Adulthood

1. Adulthood S. Richards Spring 2010

2. Young Adulthood • Age 20 – Age 40 • Desire to try new ways of doing things and by changing relationships with parents. • Learning to become less dependent and take responsibility for yourself.

3. Young Adulthood • 20s – often believe that they have chosen a course in their life that is exactly right for them. • Adults in their 20s usually believe that they must live like their parents in order to be successful.

4. Young Adulthood • 30s – often reevaluate the decisions that they made in their 20s. • Why am I doing this? Where is my life going? • Women sometimes become concerned about how many childbearing years they have left. • “Planting Roots” – settling down

5. Developmental Tasks of Young Adulthood: 1.) Exploring adult roles 2.) Becoming independent 3.) Developing intimate relationships 4.) Adjusting to living with another person 5.) Starting a family and becoming a parent 6.) Assuming the responsibilities of managing a home 7.) Beginnig a career or a job 8.) Assuming some responsibilities in the larger community 9.) Creating a social network of friends and co-workers.

6. Young Adulthood • Marriage: • An important part of Adolescence is the development of an identity because that brings stability that is needed to form lasting relationships. • A person who has learned how to have a firm sense of identity are more likely to have lasting relationships.

7. Young Adulthood • FACTS: • 75% - 80% of people get married at least once. • In the past 30 years the marriage age for men has risen from 23 to 30, women has risen from 21 to 25.

8. Young Adulthood • History of Marriage: • Patriarchy – Men have traditionally played the dominant role in marriage. • Over the past several decades, spouses have created a more equal role for each person in the relationship. • Today, most people marry someone for love. • In the 1600s/1700s, people had arranged marriages where the marriage was based on how it would benefit both families involved.

9. Young Adulthood • Choosing Spouses: • People are influenced in their marital decision by factors such as: • Ethnicity • Level of Education • Social Class • Religion • Similar Ages

10. Pet Peeves: Under your notes, list as many pet peeves as possible:

11. Partner Activity: Pick a partner you feel comfortable working with today. Discuss the following questions together – but you need to answer the questions for yourself on a separate sheet of paper. _____________________________________________________________________ 1.) What might be the advantages and disadvantages of marrying someone who has characteristics similar to your own? 2.) What might be the advantages and disadvantages of marrying someone who has characteristics similar to your own? 3.) Do you believe the following saying “Opposites Attract”? 4.) Do you believe the following saying “Birds of a feather, flock together”? 5.) What are you looking for in a spouse? (details, characteristics.)

12. Young Adulthood • Divorce: • 50% of the marriages in the United States end in divorce. • ¼ of the children in the United States live in single-parent households.

13. Reasons for Divorce: • Easier than it used to be to divorce your partner. • Increased economic independence of women. • Increasingly high expectations. • Financial hardships • Spouse abuse, child abuse, infidelity, stress. • Inability to communicate

14. Cost of Divorce – Financially and Emotionally • When a household is split, so is the financial resources, income, property. • Neither person is able to retain the standard of living as they did while they were married. • Women usually are granted child support because they are given the custody of the children and they need to support them.

15. Forum Panel Discussion - Activity: Group 1: Need 2 people who believe in the following: “Parents in unhappy marriages should stay together for the sake of the children.” Group 2: Need 2 people who believe in the following: “Living with parents who are in constant conflict is more harmful to the children than divorce.” Audience: Concerned parents who have come to hear the psychologists debate on the issue AND to ask questions of them.

16. Middle adulthood • Age 40 – Age 65 • By age 40, many begin to lose some of their strength, coordination, and stamina that they had during their 20s and 30s. • When many begin working on developing their physical potential.

17. Developmental Tasks of Middle Adulthood: 1.) Helping one’s children make the transition from home life to the outside world. 2.) Strengthen one’s relationship with one’s spouse. 3.) Helping make the world a better place by assuming leadership roles in social activities. 4.) Achieving mastery in one’s career. 5.) Adjusting to the physical changes that occur in middle ages. 6.) Making decisions about how to spend one’s ‘second adulthood’. 7.) Pursuing one’s passions. 8.) Coping with one’s aging parents.

18. Middle adulthood • Generativity – The ability to create, originate and produce. • This adds meaning to the lives of adults and it helps them to maintain and enhance their self-esteem. • Stagnation – Can happen to adults where the lack of advancement or development can result in feelings of emptiness and meaningless.

19. Middle adulthood • Midlife Transition – Is a period in middle adulthood when people’s perspectives change in a major way. • Women tend to undergo their midlife transitions about five years earlier than men do, around 35 years of age. • Midlife Crisis – Second period of reassessment.

20. Middle adulthood • Age of Mastery – People are at the height of their creativity and productive powers. • Empty Nest Syndrome – Feelings of emptiness and loss mothers and fathers might feel after their children have left home to establish their own lives.

21. Middle adulthood • Menopause – End of menstruation • Usually occurs between the age 40s – 50s • Skin becomes less elastic, bones are more brittle. • “Hot flashes”

22. Myths & Realities of Menopause: Myths: 1.) Menopause is abnormal. 2.) Doctors consider menopause to be a disease. 3.) After menopause, women need estrogen-replacement therapy. 4.) Menopause is accompanied by depression and anxiety. 5.) At menopause, women suffer crippling hot flashes. 6.) A woman’s general level of activity is lower after menopause.

23. Late adulthood • Age 65 – Death • In 1900, only 1 in 30 people were living past the age of 65. • Physical Changes: • Wrinkles, folds in the face, sense become less sharp. • Immune system becomes less effective.

24. Why do we age?????? • Programmed Theories – Aging is the result of genetics. • Heredity controls and influences our cells, our hormones, and our immune systems. • As we age, cells are not able to divide and repair like they used to. • Cellular Damage Theories – Cells malfunction as a result of damage not heredity. • Damages can come from interior or exterior things.

25. Why do we age?????? • Scientists blame Free Radicals for our damage. This would be described as unstable molecules in our bodies. • Free Radicals – Exposure to environmental agents, air pollution, pesticides, extreme heat, ultraviolet lights, etc. • Cross-Linking – Proteins within a cell bind together toughening body tissues. • The toughening usually leads to the breakdown of various bodily processes.

26. Late adulthood • Senile Dementia – Serious loss of cognitive functioning. • Loss of memory, speech problems, concentration, making plans, etc. • Occurs after the age of 65.

27. Late adulthood • Alzheimer’s Disease – Progressive form of mental deterioration that affects about 10 percent of people over the age of 65 and nearly half of those over the age of 85. • Reduced levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (Ach) – and by the buildup of a sticky plague in the brain. • The plague is formed by fragments of protein (usually the immune system takes care of this, but due to old age this does not occur)

28. Late adulthood • Vascular Dementia – Caused by the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain (as during a stroke) or by a decrease in the blood supply to the brain. •  Retirement • Grandparenthood

29. Late adulthood • Ego Integrity – the belief that life is meaningful and worthwhile even when physical abilities are not what they used to be. • ***Case Study: Pg. 289

30. Late adulthood • Stages of Dying: (Pg. 291) • Kubler-Ross’ Theory: • Denial • Anger • Bargaining • Depression • Acceptance

31. Late adulthood • Hospice • Euthanasia • The Living Will • The Funeral