Development in middle adulthood is a significant stage in life. It is accompanied by important changes that shape the lives of many individuals. Although the social and emotional characteristics in middle adulthood development vary from various societies and cultures, there are general changes that cut across all society and cultural norms. Increased family and social responsibilities, development of personality from life experiences, and decline in immune system functions are some of the general changes (Charles & Carstensen, 2010). Individuals are therefore affected socially and emotionally to deal with these changes.
Despite social and emotional differences that are apparent at middle development at, physical and cognitive development are also parts of the changes that occur. Physical developments are notable especially on the hair that turns gray while in other individuals they experience hair loss. They develop wrinkles, hearing and vision loss and weight gain leading to obese in some individuals (Pereira & Power, 2018). Cognitive developments are apparent in the decline of memory and processing speed, especially from life challenges such as stress.
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Early middle adulthood development is marked with some changes in responsibilities and the way individuals view life. Levinson’s theory suggests that development in early middle adulthood is accompanied by psychosocial developments through which adults must experience as they enter midlife. Erikson’s theory, on the other hand, expresses development in early middle development by two specifications (Malone et al. 2015). The first feature is generality whereby individuals look beyond themselves to the continuation of life through others. The second feature is stagnation whereby individuals focus on the triviality of their lives.
My personal experience with this life stage is comprised of mainly three paradigms. This include; social, emotional, and physical aspects of life. There are significant changes that have been evident in all these three aspects that are impacted by the development in middle adulthood.
The knowledge obtained from understanding the development that occurs in middle adulthood is very significant both in my profession and personality. This is because it will aid me in acknowledging the changes that occur during this stage of life when I am handling my clients in my profession. To my personality, this information is very vital because it will help me understand the significance of these developments and, therefore, know how to approach others and express myself.
References
Charles, S., T., & Carstensen, L. L. (2010). Social and emotional aging. Annual Review of Psychology , 61 , 383–409. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100448.
Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., Rentz, D. M., & Waldinger, R. J. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health. Developmental Psychology , 52 (3), 496–508. doi:10.1037/a0039875.
Pereira, S., M., & Power, C. (2018). Change in health and social factors in mid-adulthood and corresponding changes in leisure-time physical inactivity in a prospective cohort. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity , 15 (1), 89. doi:10.1186/s12966-018-0723-z.
