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 •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

•Need for intimacy •Affiliation, affection,

interdependence, love•Two primary sources are close

friendship and romantic partnership

Intimacy

•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

Friendship

•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

•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 aSame 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•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

•Importance of Work•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

Generativity

•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

•Shift in gender roles in the 20th century

•Benefits and problems •Coparenting•Role overload•Role buffering

•Logistics in everyday life ***

Gender Roles in Work and Family

Parenthood•Adult Development

•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