MARGINALIZATION (Different learners in Marginalized Group
Lifespan Psychology Lesson 9 Middle Adulthood
1. Middle Adulthood
A Look At Physical Changes
That Start To Occur Between
Ages 40-65
2. Developmental Tasks
Losing parents/grief
Launching children
Adjusting to life without children
Dealing with adult children who return
Becoming grandparents
Preparing for late adulthood
Acting as caregivers
3. Physical Changes
Most experience good health
Risk of disability
Vision
Hearing
Joint Pain
Weight Gain
4. Impact of Lifestyle
Risks to health
Poor diet
Stress
Smoking tobacco
Drinking alcohol
Physical inactivity
Chronic disease
Preventative
Measures
Challenging
physical and
mental activity
Weight bearing
exercise
Good nutrition
Social resources
5. Physical Changes:
Climacteric (Menopause)
Loss of estrogen
Mid 40s to Mid 50s
All complete this by 58
Change in menstrual cycle
Other changes
No more reproduction
Cultural variation
6. Andropause?
Reproductive ability continues
Lowered testosterone levels due to
stress/sexual inactivity
7. Climacteric and Sexual
Expression
Climacteric affects reproduction in
females
Physical intimacy still important
Practicing safe sex still important
8. Lifestyle Changes:
Exercise
Exercise helps keep muscles strong
Reduces stress
Increases energy
Weight training promotes bone density
10. The Ideal Diet
Low in cholesterol (<300 mg per
day) HDL/LDL should be 4 to 1
Low in sodium
High in fiber
Low in sugar/starch
Alcohol in moderation (1-2
servings per day)
12. Formal Operational
Thought
Formal operational thought varies
Not achieved in all areas
Tied to experience
Tied to education
13. Increases and Decreases
Increases with age:
Tacit knowledge
Verbal memory
Spatial skills
Inductive reasoning
Wisdom? It
depends
Decreases:
Working memory
Speed of process
14. Older Adult Students
Relevance not rote
Accuracy over speed
Minimize distractions
Harder to learn when fatigued
Learn better with slower pace
15. The Expert Vs the Novice
Midlife is a time of gaining
expertise
Experts and novices work
differently
Experts: intuition
Experts: less conscious
Experts: are better at handling
unusual situations
17. Levinson’s Theory
Does everyone have a “midlife
crisis”?
Why do some people have them?
What does it look like?
How long does it last?
Why is it more extreme than the
age 30 transition?
18. Erikson
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Feeling either productive or stuck
Productivity can occur in work, in
an avocation, or in family life
Encore careers?
19. Family Relationships
Adult Children and tolerance
Overload stressors
Launching concerns
Kinkeepering
Caregiving
20. Singles
25% households
Marrying older; more staying
single
Are singles happier than married
people?
Happiness depends on reasons
why (single or spouse-free?)
26. Stations of Divorce
Emotional
Legal
Economic
Coparental
Community
Psychic
27. Remarriages
Half of all marriages are a remarriage
Courtships, quicker, sex sooner, kids faster,
redivorce quicker
Divorce rates are higher if children involved
28. Productivity at Work
Varied experiences
Peak of career
New skills training
Encore Careers
Flexibility
29. Personality in Midlife
The Big Five
Agreeableness increases
Openness and neuroticism decreases
Jung and maturation