1. Normative-crisis models

2. Life events models

Whichever model is chosen, it is clear that middle adulthood is a time of continuing psychological growth.

Early adulthood is leaving the family and having "the dream" where men have goals and aspirations and make long-term decisions about career and family.

"Settling down" - people make and sometime discard career choices as they come to grips with their capabilities and come to terms with long-term decisions

Midlife transition occurs at 40/45, a time of questioning which leads to midlife crisis.

Despite the fact that Levinson overstated the consistency & generalizability of developmental patterns, some information in his theory has been supported by subsequent research, at least in some populations.

Despite widespread acceptance (and centrality in Levinson’s model), the evidence for a midlife crisis does not exist.

For most, the transition is smooth and rewarding.

Many find their careers have blossomed.

The significance of middle age significantly depends on the culture in which one lives.

Those experiencing regrets about their lives do better psychologically if change is implemented.

By the time adults enter middle adulthood, most feel younger than they are.

Marriage and divorce significantly impact social and personality development in middle adulthood.

The institution of marriage is not stable, and societal norms change over time.

Even for happily married couples, marriage has its ups and downs, and satisfaction rises and falls over the course of the marriage.

The most frequent pattern of marital satisfaction is U-shaped.

Spouse as "best friend"

Like the spouse as a person

Shared goals in life

Satisfying sexual relationship

Rarer after age 40, but still 1 in 8 first marriages dissolve in midlife.

Causes:

Although the overall remarriage rate is high, it is far higher in some groups than others.

75% of white women remarry, whereas less than half of African-American women marry again.

90 % of women under 25 remarry, but less than one-third over the age of 40 do so.

The marriage gradient pushes men to marry younger women.

Older women are victims of the harsh societal standards regarding physical attractiveness.

Roles are more flexible, duties & decisions shared more often.

Older couples tend to be more mature and realistic, less romantic in their view of marriage.

The divorce rate is slightly higher for second marriages.

Many remarried people report satisfaction rates as high as those is successful first marriages.

For many couples, a major transition that typically occurs during middle adulthood is the departure of children.

This is labeled the EMPTY NEST SYNDROME when parents experience feelings of unhappiness, worry, loneliness, and depression resulting from their children's departure from home.

Another new trend is that middle-aged couples become the SANDWICH GENERATION, because they must fulfill the needs of both their children and their aging parents.

Couples are marrying and having children later.

Parents are living longer.

The care of parents ranges from financial aid to having parents live in their home.

Most of the burden falls on the woman.

Even though being sandwiched in the middle of two generations can stretch a couple’s resources, this can be a rewarding situation for both children and parents.

Middle adulthood often brings one of the unmistakable symbols of aging: becoming a grandparent.

Grandparents tend to fall into style categories

Grandmothers tend to be more involved than grandfathers.

African-American grandparents are more involved with their grandchildren than White grandparents.

Domestic violence is one of the ugly truths about marriage and is occurring at epidemic levels.

Some form of violence happens in ¼ to 1/3 of all marriages & intimate relationships.

More than half of all women murdered are murdered by a partner.

25% of domestic violence victims are pregnant when they are assaulted by their partner.

Close to 15 % of marriages in the U. S. are characterized by continuing, severe violence.

Violence occurs across social strata, ethnic groups, and religions.

Mostly it is men abusing women, but some cases involve the wife physically abusing the husband.

1) The tension-building stage is where a batterer becomes upset and shows dissatisfaction initially through verbal abuse.

2) The acute battering incident is when the physical abuse actually occurs.

3) The loving contrition stage occurs in some, but not all cases, and involves the husband feeling remorse and apologizing.

Some women women stay in abusive relationships because they mistakenly feel that they are somewhat at fault.

Some stay out of fear (that husband may come after them, or that there are no alternatives).

Many women stay because they have grown up in a violent home and think that violence is a way of life.

Although the tendency is often to see marital violence as a particularly North American event, other cultures have traditions that establish violence as acceptable

Wife battering is particularly prevalent in cultures in which women are viewed as inferior to men.

Western society also historically considered wife abuse as acceptable

Original English law allowed husbands to beat their wives.

This law was amended to permit beating only with a stick that was no thicker than his thumb (where the phrase "rule of thumb" comes from).

Wife beating was not removed from U.S. law until the late 1900s.

Some experts on abuse suggest that the traditional power structure in society is a root cause of abuse.

For many, middle age is the time of greatest productivity, success, and earning power.

The factors that make work satisfying undergo a transformation during middle age.

Middle-aged workers care more about the here-and-now qualities of work.

The older workers are, the more overall job satisfaction they experience.

Job satisfaction is not universal in middle adulthood.

For many workers, unemployment is a hard reality of life and the implications are more psychological than economic.

Some people change their jobs voluntarily in middle adulthood.

For those who switch or start new careers, the outcome can be positive or negative

Some middle aged job switchers are disappointed due to overly high expectations, but others have extremely positive experiences.

Some suggest that career changing may become the rule in our society rather than the exception, given technological advances.

Most middle-aged adults have 70 hours a week for leisure time.

The average middle-aged person watches 15 hours of TV per week & spend 6 hours socializing.

Some turn to charity, or community organizations.

Although leisure time is increasing in the U.S., our pace of life is still faster than many countries.