1. Early Adulthood Psychosocial Development
Chapter Nineteen
Early Adulthood
Psychosocial Development

2. Tasks of Adulthood Two basic needs: affiliation and achievement
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

3. Ages and Stages = Patterns of the past
by 20’s  identity
by 30’s  intimacy
by 40’s  generativity
Today’s adult lives “are less orderly and predictable than stage models suggest”

5. The Social Clock
Culturally set timetable that establishes when various events and endeavors in life are appropriate
What are some of the appropriate timetables for the United States?***

6. Nation to Nation Rich and Poor
Industrialized nations - legal ages/requirements/expectations (teenage pregnancy = not good)
Underdeveloped nations - less age stratified because survival to late adulthood less certain
Rich and Poor
The lower the SES, the sooner a person is expected to reach life’s milestones

7. Intimacy Need for intimacy
Affiliation, affection, interdependence, love
Two primary sources are close friendship and romantic partnership

8. Friendship
Buffer against stress, guide to self-awareness and source of positive feelings
Gateways to attraction for friendship:
physical attractiveness
apparent availability (willingness to chat)
absence of exclusion criteria
frequent exposure

9. Gender differences in Friendship***
Conversations
Women  self-disclosure
Men  external matters - sports, politics, work
Deborah Tannen’s work***

10. Man and Woman, Just Friends***
cross-sex friendships allow learning about common humanity and help each other gain skills
problems may arise when sexualizing a platonic relationship

11. Friendship and Marriage
The Best Friendships
several close friendships, each meeting different needs
Friendship and Marriage
At marriage, friendships become less prominent
Cross-sex friendships can cause problems
Same sex can be rivals

12. Development of Love and Marriage
Intimate relationship with a mate creates a bond
Living together
Cohabitation = increasingly common
Cohabitation does not strengthen bond
People who cohabitate are much less happy, healthy and less satisfied with financial status than are married couples

13. Cohabiting relationships are more abusive- abuse=twice as likely as those not living together
Cohabitaters who eventually marry are more likely to divorce

14. Living with a Same Sex Partner
Homosexual cohabitation is more common and open today
2-5% of all adults in US spend part of adulthood in gay or lesbian partnerships
More similar than different to cohabiting heterosexual partnerships

15. Sternberg’s Theory of love
3 components 1)passion 2)intimacy 3)commitment
7 types of love stemming from this theory ***

17. Marriage Not like it “used to be” Only 10% brides are virgins
32% of all births are to unmarried mothers
10% of first births are conceived before marriage
Divorce rate is 49% of marriage rate
The rate of first marriages in young adulthood lowest in 50 years

18. However, marriage remains the most enduring evidence of couple commitment, celebrated in every culture in the world by a wedding***

19. Homogamy/endogamy  within group
Heterogamy/exogamy  out of group
Social homogamy  similar interests and role preferences
Marital equity
exchange theory
Marriage is a work in progress =communication

20. Divorce Role of expectations Uncoupling
Divorce rates differ by country- US highest rate of any major country
Role of expectations
Expect more from marriage partners than in the past
Uncoupling
How does it affect the development of husband, wife and children
Initially worse in every way- health, happiness, self-esteem, financial stability and social interaction

22. Developmental Pattern of Divorce
First year
anger and conflict
social circle shrinks
prone to loneliness, disequilibrium-***
financial instability

23. Divorced with Children
Children become more demanding, disrespectful or depressed
Financial burdens
Fathers often lose intimate bonds with children because of physical or psychic differences
Likely to become less involved with children every passing year

24. Spouse abuse  multiple causal factors***
social pressures, stress, cultural values, personality pathologies, and drug and alcohol addiction
couple violence - yelling, insulting and physical attack but no domination
patriarchal terrorism- one partner domination using isolation, degradation and punishment

25. Remarriage 3 times more likely for men in the first 3 years
Adjustments to stepfamilies take a lot of time

26. Generativity Importance of Work Volunteerism Family responsibilities
develops and uses personal skills and talents
expresses unique creative energy
contributes to larger community by providing product or service
Volunteerism
Family responsibilities
Artistic Creation

27. Diversity in the workplace
Pattern of the 1950’s
Historical Context of work
New Patterns of Work
Context changing
Work itself changing
Industry to information
Diversity in the workplace
sex, nationality and ethnicity

28. Implications for development
Flexibility and transferable skills- especially communication
Need for sensitivity to cultural differences
Glass ceiling
Need for same human relations skills as friendship and marriage

29. Gender Roles in Work and Family
Shift in gender roles in the 20th century
Benefits and problems
Coparenting
Role overload
Role buffering
Logistics in everyday life ***

30. Parenthood Adult Development Alternative forms of parenthood
having children, nurturing them and launching them into the world has a major impact on the parent’s development
birth of a child brings conflict and challenges
Alternative forms of parenthood
stepparents, adoptive parents, foster parents