life.
Summary: Development objectives according to Hayvinghurst
Tasks of early adulthood
Choose a spouse
Learn to live with your marriage partner
Start family life
Raise children
Keep house
Start your professional activity
Accept civic responsibility
Find a congenial social group
Tasks of middle adulthood
Achieve civic and social responsibility as an adult
Establish and maintain economic living standards
Organize leisure time
Helping teenage children become responsible and happy adults
Create a relationship with your spouse as a person
Accept and adapt to the physiological changes of midlife
Adapting to aging parents
Challenges of late adulthood
Coping with Declining Physical Strength and Health
Adapt to retirement and reduced income
Accept the fact of your spouse's death
Join your age group
Fulfill social and civic responsibilities
Arrange for satisfactory physical accommodation
Are these concepts of adult development applicable in our new millennium? Yes, but not to everyone. For many people, the developmental challenges of mid-adulthood include establishing a single life or starting a family and raising children, adjusting to a new partner after divorce or a career change, or facing early retirement as a result of corporate downsizing. Although most people's lives tend to fall within the time frame of Hevinghurst's development goals, there are now more exceptions than ever before. We again become witnesses to the fact that a person’s life path largely depends on his cultural environment.
Developmental tasks according to Erikson
Many theorists, when defining the central tasks of adult development, turn to Erikson's theory of psychological stages. Erikson's theory includes eight psychological stages (crises) and that each of them is based on the previous one. Adult development depends on the success of solving the problems of previous periods: trust and autonomy, initiative and hard work. During adolescence, the central problem that needs to be solved is the definition of identity. It can persist into early adulthood, giving meaning to the integrity of adult experience. People define and redefine themselves, their priorities, and their place in the world.
The crisis of intimacy and isolation is the most characteristic problem during early adulthood. Intimacy involves establishing a mutually satisfying close relationship with another. It represents a union of two identities in which the unique qualities of neither are lost. In contrast, isolation implies an inability or failure to establish reciprocity, sometimes because the personal identity is too weak to form an intimate union with another person.
Erikson's theory is basically a stage theory, but Erikson interpreted it more flexibly. Like Havenghurst's theory, it can be seen as a normative theory. Issues of identity and intimacy are present throughout the lifespan, especially among people living in industrialized countries. Major life events, such as the death of a family member, can simultaneously create crises of both identity and intimacy as a person struggles to cope with the loss and tries to re-identify in the absence of a close companion - site. Moving to a new city, new job, or returning to college are major changes that require psychological adjustment. Therefore, Erikson's theory determines the developmental features of those problems of an individual that repeatedly arise throughout his life. For example, after moving to a new place, there may be a need to re-establish basic trust, develop autonomy, and regain competence and hard work so that you can feel like an adult again.
Consequently, for many researchers today, both identity and intimacy processes are central to understanding development in adulthood. However, achieving intimacy and identity may be more common in Western culture. For example, applicants with different ideas who came to Russia from collectivist countries may find an independent identity and greater intimacy in marriage.
Periodization of men's lives according to Levinson
Daniel Levinson has done a lot of research on adult development; its participants were 40 men aged 35 to 45 years, selected from various ethnic and professional groups. For several months these people engaged in self-observation. They explored their experiences, attitudes and life experiences and reported their observations during the interview process. In addition to reconstructing the biographies of these men, Levinson and his colleagues also studied the biographies of great men such as Dante and Gandhi to determine the developmental process during adulthood. However, the researchers did not use objective tests and scales. Overall, Levinson's approach differs significantly from Freud's. Levinson's theory also focuses on traditional roles and relationships between men and women; the question of the possibility of applying this theory beyond their boundaries requires further discussion.
Researchers have identified three main stages in the life cycle of men, which were later found to be comparable to similar stages in women's lives. Each of them lasts approximately 15 to 25 years. During each stage, a person creates what Levinson calls the structure of life. This model functions as both a boundary between the internal and external world of the individual, and a means by which the individual builds relationships with the environment. The structure of life consists mainly of social relationships and relationships with the environment and includes what the individual gains from them and must invest in them. These relationships can occur with individuals, groups, systems, or even objects. For most men, work and family relationships are the main ones. At a certain age, people begin to explore their existing systems of life. They then create a new structure consisting of their current needs, which dominates until the person “grows” out of it and begins the process again.
Levinson focused his research on the period of life from 35 to 45 years, but he found that maturity and adaptability at this age are largely determined by personality growth at the initial stage, the “novice” stage, lasting from 17 to 33 years. This is, as a rule, the age of resolving the conflicts of adolescence, finding one’s place in adult society, and developing stable and predictable patterns of behavior. The initial stage, according to Levinson, is divided into three periods: early transition to adulthood (from approximately 17 to 22 years); penetration into the world of adults (from 22 to 28 years old) and transition beyond the age of 30 (from 28 to 33 years old). Developmental crises occur when difficulties arise in an individual at one time or another.
To achieve true adulthood, according to Levinson, it is necessary to solve four developmental tasks:
1) formulate what adulthood is and what is necessary to achieve it;
2) find a mentor;
3) start building a career;
4) establish close relationships.
Definition of a dream. During the early transition to adulthood, a man's dream of achieving it is not necessarily connected with reality. It may be a special goal, such as winning a Nobel Prize, a grand dream of becoming a film producer, a financial tycoon, or a famous writer or athlete. Some men have more modest aspirations, such as becoming a skilled craftsman, local philosopher, or loving family man. The most important aspect of a dream is its ability to give inspiration to a person. Ideally, a young person begins to structure his adult life in a realistic and optimistic way that helps him realize his dreams. Fruitless fantasies and unattainable goals do not promote growth.
The dream may not be realized not only due to its illusory nature, but also due to the lack of opportunities, parents who otherwise plan the future of their child, due to such individual traits as passivity and laziness, and lack of acquired special skills. In this case, the young man can begin to master a profession that is poorer than his dreams and does not contain, from his point of view, anything magical - a website. According to Levinson, such decisions cause constant career conflicts and reduce enthusiasm and the amount of effort spent on work. Levinson suggested that those who try to achieve at least some compromise, at least partially realizing their dream, are more likely to experience a sense of accomplishment. However, the dream itself is also subject to change. A young person who enters early adulthood with hopes of becoming a basketball star will later find satisfaction in coaching without putting all the elements of his dream together.
Finding a Mentor. Mentors can be of great help to young people on the path to pursuing their dreams. A mentor gradually inspires self-confidence by sharing and approving of this dream, as well as passing on skills and experience. As a patron, he can promote the student's career growth. Nevertheless, its main function is to ensure the transition from the relationship between parents and children into the world of equal adults. The mentor must behave somewhat like a parent, adopting an authoritative style while still maintaining enough empathy to bridge the generation gap and smooth the relationship. Gradually, the student can achieve a sense of autonomy and competence; he may eventually catch up with his mentor. Usually the mentor and the young man break up at this stage.
Building a career. In addition to creating a dream and acquiring a mentor, young men face a complex career development process that is not determined solely by their choice of profession. Levinson assumed that this developmental task covers the entire initial period when a young person is trying to define himself professionally.
Establishing close relationships. The formation of close relationships also does not begin and end with the “signature” events of marriage and the birth of the first child. Both before and after these events, the young man studies himself and his attitude towards women. He must determine what he likes in women and what women like about him. He needs to evaluate his strengths and weaknesses in sexual relationships. Although some of this kind of self-observation occurs as early as adolescence, such questions nevertheless puzzle young people. From Levinson's point of view, the ability for serious romantic cooperation arises only after 30 years. An important relationship with a female inspiration satisfies needs similar to the need for a mentor-mentee relationship. Such a woman can help a young man realize his dream by giving him permission to do so and believing that he has what it takes. She helps him enter the adult world by supporting adult expectations and being tolerant of addictive behavior or other shortcomings - website. According to Levinson, a man's need for a female inspiration declines later in the midlife transition, by the time most have achieved a high degree of autonomy and competence.