HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

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Andrew T. Nilsson, Ph.D. Eastern Connecticut State University

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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
A LIFE STAGE PERSPECTIVE
(Adulthood in blue) Boy adolescent husband/worker family head/career grandfather retired death

Girl adolescent wife mother grandmother widow death

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ERIKSONS PSYCHO-SOCIAL CRISES

AGE To 18 mo. ERIKSONIAN CRISIS Trust vs. mistrust DURATION 1 yrs.

18 mo.- 3 yrs. 3- 6 yrs. 6-12 yrs. 12-18 yrs. 20-35 yrs. 35-60 yrs. 65+

Autonomy vs. shame & doubt Initiative vs. guilt Industry vs. inferiority Identity vs. role confusion Intimacy vs. isolation Generativity vs. stagnation Ego integrity vs. despair

1 yrs. 3 yrs. 6 yrs. 6 yrs. 15 yrs. 25 yrs. ?

Developmental periods increase in duration Individual differences increase as well

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ERIKSONS STAGES OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT

20-35 yrs. - Intimacy vs. isolation

The quest for intimacy the ability to share ones self with another person without being afraid of sacrificing ones own identity. Love and work mate selection and career choice

35-60 yrs, - Generativity vs. stagnation

The need to be creative and productive in ways which will contribute to future generations; creating ones legacy for the future.

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DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF MID-LIFE

Peck (1968)

Socializing vs. sexualizing

Redefine intimate relationships to value the individual, friendship, and compaionship, rather than sex alone.

Value wisdom vs. value physical power

Life experience and wisdom replaces phyical ability and attractiveness

Cathectic flexibility vs. cathectic impoverishment

The ability to shift ones emotuional investment from one activity to another or from one individual to another

Mental flexibility vs. mental rigidity

Life-long learning; the ability to seek and adapt to new information and ideas
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LEVINSONS STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

The Seasons of a Mans Life (1978)

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LEVINSONS STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

Levinsons sample: Levinson interviewed 40 men in four occupational groups (novelists, biologists, business executives, and factory workers) between the ages of 35-45. Five percent were black. All had been married at least once.

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LEVINSONS STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

Levinson viewed life as a series of periods formed around developmental tasks, the main goals, objectives, and concerns faced by individuals during each life period. A period ends when its tasks lose significance and new tasks emerge. Developmental transitions: Existing life structure Transition period period of personal crisis and re-evaluation
Life structure questioned; new decisions made Review and evaluate the past Accept loses at the end of a period Explore new options decide what to keep and what to discard; consider possibilities for the future

New life structure

Structure building period relative tranquility Structure based on new decisions
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STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

EARLY ADULT TRANSITION (17-22)

Move from pre-adulthood to adulthood
Graduation from school, move out of family home, go to work. Independence from family. Financial and emotional autonomy. College and military are transitional institutions away from family but not total independence. Make choices about how adult life will be lived

Men have a dream, a vision of the future usually viewed in terms of career Men have a mentor, an older (8-15 years) role model someone with experience and seniority in the world the young adult wishes to enter. Second important relationship a woman who supports dream, makes man feel capable of obtaining it.
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LEVENSON STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

Entering the adult world (22-28)

Explore and make commitments to adult roles establish life style Work leads to career choice Intimate relationships lead to marriage, birth of children

Age 30 transition (28-33)

Reappraisal of early adult commitments and change Focus on adjustment and enrichment If I am to change my life, Id better do it now. Sometimes crisis; divorce, occupational change common

Settling down (33-40) culminating life structure for early adulthood

Apprenticeship over time to be a successful, competent adult BOOM period Becoming Ones Own Man independence from mentor Deeply absorbed in commitments to occupation, family, and activities Desire to get ahead, realize youthful ambitions
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LEVENSON STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

Midlife transition (40-45)
Midlife crisis What have I done with my life? Come to terms with the dreams of ones youth Work on discrepancy between what is and what will be Life takes on a new sense of urgency 80% of Levinsons subjects went through personal crisis and re-evaluation Crisis may include divorce, extramarital affair, occupational change

Levinson stopped gathering data on his subjects at age 45.

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LEVENSON STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

Entering middle adulthood (45-50)
Living out previously made changes For many, the most satisfying, enriching time of life

Age 50 transition (50-55)

Time of moderate crisis Men review where they have come from and make plans for where they are heading.

Culmination of middle adulthood (55-60)

Finish framework of life structure for middle adulthood A period of great fulfillment

Late adult transition (60-65)

Ending middle age and preparing for late adulthood
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APPLICATION OF LEVINSONS THEORY TO WOMEN

Papulia and Olds (1992) study of dissertations:

The mentor - Women substantially less likely to have a mentor Love relationship Men seek women to support their dreams. Women seek a special man but see themselves as supporting his dreams. The dream Men find themselves by separating from family of origin and pursuing own interests. Women develop identities through responsibilities and attachments of relationships. Men dream of occupational achievement, status accomplishment. Women less clear dreams; more tentative mix of family and career interests.

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LEVINSONS STUDY OF WOMEN

The Seasons of a Womans Life (1996)
Levinson interviewed 45 women aged 35-45 years, including 15 homemakers, 15 female executives in major corporate financial organizations, and 15 female faculty members. Women, similar to men, go through age-linked developmental stages, often moving from one stage to the next through painful and turbulent periods of transition. The homemakers dreamed in youth of traditional, family centered life. By mid-life:
All but one working outside the home Half were legally divorced; most of the rest, psychologically divorced Motherhood was a less central component of their life structure Increased independence and desire to exist on more equal terms with men

Levinson concluded that a traditional marriage is no longer viable in our culture

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LEVINSONS STUDY OF WOMEN

THE CAREER WOMEN
The career women dreamed in youth of modifying the traditional homemaker pattern. At midlife:
Intense struggle between the Traditional Homemaker Figure and the internal Anti-Traditional figure Attempting to be everything to everyone, seeking to have everything Plagued by exhaustion, worries about their children, and exasperation with their spouses who fail to do their fair share of household responsibilities and child care.

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LEVENSON STAGES OF ADULT LIFE

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Small, biased samples Not a random cross-section of men or
women.

Generational issues Will future generations follow the same

patterns?

Practical application:
People seek help during periods of crisis Understanding the difficulties of transitions from one stage of life to the next is useful for helping people understand and work through the crises they experience.

Tasks of transition periods:

Review and evaluate the past Accept loses at the end of a period Explore new options decide what to keep and what to discard; consider possibilities for the future.
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THINK AND SHARE

LEVINSONS STAGES OF ADULT LIFE Locate yourself in Levinsons stages of adult development. Are you on task according to his developmental model? Envision your dream. Does your gender influence your dream in the ways described by Papulia and Olds?

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