Early Adulthood Psychosocial Development Chapter Nineteen Early Adulthood Psychosocial Development

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

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”

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?***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 ***

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