Theories of Adult Personality Erickson’s stages Erikson originally envisioned eight stages of development –Occurring in sequence from birth through old age –Including three stages that cover the years after adolescence Later in his life, Erikson –Suggesting adults of many ages can be in the fifth stage, identity versus role confusion, or in any of the three adult stages

Erikson’s Stage of Adulthood

Theories of Adult Personality Maslow’s stages Abraham Maslow (1954) described five stages, which occur in sequence. Movement occurs when people have satisfied their needs at one level and are ready for the next step. In his later years, Maslow reassessed his final level, self-actualization. He suggested another level after that, called self- transcendence, not attained till late in life.

Theories of Adult Personality Midlife crisis Supposed period of unusual anxiety, radical self-reexamination, and sudden transformation –Once widely associated with middle age but that actually had more to do with developmental history. –Popularized by Gail Sheehy (1976) and Daniel Levinson (1978). –Theory criticized for imperfect and limited data

Personality Traits Genes, parental practices, culture, and adult circumstances all contribute to personality. Of these four, genes are probably the most influential, according to longitudinal studies. Since genes do not change from conception through death, it is not surprising that every study finds substantial continuity in personality.

Personality Traits The Big Five (OCEAN) Openness –Imaginative, curious, artistic, creative, open to new experiences Conscientiousness –Organized, deliberate, conforming, self-disciplined Extroversion –Outgoing, assertive, active Agreeableness –Kind, helpful, easygoing, generous Neuroticism –Anxious, moody, self-punishing, critical

Same Situation, Far Apart: Scientists at Work Most scientists are open-minded and conscientious (two of the Big Five personality traits), as both of these women are. Culture and social context are crucial.

Personality Traits Ecological niche In adulthood, people choose their particular social context based on individual personality needs and interests. Adults select vocations, mates, and neighborhoods, and they settle into chosen routines and surroundings. Ages 30 to 50 are marked by more stability of personality than are other periods of life.

Personality Traits Age and cohort Personality shifts slightly with age Rank order stays the same General trend is positive MIDUS: Study of midlife North Americans Trends, Not Rules Overall stability and some marked variation from person to person make up the main story for the Big Five over the decades of adulthood. In addition, each trait tends to shift slightly, as depicted here.

View One: Personality is shaped by regional culture Difference in Big Five traits (self-rated personality) varies across cultures People were happiest if their own personality traits matched the norms of their surroundings View Two: Personality is innate, fixed at birth and largely impervious to social pressure Big Five traits are found almost everywhere, with similar age trends Personality is retained throughout adulthood; changes typically occur in early childhood A consensus regarding the relationship between culture, surroundings, genes, and personality has not yet emerged. Local context versus genes

Active Brains, Active Personality The hypothesis that individual personality traits originate in the brain was tested by scientists who sought to find correlations between brain activity (shown in red) and personality traits Here are two side views (left) and a top and bottom view (right) of the brains of people high in neuroticism. DEYOUNG, ET. AL. TESTING PREDICTIONS FROM PERSONALITY NEUROSCIENCE: BRAIN STRUCTURE AND THE BIG FIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE JUNE : 820–828, FIRST PUBLISHED ON APRIL 30, 2010 DOI: /

Intimacy Intimacy needs are lifelong. Adults meet their need for social connection through their relationships with relatives, friends, coworkers, and romantic partners. Social convoy Collectively, the family members, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers who move through life with an individual

Intimacy Friends and acquaintances Friends Most crucial members of the social convoy Often able to provide practical help and useful advice when serious problems—death of a family member, personal illness, loss of a job—arise. Consequential strangers People who are not close but do have an impact People of diverse religions, ethnic groups, ages, and political opinions— and diversity is one reason they may be consequential, particularly in current times

Family Bonds When family bonds are similar to friendship bonds, relatives are mainstays of the social convoy. Physical separation does not necessarily weaken family ties. Relationships between parents and adult children are more likely to deteriorate if they live together.

Family Bonds Over the years of adulthood, parents and adult children typically increase in closeness, forgiveness, and pride as both generations gain maturity. Familism –Belief that family members should support one another, sacrificing individual freedom and success, if necessary, in order to preserve family unity.

Family Bonds Adult siblings also often become mutually supportive in adulthood. Adult siblings help one another cope with children, marriage, and elderly relatives. Sibling bonds are particularly likely to develop during adulthood among children who grew up in large families with major stressors like extreme poverty or a bitter divorce.

Family Bonds Family closeness can sometimes be destructive. Some adults wisely keep their distance from their blood relatives. Fictive kin Someone who is accepted as part of a family to which there is no blood relation Adults need kin, fictive or otherwise.

Intimacy: Romantic Partners Important distinction “Family of origin”: family each person is born into “Family of choice”: family one creates for oneself as an adult

Intimacy: Romantic Partners Trends Almost all U.S. residents born before 1940 married (96%). Fewer of those born between 1940 and 1960 married (89%), and a significant number of them are now divorced and not remarried (16%). Similar trends are found worldwide.

After All Those Years Newly married teenagers and emerging adults continue to be the groups most likely to divorce, but older married people are twice as likely to divorce as people their age were a few decades ago. In 1990, only one in ten newly divorced men or women was over age 50; now it is 1 in 4.

Intimacy: Romantic Partners Adults everywhere seek committed sexual partnerships to help meet their needs for intimacy as well as to raise children, share resources, and provide care when needed. Married people are a little happier, healthier, and richer than never-married ones—but not by much. Cohabiters who expect to marry are happier than those who live together for convenience. Living apart together (LAT) are older than 30 years and have a steady romantic partnership.

Marital Happiness Over the Years

Partnerships Over the Years Commitment is crucial for most people. Long-term committed partnership correlates with lifelong health and happiness Honeymoon = happiest; birth of first child = less happiness; child reaches puberty = happiness returns Ethnic differences are cultural and economic

Partnerships Over the Years Empty nest Time when parents are alone again after their children have moved out and launched their own lives Contrary to outdated impressions, relationship often improves Most long-married people stay together because they love and trust each other, not simply because they are stuck.

Gay and Lesbian Partners Gay and lesbian couples have the same issues as straight couples. Political and cultural contexts for same-sex couples are changing markedly. Some nations and some states allow same-sex marriage. Many other nations and U.S. states are ambivalent. Most nations and 30 states have explicitly outlawed same-sex marriages.

Divorce Adults are affected (for better or for worse) by divorce in ways they never anticipated. Generally, those in very distressed marriages are happier after divorce, while those in merely distant marriages (most U.S. divorces) are less happy than they thought they would be. Divorce reduces income, severs friendships, and weakens family ties.

Consequences of Divorce Consequences of divorce last for decades. Income, family welfare, and self-esteem are lower among the formerly married than among people of the same age who are still married or who have always been single. Almost one out of two marriages ends in divorce in the U.S.

Generativity According to Erikson, after the stage of intimacy versus isolation comes generativity versus stagnation, when adults seek to be productive in a caring way. Adults satisfy their need to be generative in many ways, including creativity, caregiving, and employment.

Parenthood Some caregiving involves meeting another person’s physical needs—feeding, cleaning, and so on—but much of it has to do with fulfilling another person’s psychological needs.

Biological Parenthood The chief form of generativity is establishing and guiding the next generation. Every parent is tested and transformed by the dynamic experience of raising children. Just when an adult thinks he or she has mastered the art of parenting, the child advances to the next stage and the adult is required to make major adjustments.

Caring for Nonbiological Children Roughly one-third of all North American adults become stepparents, adoptive parents, or foster parents. Many adopted or foster children remain attached to their birth parents. If children are not attached to anyone (i.e., after spending years in an institution), they are mistrustful of all adults and fearful of becoming too dependent.

Caring for Nonbiological Children Adoption Adoptive parents have several advantages: they are legally connected to their children for life, the biological parents are usually absent, and they desperately wanted the child. Strong bonds can develop, especially when the children are adopted as infants. During adolescence, these bonds may stretch and loosen as some adoptive children become intensely rebellious.

Caring for Nonbiological Children Stepfamilies The average age of new stepchildren is 9 years –They usually are strongly connected to their biological parents. –This helps the child but hinders the stepparents. Young stepchildren often get hurt, sick, lost, or disruptive, and teenage stepchildren may get pregnant, drunk, or arrested. Generativity, with patient, authoritative parenting, is needed.

Caregiving Caregiving is a lifelong process. Caregiving includes responding to the emotions of people who need a confidante, a cheerleader, a counselor, or a close friend. Parents and children care for one another, as do partners. Neighbors, friends, and distant relatives can also be caregivers. Kinkeepers Caregiver who takes responsibility for maintaining communication, gathers family for holidays; conveys important family news; and fosters generativity in other family members

Kinkeepers Sandwich generation The generation of middle-aged people who are supposedly “squeezed” by the needs of the younger and older members of their families. In reality, some adults do feel pressured by these obligations, but most are not burdened by them, either because they enjoy fulfilling them or because they choose to take on only some of them or none of them.

Caregiving Culture and family caregiving Family bonds depend on many factors, including childhood attachments, cultural norms, and the financial and practical resources of each generation Familial interdependence is influenced by gender, culture and ethnic variations

Caring for Aging Parents Fewer adults are available to care for elderly family members and there are more older adults. Siblings’ relationships can be strained if a parent becomes frail and needs care. One sibling usually becomes the chief caregiver.

Employment Employment is the other major avenue for generativity. Adults have many psychosocial needs that employment can fulfill. Unemployment is associated with higher rates of child abuse, alcoholism, depression, and many other social problems.

Working for More Than Money Work meets generativity needs by allowing people to do many things Develop and use their personal skills Express their creative energy Aid and advise coworkers, as a mentor or friend Support the education and health of their families Contribute to the community by providing goods or services

Wages and Benefits Even though average income has doubled, overall happiness within the U.S. has not risen in the past 50 years. The sense of unfairness is innate and universal, encoded in the brain. In the U.S., many are offended by the extremely high salaries of corporate executives.

Working for More Than Money Extrinsic rewards of work The tangible benefits, usually in the form of compensation (e.g., salary, health insurance, pension), that one receives for doing a job Intrinsic rewards of work The intangible gratifications (e.g., job satisfaction, self- esteem, pride) that come from within oneself as a result of doing a job

Diversity Within the Workplace Diversity at work is increasing Civilian workforce Military Within occupations Diversity in employees’ backgrounds presents a challenge for employers and for workers. Not everyone has the same expectations, needs, and desires.

The Changing Workplace Employment stability has also changed One recent change in the labor market that impedes generativity is an increased frequency of hiring and firing. Between ages 25 and 42, the average U.S. worker has five separate employers. Older workers find job changes particularly difficult (loss of seniority, lack of new skills, relocation). Difficulties are magnified for immigrants who comprise about15% of the U.S. adult workforce.

Work Schedules Another recent change in employment patterns is the proliferation of work schedules beyond the traditional 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday. Flextime An arrangement in which work schedules are flexible so that employees can balance personal and occupational responsibilities. Part-time work and self-employment Nonstandard work schedules often correlate with personal, relational, and child-rearing difficulties Components of ideal balance include adequate income, chosen schedules, and social support.

Variable Schedules A major problem is that flextime and telecommuting are less available to those in certain jobs, such as construction. Part-time work is usually underpaid and offers no benefits. Shift work often creates sleep deprived people who are often cranky, impatient, and not clear thinkers.

Combining Intimacy and Generativity Job satisfaction depends on the job, the home situation and the worker’s ability to balance intimacy and generativity needs. Chosen schedules increase worker motivation, happiness, and health. The midlife crisis, the empty nest, and the sandwich generation are not common.