The Peculiarities Of A Middle Adulthood Period

Middle adulthood is not a defined period of time but typically begins around 40 years of age and last to about 65 years of age. Mid-life is not what it had been many years ago, today many are more productive and healthier than their counterparts a generation ago. Carl Jung refers to midlife as the “afternoon of life”. This is time of change for adults, often dealing with the death of a parent, becoming empty nesters, becoming grandparents, preparing for retirement and facing a serious health concern.

The visible physical signs of middle adulthood are the skin wrinkling and sagging, age spots, and graying or thinning hair. Adults during this stage will typically become shorter and heavier, their strength decreases and bone density declines. Visual acuity will also be affected as well as hearing sensitivity is reduced. Other systems affected during this development stage is the cardiovascular system (high blood pressure/cholesterol), lung elasticity and good sleep is harder to obtain.

Stress is a precursor to many diseases that are realized during middle-age. Memory and executive function can also be affected by high levels of stress. Cancer and cardiovascular disease are primary causes of death during this development period.

Sexuality is affected during middle-adulthood in the fact that fertility declines in females, menopause occurs, hormonal changes in men may lead to reduced ability to have sex (erectile dysfunction), and sexual activity frequencies decline. There appears to be little decline in the intelligence and memory of people studied in this development stage, especially when effective memory strategies are used. Expertise often increases during this stage.

Careers are often at their peak during this stage, in both position and earnings. Quality of work during this stage is often linked to how much their work is appreciated by their boss. Many middle adulthood workers are looking towards retirement, with the decrease in the availability of company sponsor pensions and retiree health insurance programs, many adults are delaying their retirement plans.

Religion has also been shown to take on new meaning during this stage. Many are realizing their own mortality by losing their parents, a spouse or close friends during this time and are seeking to have a better understanding of religion. Religious attendance has been shown to provide health benefits, including decreased hypertension, longevity and decreased stress. New friendships are another benefit that religion can provide. Many use religion to help them determine the meaning in their life.

Erickson’s seventh stage of development is generativity vs stagnation and is correlated to middle adulthood. Generativity is the desire to leave legacies for the next generation; stagnation is when individuals sense that they have done little or nothing for the next generation. Many adults in this stage experience a mid-life crisis, where they are no longer young but not old either and are being constructive vs destructive, this is often as a result of a stressful life event.

Affectionate love increases during middle adulthood, as well as marital satisfaction. Divorce does occur during this stage, but may be a more positive outcome than earlier development stages. This stage is often linked to the empty nest syndrome where parents find themselves with no children in the house anymore and they learn to be a couple all over again. Becoming a grandparent is another milestone that is often reached during middle adulthood, with many different roles that may take place.

I am early in the stage of middle adulthood. I definitely am able to see the physical declines that are talked about. I often find myself thinking about Erickson’s concept of generativity…. what am I leaving as a legacy for my kids? This is something that I will continue to work on over the next few years. My career during this stage is at a point where I have probably peaked doing what I’m doing, hence, why I am back in school looking for the next opportunity for me.

Conclusion

I like Erickson’s stages of development and as they hold true to each stage of my life. I was able to apply all of his stages appropriately over my course of development. Hopefully this project was able to highlight the different stages that I have gone through in my life and give you a glimpse of who I am as a person. This course has given me things to think about as I continue through the rest of middle adulthood into my late adulthood years.