Chapter 7 Section 1
life structure
(Men have it)combination of statuses, roles, activities, goals, values, beliefs, and life circumstances that characterize an individual.
Chief tasks of Entering the Adult world
1. Individual expected to explore variety of relationships and career opportunities 2. Expected to become a responsible member of society and to form a stable life structure.
leaving home
According to Levinson, the most important task of the period of Early transition is this both physically and psychologically
Men in their twenties
According to Sales, women (usually early thirties) who go back to work after kids grow up a bit find themselves in situations such as
Limites
According to Sales, women's job advancement possibilites become limited when they remain out of labor force while their children are young
Mentor
Acts as a role model and helps the individual get started in adult life
Birth of first child
Age of mothers at this has risen since 1970s
Marriage and Gender
American attitudes on these roles seem to be changing
Marriage
Americans are delaying
Settling Down Period
During this period, individuals form true commitments to things such as work, family, leisure, friendship, community, or whatever is important in their lives
Early Adulthood
Early Adulthood Transition, Entering the Adult World, Age 30 transition, Settling down period
Ages 17 through 22
Early Adulthood begins with the early adult transition period
Issues Daniel Levinson's interviews focused on
Education, work, leisure, politics, and relationships with family and friends
Midlife transition
Escaping from the pressure of unattainable dreams is one of the major tasks of this
Marriage
Even when women plan to combine marriage with a career, this is often considered the most important step
Career Goals
Fewer obligations at home make it possible for women who return to work to actively pursue their career goals
Early Adulthood Transition, Entering the Adult World, Age 30 transition, Settling down period, and midlife transition
First five periods of adulthood
26.8 years
For men, average age of first marriage
Careers
For men, this takes priority, as seen in relationships where for women, marriage is priority
less on career than on marriage
For some women the emphasis is
25.1 years
For women, average for age of first marriage
Male and female
Have two separate adult development processes due to the traditional patterns
1/3
In this, wife earns more than husband does
Settling Down Period
Individuals try to establish themselves in society, usually by advancing in their chosen occupations.
Ages 33-39
Last stage of early adulthood, Settling Down Period
Late Adulthood
Late Adult Transition, Late Adult Transition
Age 30 transition
Levinson considered this to be crucial to future development because it is often characterized by shifts in direction
Same stages of adult development
Levinson discovered that men and women go through these
Novice phase
Levinson referred to the first three periods of the early adulthood era
Early Adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood
Levison concluded that there are three basic eras of adulthood
first 5 periods of adulthood
Levison placed the greatest stress on the
Age 30 transition
Major task in this phase to make a place for themselves in the adult world and to construct a life structures that fits them and works in the adult world
Settling Down Period
Major task of this period is known to Levinson as "Making it" in the adult world.
30%
Marriage rate has dropped by more than this since 1960s
social roles and identites
Men and women differ in terms of their
Middle Adulthood
Midlife Transition, Entering Middle Adulthood, Age 50 transition, Culmination of Middle Adulthood
married
More and More Americans are not getting
Becoming One's Own man (B.O.O.M)
Near end of settling down period, men realize how much they are relying on others as role models for guidance, begin conscious effort to establish their own identities
Ages 23 through 27
Next period, Entering the Adult world
Increasing
Number of women in full-time executive, administrative, and managerial positions is
School age
Once children reach this, many mothers who left labor force again seek employment
Ages 28- 32
Period of The Age 30 Transition
begin to have serious doubts about own careers
Sales notes its ironic women develop commitment to their careers when they return to work when husbands
debate
Since 1970s, Levinson's ideas of similarity of male and female adult development have been a subject of some q
development processes
Some people argue that the differences Levinson noted exsist between women and men because these are different
6-8 years
Stable periods last
All subjects in study went through periods in order and about same age
Support for Levinson's theory
4-5 years
Transitional periods last
Becoming a mentor
Way many men worked through crisis of midlife transition
59%
Women who are new mothers who return to labor force before child is one.
Irene Frieze and Esther Sales
Women who have done work that lends support to this argument that women and men have different development processes
leaving home, making a psychological break from parents, developing a life plan
Women's entry into adult world (Much same as men)
boarder status
Young adults can continue to live at home in what amounts to a
break in employment
another factor that distinguishes female development from male development in adulthood
midlife transition
characterized by self-examination, individuals again question their life structures
Men & Women
deal differently with the development tasks in each stage
emphasis on marriage over career
factor that distinguishes female development from male development in adulthood
ages 40-44
first stage in middle adulthood is the midlife transition
Midlife transition
for 80 percent of subjects in Levinson's study this was a period of moderate to severe crisis, both internal conflicts and conflicts around them, death is more real
Midlife transition
for those who successfully completed the transition, this proved to be a fulfilling and creative period
marriage
for women, Specifies of life plan are likely to be determined by
"Apprentice Adults"
individuals stop viewing themselves as this, once they break with their mentor
midlife transition
individuals take stock of likelihood of achieving the dreams they formed in early adulthood (usually realize their earlier dreams are beyond fufillment) Majority of people able to make them more realistic
dual roles of motherhood and a career
many mothers find these to be a workable combination, they tend to put a strain on women
twenties
most women marry and become mothers in their
Early transition period
period that represents the bridge between adolescence and adulthood
Daniel Levinson
psychologist study to determine the adult male development stages
Men
remain in labor force for most of adulthood
success in mastering in previous period
research findings also say the degree of difficulty that an individual experiences in a period depends on his
First step of BOOM
seperating onself from a mentor
midlife transition
serves as bridge between early and middle adulthood
work world
some young adults achieve economic independence when they enter the work world
Mentor
somone who fosters an individual's development by believing in the person, sharing the person's dreams, and helping the person achieve those dreams
Levinson
suggested his findings were equally valid for women, he repeated his life-structure study with women
development of a dream of adult accomplishment
the period of Entering the Adult World also characterized by
Changes
these signal that development patterns of working-age men and women are merging
Age at first marriage
this has been rising since the 1960s in the United states
Leaving the Family, Entering the adult world, and entering the adult world again
three phases in adult female development
Age 30 transition
time to look back on the choices that have been made up to this point
Women
typically enter work force, take time to have children, then go back to work once children are grown
Mentor
usually someone of older experienced person in world of work
69 percent
women with children under the age of 18 work at least part-time