Psychology Ch. 16

In the United States, retirees' income typically drops by _____ percent.

50

The average age of retirement in the United States is currently

63.

Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and aging parents who coreside is true?

The greatest source of stress is problem behavior, especially for caregivers of parents who have deteriorated mentally

Which of the following statements about psychosocial development in midlife is true?

Adjusting one's life structure to incorporate the effects of aging requires supportive social contexts.

With age, possible selves become

more concrete.

According to parental imperative theory, after children reach adulthood,

parents are free to express the "other-gender" side of their personalities.

The negative outcome of Erikson's midlife stage, stagnation, focuses on

self-indulgence.

Which of the following statements to an adult child is the most likely to promote positive ties?

"Let us know if we can help."

According to Vaillant, __________ is a major preoccupation of midlife.

"passing the torch"

Jay, age 50, is finally comfortable with himself. He is more independent, assertive, and committed to his personal values than he was in early adulthood. Jay probably believes that midlife is

"the prime of life."

Nearly _____ percent of American working women are caregivers for aging parents.

25

Which of the following statements about generativity is true?

A culture's "belief in the species" is a major motivator of generative action, according to Erikson.

Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and their aging parents is true?

A longer life expectancy means that adult children and their parents are increasingly likely to grow old together.

Cate, age 49, acknowledges both her good and bad qualities and feels positively about herself and life. Cate exhibits

A) self-acceptance

Which of the following statements about generativity and stagnation is true?

Among well-educated women, those with children express greater generative concerns.

__________ is associated with favorable personality traits and adjustment.

Androgyny

Which of the following statements about sibling relationships in middle adulthood is true?

Despite reduced contact, many siblings feel closer in midlife, often in response to major life events.

Which of the following statements about friendships during midlife is true?

Friendships become more selective in midlife.

Which of the following statements is consistent with the parental imperative theory?

Gender role identity is maintained during active parenting years to help ensure survival of the children.

Which of the following employees is the most likely to be assigned to a high-risk, high-visibility leadership role?

Gene, a Caucasian-American man

Ginger, a female middle manager, and Geoffrey, a male middle manager, are both promoted to comparable positions. Which of the following can you predict?

Ginger probably has earned higher performance ratings than Geoffrey.

Which of the following middle-aged individuals is the most likely to be concerned about the physical changes of aging?

Jack, a non-college-educated man

Which of the following adults most likely has a sense of stagnation?

Jill, who takes little interest in her grown children

Which of the following individuals most likely provides the most direct care and financial support to their aging parents

Johnna, a middle-income African American

__________ is common in middle adulthood.

Life evaluation

__________ is the strongest predictor of frequent, face-to-face interaction with young grandchildren.

Living nearby

Which of the following maternal grandmothers is the most likely to be the preferred caregiver of her grandchildren while their parents are at work?

Lupe, a Mexican-American homemaker

Which of the following statements about "launching children and moving on" is true?

Many contemporary parents launch children a decade or more before retirement, then seek other rewarding activities.

Martin, age 47, is single and has no children. Which of the following of Martin's activities reflects generativity?

Martin volunteers at the YMCA as a basketball coach and is a "big brother" in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Which of the following statements about unemployment in midlife is true?

Middle-aged workers affected by layoffs remain jobless longer than younger workers.

Which of the following statements about vocational life in middle adulthood is true?

More so than in earlier or later years, people attempt to increase the personal meaning of their vocational lives.

Which of the following statements about launching children and moving on is true?

Most parents adjust well to their children's departure from the home.

Which of the following statements about skipped-generation families is true?

Nearly 4 to 5 percent of the U.S. child population live with grandparents but apart from parents.

Which of the following statements about job training for older workers is true?

Older employees depend more on co-worker encouragement for vocational development.

Which of the following statements about good health and exercise in midlife is true?

Physical activity in midlife enhances self-efficacy and effective stress management.

Reece is 42. His sister, Dana, is 25. Which of the following statements is most likely true based solely on their ages?

Reece is more likely than Dana to anticipate and plan ways to handle future discomforts.

Which of the following middle-aged adults will most likely experience the biggest increase in job satisfaction?

Rodney, a male corporate vice president

Which of the following statements about middle-aged children and their aging parents is true?

The tradition of Asian family coresidence is declining in the United States.

Which of the following statements about possible selves is true?

They may be the key to continued well-being in adulthood.

Which of the following statements about grandparents who take full responsibility for raising grandchildren is true?

They often experience considerable emotional and financial strain

Which of the following statements about people who flexibly modify their identities in response to age-related changes yet maintain a sense of self-continuity is true?

They score higher in self-esteem.

Which of the following statements about research findings regarding the midlife crisis is true?

Vaillant's work indicated a slow and steady change, rather than a crisis.

Which of the following statements about midlifers' relationships with grown children is true?

When warm, supportive relationships endure, intimacy between parents and children increases over the adult years

Which of the following statements about divorce in midlife is true?

Women are more likely than men to initiate divorce, and those who do fare somewhat better in psychological well-being.

Which of the following statements about gender and ethnicity in the workplace is true?

Women who demonstrate leadership qualities encounter prejudice because they deviate from traditional gender roles.

Which of the following factors can prompt parental strain as children depart from the home

a child who is "off-time" in development

Most experts today regard adaptation during midlife as the result of

a combination of growing older and social experiences

In general, when a middle-aged worker experiences an extreme shift in his or her career, the reason is typically

a personal crisis.

Androgyny in adulthood is associated with

advanced moral reasoning and psychosocial maturity.

Sue is soft-hearted, trusting, generous, acquiescent, lenient, and good-natured. She is high on which of the following "big five" personality traits?

agreeableness

Midlife career changes

are seldom radical.

Because life events __________, they cannot be the single cause of midlife change.

are variable in their timing

Middle-aged people

attach great value to the friendship relationship.

Raven is less concerned about others' expectations than she was in her thirties. She is now more concerned with following her own standards. Raven exhibits

autonomy.

Because Thomas is highly generative, he is also likely to

be open-minded about differing viewpoints

A person who lists being a valued elder as a gratification of grandparenthood values

being perceived as a wise, helpful person.

Today, 45- to 54-year-olds are

better educated than any previous midlife cohort.

Joanne has been teaching middle school for 22 years. As the new school year approaches, she feels mentally exhausted and unsure if she is making any impact in her students' lives. Joanne is experiencing

burnout.

Gregor, an adolescent, can be characterized by the "big five" personality trait of conscientiousness. Gregor

can anticipate that this trait will increase through middle age.

Compared to younger people, middle-aged adults see themselves as

capable of managing a complex array of tasks easily and effectively.

In longitudinal research, __________ became more independent by their early forties.

college-educated women in the labor force

Middle-aged adults who have made desired life changes are typically higher in __________ than those who acknowledge life regrets without making desired changes.

confidence and assertiveness

Throughout adulthood, the personality traits people assign to their current selves show

considerable stability.

In Levinson's destruction-creation developmental task, the midlifer

counters past hurtful acts with a strong desire to leave a legacy for the future.

Sibling contact and support

decline from early to middle adulthood.

Neuroticism __________ from the teenage years through middle age.

declines

The majority of adults who report experiencing a midlife crisis

define such events much more loosely than researchers do.

Women's work-related turning points peak in

early adulthood.

Midlife brings an increase in

effective coping strategies.

Kim devoted her early adulthood to raising her daughter. When Kim turned 45, she became active in community theater, which had been a passion in adolescence. She also volunteered in the community. According to Levinson, Kim is engaged in which of the following developmental tasks?

engagement-separateness

Compared with grandchildren in intact families, grandchildren in single-parent and stepparent families report

engaging in more diverse, higher-quality grandparent activities.

Alex is reserved, quiet, passive, sober, and emotionally unreactive. He is low on which of the following "big five" personality traits?

extroversion

Compared with children in divorced, single-parent families or in blended families, children reared by grandparents

fare better in adjustment.

The __________ of poverty is a trend in which women who support themselves or their families have become the majority of the adult poverty population.

feminization

Hart volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. When he is at a work site, he is so engrossed in activity that he loses all sense of time and self-awareness. Hart is experiencing

flow

Women who quit work in order to take care of aging parents

generally fare poorly due to social isolation and financial strain.

Jennifer, age 45, is a Girl Scout leader. She states that she really enjoys giving to and guiding the next generation. According to Erikson, Jennifer has developed a sense of

generativity.

Erikson's psychological conflict of midlife is called __________ versus __________.

generativity; stagnation

Throughout middle adulthood, parents' relationships with their young adult children tend to involve

giving more assistance than they receive.

The average age of retirement has decreased in the United States because of

government-sponsored retirement benefits.

Following her divorce, 48-year-old Donna reevaluated what she considered important in a healthy relationship. She most likely places

greater weight on equal friendship.

For the first time in her career, 43-year-old Schuyler is truly satisfied with her job. Which of the following aspects of Schuyler's job satisfaction is the most likely to have improved?

happiness with the work itself

The divorce rate of U.S. 50- to 65-year-olds

has doubled over the past two decades.

One reason older workers generally reduce their career aspirations is that they

have fewer alternative positions into which they can move.

Compared with younger adults, middle-aged workers are more likely to

help colleagues.

The gender gap in poverty is

higher in the United States than in other Western industrialized nations.

Individuals who are high in openness to experience are

imaginative, creative, original, curious, and liberal.

Neil and Mark cannot wait to spoil their granddaughter. They love the idea of having fun with her all day and then sending her home with their son when she gets tired and cranky. Which of the following grandparent gratifications is probably most important to them?

indulgence

Fifty-year-old James filed for divorce from his wife of 25 years. It is likely that he

is already involved romantically with someone else.

A growing number of researchers believe the midadult transition

is an adaptation to normative life events.

The term "empty nest" is not used as often as in the past to refer to the middle adulthood phase of the family life cycle because

it implies a negative transition, especially for women.

After all five of her children struck out on their own, Naomi made sure everyone stayed in touch by creating a family blog. She also took charge of gathering the family for celebrations. Naomi is her family's

kinkeeper.

Less well-educated people with lower lifetime earnings are the __________ retirement planning programs.

least likely to attend

Research suggests that training and on-the-job career counseling are

less available to middle-aged employees.

Quentin went to college with the goal of becoming a social worker. Instead, he gave in to pressure from his new spouse and changed his major to business. When looking back at age 50, Quentin wished he had pursued his original dream of becoming a social worker. Quentin is experiencing

life regrets.

As people approach the end of middle adulthood, they focus on __________ goals.

longer-term, less personal

Marcus, age 53, is spending a lot of time caring for his young grandson. His subordinates at work have noticed that he has become a kinder, more compassionate boss. According to Levinson, Marcus is engaged in which of the following developmental tasks?

masculinity-femininity

Compared with younger workers, laid off middle-aged workers are

more likely to find themselves "off-time" in terms of the social clock.

Compared with Caucasians, African Americans

more often engage in certain types of generativity, such as involvement in religious groups.

Little is known about long-term adjustment following divorce among middle-aged men, perhaps because

most enter new relationships and remarry within a short time.

Which of the following relationships are usually closer for middle-aged adults and their aging parents?

mother-daughter

Individuals who are low in conscientiousness are

negligent, lazy, disorganized, late, aimless, and nonpersistent.

Denyse is calm, even-tempered, self-content, comfortable, unemotional, and hardy. She is low on which of the following "big five" personality traits?

neuroticism

111) Burnout

occurs more often in the helping professions.

More Italian young adults reside with their parents until marriage than in other Western nations because

parents believe that moving out without a "justified" reason signifies that something is wrong in the family.

Gilles, age 50, tells his brother, "I'd like to maintain my physical health and work on getting emotionally stronger. I want to be a good friend and a role model to my nephews and nieces. I don't want to be that guy who never comes to family get-togethers because he is too busy working. I want to be successful in my career, but not at the expense of my family. Of course, I want to find my own special partner, but if I don't, I know I'll always have you and the kids." Gilles is discussing his

possible selves.

Compared to men, middle-aged women report

providing their friends with more emotional support.

In early adulthood, Maxine worked as a waitress and devoted herself to child rearing. Which of the following is she the most likely to do next if she is engaged in Levinson's engagement-separateness task?

pursue a college degree

Forty-five-year-old Lizette remembers how she was caught shoplifting as a teenager, and how the visit to the police station steered her away from a troubled adolescence. She credits this event as sparking her interest in social work, and now works with troubled and at-risk youth. Lizette's commitment story contains a theme of

redemption.

Chet and Leola enjoy being grandparents. They especially value being able to pass family history and values to a new generation. Which of the following grandparenthood gratifications is probably most important to them?

reinvolvement with personal past

Cindy, age 48, cares for her two teenage sons and her ailing mother-in-law. Along with her mother, she is one of a handful of caregivers for her elderly grandmother. Cindy belongs to the __________ generation

sandwich

People who lose their jobs in midlife

seldom duplicate the status and pay of their previous position.

As in early adulthood, __________ tend to be emotionally closest during middle adulthood.

sister-sister bonds

As people age, they may rely less on __________ comparisons in judging their self-worth and more on __________ comparisons.

social; temporal

Possible selves are the __________ dimension of self-concept.

temporal

Studies report __________ in midlife.

that both men and women become more androgynous

Which of the following parents are the most likely to give positive reports of their own psychological well-being?

the Heruzzis, who have a successful only child

According to Levinson, middle adulthood begins with a

transitional period

Studies of the "big five" personality traits

typically do not examine the impact of cultural values.

Generative midlifers

use an authoritative parenting style.

Narratives of highly generative people

usually contain commitment stories.

Thelma and Louise became friends when they both took a knitting class together. Lately, the friendship has been difficult. As middle-aged adults, Thelma and Louise are likely to

work hard to preserve the friendship.

Most middle-aged adults asked to describe "turning points" in the past five years report ones concerning

work.

Job satisfaction increases in midlife for

workers at all occupational levels.

Betty just celebrated her fiftieth birthday. She celebrated by taking hang-gliding lessons and purchasing a more mature wardrobe. According to Levinson, Betty is engaged in which of the following developmental tasks?

young-old