Adult Development Chapter 11
age
the younger you are when you marry, the less likely the marriage will last (especially teens and early 20s);
characteristics that predict successful marriages
age homogamy feeling of equality
Gottman and Levenson
-2 models that predict divorce within the first 7 years of marriage and later when the first child is 14; 93% accuracy -Negative emotion during conflict predicts early divorce → predicts a destructive pattern of communication of demand-withdraw where one partner has a demand for the other, who then withdraws emotionally or physically -Lack of positive emotion when talking about your day and during conflict predict later divorce (ex: one spouse showing disinterest in something good that happened to the other partner) -How couples show emotion is vital to marital success
factors of divorce
-50% of marriages end in divorce; African American are higher; Asian lower; college educated lower; older age at marriage have a lower rate -supportive couples are less likely to divorce
three themes of ABCDE model
-Affective or emotional basis of friendship: self-disclosure, intimacy, support, commitment, etc. -Shared/communal nature when friends participate/support activities of mutual interest -Sociability and compatibility of how friends entertain us; friends are sources fun
conflict and divorce
-Couples that divorce earlier have high levels of contempt, criticism, defensiveness as a result of marital conflict -Couples that don't have high level of conflict but don't have positive emotions such as saying they love each other are more likely to end in a later divorce
middle aged adults and their aging parents
-Daughters/daughters-in-law are generally the ones providing and coordinating care -Filial obligation: adult children feeling a sense of responsibility to care for parents; often a form of indebtedness --True across all cultures, but especially in Asian culture --About 50 million Americans provide unpaid care to their older relatives
Why are grandparents important
-Grandparents pass on family history, skills, values (religious, social, vocational) through storytelling and advice; take great pride in doing so -Ex: sharing the story of your family's hardship in immigration -Generativity: creating a positive legacy
changes in friendship in adulthood
-Life transitions resulting in fewer friends with age → many different reasons (ex: pick people to remain close to, you move, get to different stages in life) -Less contact with the friends you keep (ex: busy with a family) -Friends are a buffer against the losses of roles, status, and loved ones that come with age
ABCDE model
-Model that describes the stages of friendships: Acquaintanceship, Buildup, Continuation, Deterioration, Ending -Natural course for most friendships -Whether Acquaintanceship moves to Buildup depends on several dimensions such as attraction, what they know about each other, how good communication is, how important friendship is to them -Changes in friendship heavily rely on availability of friend or might be too much work to remain emotionally connected
middle aged adults and their children
-Positive developments: Children see them in a new light and children leave home; how a parent allows a child independence is very important; parents still provide support, but the child is on his/her own -Positive experience in sending children out is a feeling of having done a good job in parenting; children are seen as successes when they meet the parents' culturally based expectations
socioemotional selectivity changes with age (7)
-Younger adults like information seeking -Older adults become more selective about who they have contact with and have fewer opportunities to make friends --Don't want to be a burden on family, turn to friends for support; friends help foster independence -Increase in emotional competency with age -Older adults are more oriented toward emotional parts of life and relationships -Emotional expression/experience becomes more complex with age -Older adults are less likely to replace friendships they lose and are more selective in making new friends
feeling of equality
-equal/egalitarian relationship; hard to do with work and family; true across cultures -Exchange theory: marriage is based on each partner contributing something to the relationship that is hard for the other to do -Trust, consulting each other, and making joint decisions create a more successful marriage -Shared religion is a key factor to marital satisfaction
socioemotional selectivity
-friendships are motivated by a variety of goals → information seeking, self-concept, emotional regulation; -Allows you to choose the goals most important to you and put energy and time into those goals -How these goals carry out change with age (ex: when emotional regulation becomes most important, people become more highly selective and are prone to befriend people like them)
vulnerability-stress-adaptation model
-marital equality is a dynamic process (ever changing) that results from a couple's capability to deal with stressful situations in the context of their vulnerabilities and resources -If a couple's ability to deal with stressful events gets better with time, marriage will too; persevered -Ex: having dealt with more problems like financial strain successfully will have a more successful marriage
grandparents part 2
-role models -share activities with the grandchildren -sometimes get to be more "fun" than the parents -give attention to grandkids -have great personalities with grandkids
homogamy
having similar values/interests/goals; same with socioeconomic status, behaviors, ethnic background, similar desire for children etc.
two changes in parent-child relationships that typically occur in middle age
middle aged adults and their children middle aged adults and their aging parents