Transcript Chapter Seventeen Early Adulthood: Biosocial Development

Chapter Seventeen
Early Adulthood:
Biosocial Development
Growth, Strength, and Health

Young adults are strong, healthy, and
disease free
Norms and Peaks
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Men typically stronger than women
For both sexes, physical strength
increases until 30, then declines
All body systems functioning at
optimum levels
Death from disease is rare

violent death more likely
Signs of Senescence

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Occurs when growth stops but ongoing
throughout adulthood
Physical decline related to age

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varies markedly from person to person,
organ to organ
Organs: First visible changes are in skin-looses elasticity
Graying hair and male pattern baldness
begin around age 30
Variability in senescence appears
Gender Differences in Health
and Senescence

Appearance seems more important for
women than for men

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in some ways, women slower to become old
women generally healthier and have better
health habits

few fatal diseases, live at least 5 years longer
than men, on average
Gender Differences in Health and
Senescence, cont.

Two ways females are at a health
disadvantage
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undernourishment
reproductive systems problems
Gender Differences in Health and
Senescence, cont.

Three explanations why twice as many
women than men live to after age 80
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biological: protective evolutionary biology
cognitive: less risk taking
psychosocial: marriage, family life,
friendship, and help-seeking are all
protective of health, and women are more
likely to engage in these
Homeostasis

Body’s attempt to keep systems in
balance —homeostasis
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set point is affected by genes, diet, age,
hormones, and exercise
Aging makes it more difficult to recover
from physical stress
What a 20-year-old can do is more
difficult for a 35-year-old
Reserve Capacity

Bodies that are maintained adequately
can have greater capacity to respond to
stressful events or conditions

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
if not, our organ reserve capacity declines
organ reserve—extra capacity for
responding to unusually stressful events or
conditions that demand intense or prolonged
effort
Serious reductions are not normally
reached until late adulthood
Sports Stars and the
Rest of Us


Athletic performance peaks between
ages 15 and 35
Within a sport, skills peak at different
ages

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super stars more likely to peak later
Impact of aging on skills depends on
lifestyle
Sexual Responsiveness
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Typical male sexual response
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sexual arousal and excitement
orgasm
refractory period (time between responses)
is short
overall slowing down over time
Typical female sexual response
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sexual arousal and excitement and orgasm
take longer than for men
from early adolescence to middle adulthood,
arousal and orgasm become more likely
Sexual Responsiveness, cont.
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Explanations of male and female
differences in sexual responsiveness
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both partners learn to match timing in love
making to prolong man’s excitement and
intensify woman’s sexual responses
cultural

men expected to be rapid in sexual response, and
women to repress desire and emphasize control
Sexual Responsiveness, cont.

Explanations of differences in sexual
responsiveness, cont.

evolutionary psychology
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promiscuous males produce more offspring and
pass on their genes more often, which is an
evolutionary goal
women reproduce and create safe haven for
children
Fertility
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Peak time of fertility for women: before
age 30; for men: before age 40
Between 2 percent and 30 percent of all
couples experience infertility—average
of 15 percent

infertility—failure to conceive after a year
of intercourse without contraception
Fertility, cont.

Male Infertility
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1/4 of cases related to sperm/sperm count
Female Infertility

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pelvic inflammatory disease may block
fallopian tubes
endometriosis
infections, fibroid tumors
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uterine health affected by other health factors
Fertility, cont.
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Medical Advances
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in vitro fertilization (IVF)—ova surgically
removed, fertilized by sperm in lab, and
allowed to divide until zygote reaches 8- or
16-cell stage
assisted reproductive technology (ART)—
collective name of different technologies
that aid in fertility
Emotional Problems in Early
Adulthood
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Dieting, Drugs, Violence
Dieting as a Disease
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Set point—particular body weight that
an individual’s homeostatic process
strives to maintain
Dieting is common among girls, not
unusual for boys
One in 20 teenagers takes dieting too
seriously and has an eating disorder
Dieting as a Disease, cont.

Culture and diet industry messages (via
media) tell us to be thin so we will be
happy and successful
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almost 50 percent of women in North
America have a BMI of less than 25, so they
are not overweight at all
many young women connect self-concept
with body image
Anorexia Nervosa
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Restriction of eating to the point of
emaciation and possible starvation
Four Symptoms
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refusal to maintain body weight of at least
85 percent of normal weight for age and
height
intense fear of gaining weight
disturbed body perception and denial of
problem
in females, absence of menstruation
Bulimia Nervosa
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Repeated episodic binge eating followed
by purging
To be clinically diagnosed,
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bingeing and purging must occur at least
once a week for three months
the person must have uncontrollable urges
to overeat
the person must show distorted selfjudgment about body image
Theories of Eating Disorders
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Psychoanalytic: Women have conflict
with mothers, cannot separate
Behaviorism: For people with low selfesteem, bingeing and purging relieve
states of distress and tension
Cognitive: Women competing in business
against men want to project masculine
image
Theories of Eating Disorders, cont.
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Sociocultural: Women feel cultural
pressure to be slender
Epigenetic: Girls who are overwhelmed
by development find that anorexia stops
growth and decreases presence of
sexual hormones
Drug Abuse and Addiction
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Drug addiction—physiological or
psychological drive to ingest more of a
drug
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addiction begins with use
Young adults more likely to be addicts
Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont.
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Marked gender, ethnic, and national
variations in rates of drug addiction
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men more likely than women
European Americans and Hispanic Americans
more likely to use than are Asian-Americans
or African Americans
English-speaking countries more likely to use
drugs
Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont.
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College students particularly vulnerable
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more to alcohol
Social context encourages use and abuse
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on their own
rock concerts
spectator sports
other group activities
Drug Abuse and Addiction, cont.
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Consequences of drug use often serious
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avoid, drop out of, or flunk out of college
work below potential
lose or quit jobs
involved in transitory, uncommitted sexual
relations
die violently
experience serious psychological difficulties
Psychopathology
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Many young adults struggle with
serious emotional difficulties
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12 percent experience at least one
episode of
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depression, schizophrenia, or pathological rage
made worse if using drugs or alcohol
Psychopathology, cont.
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Some difficulties may originate in
childhood
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parents abusive, neglectful, or erratic
death of mother or alcoholism of father
Typically, childhood disturbances,
biological problems, and environmental
stress are all involved
Depression
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Between ages 20 and 35, at least 15
percent of women and 8 percent of men
suffer from at least one severe episode
of depression
Major depression is fueled biochemically
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neurotransmitters
hormones
Remission is likely with treatment that
includes cognitive therapy and
medication
Schizophrenia
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1 percent of all adults experience at
least one episode of schizophrenia
Caused by genes and severe early
trauma such as anoxia at birth
Medication seems to be most effective
if person understands disease
Violence
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In U.S., 1 male in every 100 between the
ages of 15 and 25 dies violently
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motor vehicle accident, homicide, or suicide
Worldwide, young men more likely to die
violently than women (especially between
ages of 20 and 25)
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4 times as many commit suicide
6 times as many are murdered
by nation or ethnic group, male-to-female
ratio varies from 3:1 to 10:1
Violence, cont.
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Developmentalists suggest two reasons
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biological—unlike females, in males, higher
levels of testosterone correlate with
impulsive, angry reactions
psychological—high self-esteem and dashed
expectations more likely to result in violence
in the presence of alcohol, a weapon, or lack
of self-restraint
Chapter Eighteen
Early Adulthood:
Cognitive Development
Three Approaches
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Postformal picks up where Piaget left
off
Psychometric analyzes components of
intelligence (see Ch. 21)
Information-processing studies the
encoding, storage, and retrieval of
information during lifetime (see Ch. 24)
Postformal Thought
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Adult thinking and adolescent thinking
differ in 3 ways, with adult thinking
more:
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practical
flexible
dialectical
A Fifth Stage of Cognitive
Development?
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Postformal thought often viewed as
fifth stage of Piaget’s theory
In it, adults consider every aspect of
a situation
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use intellectual skills for real life—work
and relationships
understand that conclusions and
consequences matter
The Practical and the Personal
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During adulthood focus on skill
application, not skill acquisition
Subjectivity and Objectivity
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Arise from individual’s personal
experiences and perceptions
Traditional models devalued
subjective thought
Objective thought—abstract
impersonal logic
For adults combination of the two
works best
Emotions and Logic
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Trying to combine both logic and
emotions in dealing with an emotional
issue is challenging

but at each stage of adulthood, adults can
achieve this balance in contrast to
adolescents who believe in subjective or
objective reasoning
Cognitive Flexibility
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Awareness that your perspective is
not the only one
Awareness that each problem has
many potential solutions and
knowledge is dynamic
Flexible Problem Solving
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Adult thought requires flexible
adaptation, which allows adults to
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cope with unanticipated events
come up with more than one solution to
problem
Stereotype Threat
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The possibility that one’s appearance or
behavior will be misused to confirm
another person’s oversimplified, prejudiced
attitude. For example,
3 ways young minority people cope with
prejudice
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identification, or identifying with their own group
disidentification, or deliberately refusing to
identify with their own group
counteridentification, or identifying with
majority and believing stereotype to be accurate
Dialectical Thought
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Cognitive flexibility at its most
advanced
Every idea or truth(thesis) bears
within it suggestion of the opposite
idea or truth(antithesis)
Do Love Affairs Fail?
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Dialectical thinking involves considering
the thesis and antithesis of an idea
simultaneously and forging them into a
synthesis—a new idea that integrates
the original idea and its opposite, or the
thesis and its antithesis
Dialectical thought gives one a broader
and more flexible perspective
Culture and Cognition
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There are notable differences between
Eastern and Western thought
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more polar; right vs. wrong; black vs. white—
Western thought
more of a combination or compromise—
Eastern thought
Culture and Cognition, cont.
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Developmentalists feel culture helps
to shape thought
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Life-span perspective is multicontexual
and multicultural, stressing adults change
because of
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maturation
experience
Adult Moral Reasoning
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Ethical issues often present
themselves
Taking responsibility for one’s own
actions perceived by young adults of
all ethnic groups as marker of
adulthood
Addressing Specific
Dilemmas
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Life Choices
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parenthood
life events
New and different qualities of moral
reasoning appear
Gilligan took into consideration that life
experiences contribute to a broader
understanding of moral reasoning
Addressing Specific Dilemmas, cont.
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Every young adult must make choices
about
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sexuality
reproduction
marriage and child rearing
issues caused by increasing globalization and
immigration
Dilemmas also arise from popular culture
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television
The Internet
popular music
Measuring Moral Growth
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Defining Issues Test
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developed by James Rest
respondents rank their priorities, from
personal benefits to higher goals; this in
contrast to Kohlberg’s open-ended questions
ranking items leads to number score
scores generally rise with age and education
which make people less rigid and more
flexible
Measuring Moral Growth, cont.
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The development of faith follows a
similar path
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stage 1: Intuitive-projective faith
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believes in power of God and the mysteries of
birth and death (3 -7)
stage 2: Mythical-literal faith
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takes myths and stories of religion literally and
believes in the power of symbols (8-13 and
adulthood); prayers are “banked” for the
future
Measuring Moral Growth, cont.
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Development of faith, cont.
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stage 3: Synthetic-conventional faith
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has tacit acceptance of cultural/religious values
in the context of interpersonal relationships
conformist stage of faith characterized by
concern about others and what feels right
stage 4: Individual-reflective faith
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detaches from values of culture and approval of
others
can be brought on by college or major life change
such as divorce, etc.
Measuring Moral Growth, cont.
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Development of faith, cont.
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stage 5: Conjunctive faith
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incorporates power of unconscious ideas and
rational conscious values
willingness to accept contradictions
stage 6: Universalizing faith
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powerful vision of universal compassion, justice
and love that compels people to live their lives in a
way that seems saintly or foolish
personal welfare is put aside; a transforming
experience can convert an adult to this stage
Cognitive Growth and Higher
Education

The relationship between college
education and adult development

healthier, wealthier, as well as deeper,
more flexible thinkers
The Effects of College
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Education powerfully influences
cognitive development
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improves verbal and quantitative skills, and
specific subject knowledge while
enhancing reasoning, reflection, and
flexibility of thought
The Effects of College, cont.
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Educational influences, cont.
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year-by-year progression of students’
thinking
end of college finds students have
generally moved from simplistic either/or
ideas to recognition of multiplicity of
perspectives
Possible Factors in Cognitive
Growth During College
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Other Factors To Consider
Change in the Students
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The sheer numbers have increased
greatly, worldwide
In all nations, increased student
diversity
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more women students
more older students
more culturally diverse students in United
States
more low-income students
more working students
Changes in the Institutions
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Structure of higher education changing
with student population changes
Almost twice as many U.S. institutions
of higher learning today than in 1970
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community college enrollment up 144 percent
more career programs
more part-time faculty
more women and minority instructors
Evaluating the Research

Factors that may prevent college
education from being as powerful a
force in producing cognitive growth as it
could be
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cohort effects
selection effects
dropout rates
Evaluating the Research, cont.
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The weight of evidence suggests that
college
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advances income
promotes health
deepens thinking
increases tolerance of different political,
social, and religious views
Chapter Nineteen
Early Adulthood:
Psychosocial Development
Theories of Adulthood
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Many theories describe, analyze, and
predict the transformations that occur
during adulthood
Different theories about psychological
needs reach similar conclusions
Love and Work
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Two basic needs: affiliation and
achievement
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or affection and instrumentality
Maslow: hierarchy of needs
Erikson: intimacy vs. isolation
Ages and Stages
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Patterns of the Past
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by 20s: identity
by 30s: intimacy
by 40s: generativity
Adult lives today “are less orderly and
predictable than stage models suggest”
The Social Clock


Culturally set timetable that establishes
when various events and endeavors in
life are appropriate
What are some of the appropriate
timetables in the United States?
The Social Clock, cont.
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Developed vs. Developing Nations
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developed nations now permit grandmothers
to be college graduates, while developing
nations do not
developing nations encourage teens to be
mothers, while developed nations discourage
this practice
Rich and Poor

the lower the SES, the sooner a person is
expected to reach life’s milestones
Intimacy
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Need for Intimacy
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meeting it depends on affiliation, affection,
interdependence, love
Two primary sources are close
friendships and romantic partnerships
Friendship

Better than the family in buffering
against stress, as guide to selfawareness, and as a source of positive
feelings like joy
Choosing Young-Adult Friends
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Physical attractiveness
Apparent availability (willingness to chat)
Absence of exclusion criteria
Frequent exposure to each other
Gender Differences in
Friendship

Conversations and Expectations
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women  self-disclosure
men  external matters—sports, politics,
work
female-female pattern may better reduce
loneliness and self-absorption
male-male pattern may be more effective
and efficient, especially in work situations
Gender Differences in Friendship, cont.

Friendships Between Men and Women
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
cross-sex friendships allow learning about
common humanity and let people help each
other gain skills
problems may arise when a platonic
relationship is sexualized or there are
conflicts of expectations
Same sex friendships may be most
effective and efficient

especially in the workplace
Development of Love and
Marriage
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Sternberg’s Theory of love
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1) passion 2) intimacy 3) commitment
7 forms of love based on presence or
absence of three components above
in West, consummate love— a combination
of all three—is the ideal form
difficult to achieve consummate love

familiarity and security diminish passion
Contact and Courtship

Throughout history marriages commonly
arranged


Typical U.S. pattern today—initiated
and sustained by the two people involved


still common today in many nations and
certain cultures
duration and seriousness increase until,
couples marry, typically 10 years after their
first love affair
Courtship follows predicable pattern—
from passion to intimacy
Living Together

Cohabitation— a couple’s living together
in a committed sexual relationship
without being formally married



increasingly common
cohabitation not just for young adults
slightly more than half of all women aged
25-40 years have cohabited
Living Together, cont.

Cohabitation does not necessarily
benefit the participants

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one study found people who cohabitate much
less happy and healthy, and less satisfied with
financial status than are married couples
in another study, cohabiting relationships were
3 times as likely to be abusive than marriages
in a third, compared to single adults,
cohabitants are likelier to have alcohol problems
Marriage

Not like it “used to be”

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
proportion of unmarried adults is higher
than at any time in the past century
10 percent of brides are virgins
nearly one-half of all births are to single
mothers who are increasingly unlikely to
marry the fathers of their babies
Marriage, cont.

Not like it “used to be,” cont.

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
20 percent of first births conceived before
marriage
divorce rate is 49 percent of marriage rate
the rate of first marriages in young
adulthood lowest in 50 years
Marriage, cont.

Marriage, still most enduring evidence
of couple commitment, is celebrated in
every culture in the world by a wedding

hoped-for-results: a love that deepens over
the years, as bond cemented by




birth of children
weathering economic and emotional turbulence
surviving serious illness or other setbacks
sharing social and financial commitments
Marriage, cont.

Worldwide research says married people
are happier, healthier, and richer
What Makes Marriages Work

Developmentally, marriage is a useful
institution

children generally thrive when two parents
are committed to their well-being
What Makes Marriages Work, cont.


One developmental factor affecting
success of marriage is maturity of the
partners
A second factor is degree of similarity,
or homogamy—marriage within same
group


heterogamy—marriage outside of group
social homogamy—similarity of couple’s
interests and role preferences
What Makes Marriages Work, cont.

Marital Equity
–
–
social exchange theory
in modern marriages, what matters most
is perception of fairness, not absolute
equality
Same-Sex Partners



Long-term homosexual partnerships are
more common and open today
2-5 percent of all U.S.adults spend some
part of adulthood in such relationships
Homosexuals generally have same
relationship issues as heterosexuals
Divorce

Influenced by social and political
context


United States has highest divorce rate


affects many lives for years
almost 1 in 2 first marriages end in divorce
Historically, an increase, but stabilizing

one reason: lower marriage rate
The Role of Expectations

People today expect more from
marriage partners than in the past,
but expectations are not always as
well defined
The Developmental Impact of
Divorce

Initially worse than expected in


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

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health
happiness
self-esteem
financial stability
social interaction
achievement
Domestic Violence

Violence in intimate relationships has
multiple causes

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
social pressures that create stress, cultural
values, personality pathologies, and drug and
alcohol addiction
common couple violence—1 or both partners
engage in verbal and physical attack
intimate terrorism—1 partner systematically
isolates, degrades, and punishes the other
Domestic Violence, cont.



Intimate terrorism less prevalent than
common couple violence
Perpetrator usually anti-social and
violent in many ways
Leads to battered-wife syndrome, with
woman not simply physically beaten but
broken socially and psychologically
Domestic Violence, cont.

Similarities Between 2 Types of
Domestic Violence


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
jealous male partner doesn’t want female
partner to talk to other men
male partner tries to limit female partner’s
contact with family and friends
male partner insists on knowing who female
partner is with and where she is at all times
Difference Between 2 Types of Domestic
Violence
But in intimate terrorism, partner seeks
to exert violent control over the other
Generativity

Defined as the motivation to achieve or
the drive to be generative
Importance of Work



Develops and uses personal skills and
talents
Provides structure for daily life
Work can help a person to




develop and use personal skills
express unique creative energy
aid and advise coworkers, as a mentor or
friend
contribute to larger community via product
or service
New Patterns of Employment

Restructuring

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
work
workers
employers
schedule
teamwork
typical career sequence
Manufacturing estimated to shrink by
1/3 between 1995-2005
New Patterns of Employment, cont.



Workplace characterized by ongoing
reorganization and growing automation
Timing and pace of jobs are changing
Burden of these new work patterns falls
especially on young adults
Diversity in the Workplace

A major social change is most adult
women are employed


motherhood no longer considered
impediment to employment
Gender and ethnic diversity are
increasing in every developed nation

glass ceiling (invisible barrier impeding rise
of both groups)
Diversity in the Workplace, cont.


Work teams function best when they
are diverse
Work requires same relationship skills
as friendship or marriage
Parenthood

Adult Development


having children, nurturing them, and
launching them into the world has a major
impact on the parent’s development
birth of a child brings conflict and
challenges and begins the lifelong process of
interdependence
Children Affect Their Parents



The bond is reciprocal
Challenges emerge at every stage of
child’s development
Few young adults anticipate the time
required for parenting
Employed Parents

Benefits and Problems



role overload
role buffering
Logistics in Everyday Life
Children and Divorce


Children make divorce more complicated
Financial burden of child rearing on
custodial parent

Only one-half of fathers pay full child
support
Alternative Routes to
Parenthood

Roughly one-third of North American
adults become



stepparents
adoptive parents
foster parents