MIDDLE ADULTHOOD AGES 40-64

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS Helping one’s children make the transition from home life to the outside world Achieving mastery in one’s career Adjusting to physical changes Making decisions on how to spend “second adulthood” Coping with one’s aging parents

ERIK ERIKSON Generativity vs. Stagnation Generativity: ability to create, originate and produce; adds meaning to the lives of adults and helps them maintain and enhance their self-esteem Stagnation: lack of advancement which can lead to feelings of emptiness and meaninglessness

MID-LIFE CRISIS Turning point experienced by middle- aged people where they realized that life may be half over and they feel trapped in meaningless roles Middlescence: period of searching for a new identity that in some ways resembles adolescence

Middle-aged Women Empty-Nest Syndrome: some mothers feel lonely and depressed when their children leave home Menopause Decrease of estrogen and progesterone No longer produce eggs that can be fertilized Skin becomes elastic Loss in bone density