Middle-aged people tend to have more friends than any other age group. Men in yo
ID: 3495415 • Letter: M
Question
Middle-aged people tend to have more friends than any other age group. Men in young adulthood tend to have more fears of aging than young adult woman Grand-parenting is a manifestation of generativity. Many people today will spend about one third of their entire life span in old age. Life transitions normally end about age 65. Stability in personality appears to be due to early socialization. 1-T, 2-F, 3-F, 4-T, 5-F, 6-F, 7-T, 8-T, 9-F, 10-T How does Erikson's theory explain the differences between the psychosocial stage of early adulthood, middle adulthood, old age and late life? Compare the major emphases of adult development in the early developmental theories of Freud, Jung, Erikson, Loevonger and Levison. Explain how and why the distinctions between life periods are becoming blurred in modern society. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of activity, disengagement and exchange theories of aging.Explanation / Answer
Eric Erickson's Theory of Psychosocial Development emphasizes on individual's relationship with the social environment for healthy development to occur throughout his lifespan. Erickson developed a theory to understand how a person's childhood, adolescence, adulthood, affects his entire life. He proposed Eight Stages which every person goes through in their life. Each stage is defined by a conflict which involves an individual's relationship with the social environment (mother, father, immediate relatives, peers, colleagues), that must be resolved for healthy development to occur over a period of lifetime. The eight stages are; Trust vs Mistrust(birth-1year), Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt(1-3years), Innitiative vs Guilt(3-6years), Industry vs Inferiority(6-puberty), Identity vs Role Confusion(Adolescences), Intimacy vs Isolation(Adulthood), Generativity vs Stagnation(Middle Adulthood), Ego Integrity vs Despair(Final Stage).
According to Erickson, early adulthood has it's own conflicts associated with it, which includes having an identity crises. An individual indulges in self-doubt, questions his or her self-worth and is basically in the process of figuring out themselves. This conflict needs to be resolved at the earliest as it may lead to serious self-confidence issues later in life. As an individual grows into an adult, he explores himself and tries to have a steady and intimate relationship. If a person is unable to explore this side to him, then it would result in isolation and he may not be able to find a partner for himself to grow old with.
When an individual reaches mid 40's, they would have done enough in life but would hit a rough patch wherein they may feel like, 'what next'. They may feel that their life has reached a plateau in terms of growth and they may feel the need to develop generativity. If this conflict is not resolved at this stage, then they would just be stagnant in terms of growth as a person.
The later stages in life, when a person is in his late 60's or 70's has mostly achieved everything that they may have wanted to in life. That is the time when they look back and reflect. Ego integrity refers to them feeling satisfied with the way they have lived their life or may feel despair and regretful about the things that they may have missed out upon and left unaccomplished.
Conflicts at every stage must be resolved in order to have a healthy mind.