middle adulthood stage

1. MIDDLE
ADULTHOOD BY: RABIA JAVED IQBAL

2. MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• According to Daniel Levinson, middle adulthood encompasses
ages 45 to 65.
• This stage of the life span divides into the
1. New life phase (ages 45–50),
2. The age-50 transition (ages 50–55)
3. The culminating phase (ages 55–60)
4. Late adult transition (ages 60–65)

3. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Wrinkles develop
• Organs no longer function
• Lung and heart capacities decrease.
• Decreases in strength, coordination, reaction time, sensation
and fine motor skills

4. • Presbyopia (farsightedness or difficulty reading)
• Presbycusis (difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds)
• Menopause (the cessation of menstruation) in women
• The male climacteric (male menopause) in men

5. HEALTH IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
1) Arthritis
2) Asthma
3) Bronchitis
4) coronary heart disease
5) Diabetes
6) genitourinary disorders
7) hypertension (high blood pressure)
8) mental disorders,
9) strokes (cerebrovascular accidents)
10)AIDS
11) Stress

6. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• crystallized intelligence: Using learned information
collected throughout a life span.
• Post-formal thinking: Common sense to deal with unclear
problems.

7. PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Erikson stated that the primary task of middle adulthood to
develop generativity (the desire to expand one’s influence and
commitment to family, society, and future generations.)
• The middle adult who fails to develop generativity experiences
stagnation, (self-absorption)

8. CRISIS IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• During the male midlife crisis, men may try to Reassert their
masculinity by engaging in more youthful male behaviors, such
as:
1. Dressing in trendy clothes
2. Taking up activities like scuba diving, motorcycling, or
skydiving

9. • During the female midlife crisis, women may try to reassert
their femininity by:
1. Dressing in youthful styles
2. Having cosmetic surgery
3. Becoming more socially active
4. Try to look as young as their young adult children by dying
their hair
5. Wearing more youthful clothing

10. RELATIONSHIPS IN MIDDLE
ADULTHOOD
• The two primary long-term relationships characteristic of
middle adulthood are cohabitation and marriage.
• Cohabitors (unmarried people living together in a sexual
relationship)

11. DIVORCE
• Middle adults are not immune to problems in relationships.
• The ideal form of love in adulthood involves three components:
passion, intimacy, and commitment
• Consummate love
• Companionate love
• Effective communication: communication is the means by
which intimacy is established and nurtured within a
relationship

12. FRIENDS
• During this period, life responsibilities are at an all-time high,
so having extra time for socializing is usually rare.
• For this reason, middle adults may have less friends than their
newlywed and retired counterparts.

13. CHILDREN
• As adults wait later to marry and start families, more and more
middle adults find themselves rearing small children.
• Parents experience the empty-nest syndrome, or sense of
aloneness, once all their children leave home.

14. PARENTS
• Most middle adults characterize the relationship with their
parents as affectionate.
• Indeed, a strong bond is often present between related middle
and older adults.
• Although the majority of middle adults do not live with their
parents, contacts are usually frequent and positive.
• And perhaps for the first time, middle adults are able to see
their parents as the fallible human beings that they are.