Experiencing The LifeSpan 4th edition Chapter 10, Chapter 11, & 12
Deinstitutionalization of marriage
the decline in marriage and the emergence of alternate family forms that occurred during the last third of the twentieth century
Adult attachment styles
the different ways in which adults relate to romantic partners, based on Mary Ainsworth's infant attachment styles.
Secure Attachment
the genuine intimacy that is ideal in love relationships
U-shaped curve of marital satisfaction
the most common pathway of marital happiness in the West, in which satisfaction is highest at the honeymoon, declines during child-rearing years, then rises after the children grow up
occupational segregation
the separation of men and women into different kinds of jobs
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
the standard test to measure adult IQ, involving verbal and performance scales, each of which is made up of various subtests
boundaryless career
today's most common career path for western workers, in which people change jobs or professions periodically during their working lives
breadwinner role
traditional concept that a mans job is to support a wife and children
people are the happiest in the honeymoon phase of a marriage
true
Homogamy
we select a mate who is similar to us
Hedonic Happiness
well-being defined as pure pleasure - nothing to do with living a happy life
extrinsic career reward
work that is performed for external reinforcers such as pay
intrinsic career rewards
work that provides inner fulfillment and allows people to satisfy their needs for creativity, autonomy, and relatedness
Moratorium
An identity status in which the person actively searched out various possibilities to find a truly solid adult life path. A mature style of constructing an identity
Identity Diffusion
An identity status in which the person is aimless or feels totally blocked without any adult life path
On time
Being on target in a culture's timetable for achieving adult life task
parent care
adult children's care for their disabled elderly parents
Preoccupied/ambivalent insecure attachment
an excessively clingy, needy style of relating to loved ones
Identity Achievement
an identity status in which the person decides on a definite adult life path after searching out various options
Identity Foreclosure
an identity status in which the person decides on an adult life path (often one spelled out by an authority figure) without any thought of active search
Allostatic load
an overall score of body deterioration, gained from summing how a person functions on multiple physiological indexes. load predicts cognitive performance during adult life
Middle adulthood age group?
40's-60's
flow
Csikszetmihalyi's term for feeling total absorption in a challenging, goal-oriented activity
Commitment Script
Dan McAdams's research, a type of autobiography produced by highly generative adults that involves childhood memories of feeling special; being unusually sensitive to others' misfortunes; having a strong, enduring generative mission from adolescence; and redemption sequence
Intimacy
Erikson's first adult task, involving connecting with a partner in a mutual loving relationship
Role Confusion
Erikson's term for a failure in identity formation, marked by the lack of any sense of a future about path
Identity
Erikson's theory, the life task of deciding who to be as a person in making the transition to adulthood
Generativity
Erikson's theory, the seventh psychosocial task, in which people in midlife find meaning from nurturing the next generation, caring for others, or enriching the lives of others through their work.
Big Five
Five core psychological predispositions- neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness- that underlie personality
Ethnic identity
How people come to terms with who they are as people relating to their unique ethnic or racial heritage
Consummate love
In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, the ideal form of love in which a couple's relationship involves all three of the major facets of love: passion, intimacy, and commitment
Identity Statuses
Marcia's four categories of identity formation: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement.
Nest-leaving
Moving out of a childhood home and living independently
Stimulus-value-role theory
Murstein's mate-selection theory that suggests similar people pair up and that our path to commitment progresses through three phases (stimulus, value-comparison, and role phases)
Role phase
Murstein's theory, final mate-selection stage, in which committed partners work out their future life together
Stimulus phase
Murstein's theory, the initial mate-selection stage, in which we make judgement about a potential partner based on external characteristics such as appearance
Value-comparison phase
Murstein's theory, the second mate-selection stage, in which we make judgements about a partner on the basis of similar values and interests
Selective Optimization with Compensation
Paul Baltes three principles for successful aging (and living): 1. selectively focusing on what is most important 2. working harder to perform well in those top-ranking areas 3. relying on external aids to cope effectively
Cohabitation
Sharing a household in an unmarried romantic relationship
Off time
being too late or too early in a cultures timetable for achieving adult life tasks
Social Clock
The concept that we regulate our passage through adulthood by an inner timetable that tells us which life activities are appropriate at certain ages
Seattle Longitudinal Study
The definitive study of the effect of aging on intelligence, carried out by K. Warner Schaie, involving simultaneously conducting and comparing the results of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies carried out with group of Seattle volunteers
Emerging Adulthood
The phase of life that begins after high school, tapers off towards the late twenties, and is devoted to constructing an adult life
Eudaemonic Happiness
Well-being defined as having a sense of meaning and life purpose
Ruminative Moratorium
When a young person is unable to decide between different identities, becoming emotionally paralyzed and highly anxious
Crystallized Intelligence
a basic facet of intelligence, consisting of a person's knowledge base, or storehouse of accumulated information.
Fluid intelligence
a basic facet of intelligence, consisting of the ability to quickly master new intellectual activities
family watchdogs
a basic role of grandparents, which involve monitoring the younger family members well-being and intervening to provide help in a crisis
traditional stable career
a career path in which people settle into their permanent life's work in their twenties and often stay with the same organization until they retire
Redemption sequence
a characteristic theme of highly generative adults autobiographies in which they describe tragic events that turned out for the best
Role overload
a job situation that places so many requirements or demands on workers that it becomes impossible to do a good job
Terminal drop
a research phenomenon in which a dramatic decline in an older person's scores on vocabulary tests and other measures of crystallized intelligence predicts having a terminal disease
role conflict
a situation in which a person is torn between two or more major responsibilities- for instance, parent and worker - and cannot do either job adequately
family-work conflict
a situation in which people- typically parents- are town between the demands of family and work
Avoidant/dismissive insecure attachment
a standoffish, excessively disengaged style of relating to loved ones
Postformal thought
a uniquely adult form of intelligence that involves being sensitive to different perspectives, making decisions based on one's inner feelings, and being interested in exploring new questions.
Age norms
cultural ideas about the appropriate ages for engaging in particular activities or life tasks
Conscientiousness
efficacious, worker personality. hard working, self-disciplined...
marital equity
fairness in the work of couple's life together. if a relationship lacks equity with one partner doing significant more than the other the outcome is typically marital dissatisfaction
Americans today are not as interested in getting married as they were in the past
false
Poor people often don't get married because they are basically less interested in having a permanent commitment
false
having children brings married couples closer
false
most dads today share the childcare 50/50 with their wives
false
mothers used to spend more time with their children in the past than they do today
false
people who don't have children are self-absorbed and narcissistic
false
people work few hours that they used to, at least in the US
false
technology has reduced the hours we spend at work
false
traditional gender roles have mainly disappeared in the world of work
false
How do adults feel if they do not achieve generativity?
feel stagnant, without a sense of purpose in life
Erikson's Middle Adulthood Psychosocial Stage
generativity versus stagnation
caregiving grandparents
grandparents who have taken on full responsibility for raising their grandchildren
biracial or multiracial identity
how people of mixed racial backgrounds come to terms with who they are as people in relation to their heritage
nurturer father
husband who actively participates in hands-on child care
homophobia
intense fear and dislike of gays and lesbians
Agreeableness
kindness, empathy, and the ability to compromise (secure attachment styles)
Serial cohabitation
living sequentially with different partners outside of marriage
Neuroticism
mental health verses psychological disturbance. a person who others might label as psychologically disturbed
Extraversion
outgoing attitude
Openness to experience
passion to seek out new experiences
triangular theory of love
robert sternbergs categorization of love relationships into three facets: passion, intimacy, and commitment. When arranged at the points of a triangle, their combinations describe all the different kinds of adult love relationships
Menopause
the age-related process, occurring at about age 50, in which ovulation and menstruation stop due to the decline in estrogen
Fertility rate
the average number of children a women in a given country has during her lifetime
School-to-work transition
the change from the schooling phase of life to the work world
Role
the characteristic behavior that is expected of a person in a particular social position, such as student, parent, married person, worker, or retiree.