Think of people you know who have made the adjustment to middle age successfully, and some who had difficulty making it. What factors seem to influence the ability to make it:
do men make it more easily than women?
does the presence or absence of children make a difference?
the age of the children?
the nature of the occupation?
the example of the older parents?
the presence or absence of money?
What can people do better at 50 or 60 than they could at 20?
Do people change the emphasis they put on different "roles" as they gain the middle years? e.g., as parent, homemaker, association member, entertainer, civic participant, etc.?
What changes do you notice in your own, or your friends', use of leisure time as you gain middle age?
Can people in middle age set new goals for themselves, or must they go on seeking (or lamenting) the ones they had in youth?
The transition periods of life may not be very clear-cut as we live along from day to day. Two careful observers of life processes, Dr. Maurice Linden and Dr. Douglas Courtney, have described five periods of the adult life span:
The Family Creative Period is, of course, the time when men and women are developing their family units.
The Social Creative Period is entered when the parents become aware of the family's position and responsibility in the community and when they try to integrate their offspring with social requirements.
The State Creative Period emerges at a still later date when the children are grown and set out on their own. At this period, the parents' vision is extended to the problems and requirements of the larger world in which their children will now live and participate.
The Moral and Ethical Reaffirmative Period follows when the older generation evaluates its world and tries to manipulate the state and its institutions for the well-being of oncoming generations
The Retrospective Examination Period comes finally when the person becomes concerned with system, order, and the meaning of human experience.
Do you agree that these five periods represent a logical sequence of life development in our present society? Would you combine any of these? Or add others?
Reflect on the experiences of older friends or relatives you have known intimately for a long time. Do you feel they are bearing out the LindenCourtney hypothesis?
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