Cognitive development and change is a lifelong process which has a direct impact on every segment of life from different perspectives. In the modern world, life and professional or vocational affiliation are closely intertwined, hence growth and development will be a bearing factor on work. Among the most complicated periods of personal development after teenage years is midlife. Psychologists define midlife as the period between the age of 40 and 60 whose onset is marked by the moment an individual realizes that life might be coming to an end. Midlife is a period of self-evaluation and in most cases, self-doubt, as the individual begins to evaluate life’s achievement and compare them with initial plans and expectations. It is also a period when humans come to the realization of their mortality and the inevitability of death. For men, a strong realization about failing strength and capability may be realized while in women, menopause and related physiological and psychological issues have a potentially adverse impact. The mainly psychological and in some cases, physiological changes closely related to midlife have a generally adverse effect on work unless actively mitigated upon as this research paper reveals.
Background: An Overview of the Midlife
Almost every psychological publication about midlife has a segment on midlife crisis to the extent that midlife and midlife crisis are almost used interchangeably. Midlife has been a psychological phenomenon for centuries while the term midlife crisis was only coined in 1965 by psychologist Elliot Jaques (Psychology Today, 2018). When coining the word midlife crisis, Jaques was canvassing the concept of humans arriving at an age when they consider themselves as approaching their demise. The reality of mortality causes these humans to take a closer look at life and achievements made in family , life, and other areas. Further, it is upon the realization of mortality that humans begin to face the subject of what happens after death, both to themselves and their legacies. Most people may not even notice the advent of their midlife since the crisis that accompanies it is not automatic. The advent of the crisis may come by itself or be triggered by secondary issues such as the loss of a loved one or the advent of the signs of menopause (Psychology Today, 2018). In the modern world, work has become a lifelong thing with most people shying away from the standard age of retirement. Indeed, many people work through their midlife and continue to work to their old age . Yet others are either not able to work due to limitations and/or disability or even elect not to work and go into retirement. Working in midlife has both positive and negative effects on the worker.
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Effects of Working in Midlife on Morbidity
Work can be considered as a matter of life and death during midlife, more than it is in any period of the human lifecycle. This seemingly extreme statement is based on the understanding that modern advancements in healthcare services have exponentially diminished the physiological causes of death during midlife. The psychological causes of death, therefore, almost take precedence over the physiological causes. Having a job and being able to perform it well can make the difference on whether or not an individual survives midlife and lives on into old age. The article by Case and Deaton (2015) reports on a study undertaken to investigate an extremely curious phenomenon where morbidity rates of non-Hispanic whites during midlife, seemed to be on the rise while the rates of the other segments of the community seemed to be on the decline. Based on the results of the study, the increased deaths of non-Hispanic whites could be attributed to the inability to work during midlife “ The fraction reporting being unable to work doubled for white non-Hispanics aged 45–54 in this 15-year period” (Case & Deaton 2015). The inability to work would increase negative behavior such as substance abuse, which in turn would affect morbidity rates. Suicide was also closely associated with the inability to work within the studied population segment. Further, inability to would act as a stress factor resulting in higher rates of depression. The inability to work, as assessed in the study resulted both from economic reasons such as the inability to find work or physical reasons such as disabilities. Based on the research above, working in midlife helps in alleviating stress and resultant depression. Diminished stress and depression result in a lower morbidity in midlife, thus making working at midlife literary a matter of life and death.
Effects from a Pecuniary Perspective
The primary grounds for work in modern times is money and the availability of money is a fundamental bearing factor on life expectancy, more so in midlife and late-life. According to Chetty et al., (2016) money is among the reasons why working in midlife is a vital bearing factor on the quality of life and even ability to remain alive. The traditional work pattern involved beginning to work early in life, mostly in the late teenage . Working would then continue steadily through to midlife leading to retirement. The ability to retire was based on having worked hard and saved monies to spend in retirement. The professional world has, however, undergone exponential change. For most ordinary professionals, the first three decades of life are dominated by the academic study to attain professional-level education. The education process will more often than not leave the student in great debt creating a financial burden for another decade or so. By the time the modern professional completes study, midlife may already have begun. The payment of student loans will then continue, sometimes through to late-life (Thompson, 2017). Being able to work during midlife thus, determines the ability to make a living and also the kind of a lifestyle that the individual will lead on a pecuniary basis.
Working in Midlife Positively Affects Quality of Health and Abilities in Late-life
Undertaking self-improvement during midlife as a means of professional betterment improves the quality of health, life, and abilities to perform in late-life. From the perspective of lifespan psychology, human capacity is like a curve that reflects minimal performance at a young age which picks to a zenith in adulthood then begins to decline in midlife through to late-life. Many people, however, seek to improve the capacity and performance for professional reasons even late in life such as during their midlife and even after. A careful perusal of both Platts et al., (2015) and von Bonsdorff et al. (2016) reveals that the efforts to improve performance at work also affects ordinary live abilities through to the old age. For example, an executive who is seeking to be in peak performance in her 50s has a higher chance of being able to perform better in her 70s than another person whose only focus in her 50s is retirement. The fact that there are people who are still able to perform professionally in the 80s lies in part by the fact that they were working during their midlife and also seeking to improve their performance. Based on von Bonsdorff et al. (2016), a good performance in midlife is a major indicator of a good performance in late life.
Effects of Working during Midlife from the Perspective of Menopause
Midlife has a special connotation for women due to menopause, and available research shows that being active during menopause has generally positive effects in women. According to Stojanovska et al. (2014), menopause has physical and psychological changes that have the potential to exponentially reduce the quality of life. However, being physically and mentally active during this period can have a major impact on the quality of life in spite of the vagaries of undergoing menopause. According to the research carried out by Stojanovska et al. (2014), there is no evidence to show that exercise has an actual impact on the menopausal process but the activity itself has a psychological impact upon the individual. The impact includes reducing the stress associated with menopause thus increasing the quality of life. A person who is undergoing menopause while working stands a chance of having a better quality of life during the process compared to a person who is not working.
Effects of Working during Midlife on late-life Cognition
Working in midlife creates a higher chance of being able to live on into late-life, but the stresses of working in mid-life adversely affect cognition in late-life. According to Sindi et al. ( 2017), the stress that comes with working during midlife has a major adverse effect on cognition in late life making it a contributing factor to late-life cognitive impairment. Taking care of the elderly is a major social problem in America, more so when the elderly have cognitive impairments that cause them to need constant assistance. It is on this basis that research has been carried out to determine the causes of this impairment and how to mitigate it. The research reported by Sindi et al. (2017) indicates working at midlife as among the causes for cognitive problems in old age. Midlife is by itself a very stressful period in life and this stress is exacerbated by the ordinary stresses of work. The elevated level of stress emanating from this combination affects the cognitive abilities of the individual during the later segments of life. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that individuals who work late in their midlife have a higher chance of living on into late-life than those who do not.
Discussion and Conclusion
It is clear from the foregoing that working during midlife has generally positive effects in life, from a perspective of lifespan psychology in spite of the existence of some negative effects. For a start, working during midlife in the modern world is more of a necessity than a choice. The ability to work hard enough to retire around the age of 50 has been compromised by the advanced cost of education both in money and time. By the age of 50, which part of midlife, most professionals still need to work in order to earn a living or attain financial freedom. It is on this basis that inability to work has been closely associated with the element of midlife crisis such as substance abuse and suicide. Working in midlife also has the effects of slowing down the natural capacity graph enabling older people to be more productive and functional. People who work in midlife are capable of effectively working much later in the late-life than those who do not work in midlife. Similarly, women who are undergoing menopause, which happens in midlife have a better quality of life if they are working if work does not affect the process of menopause itself. However, some research has shown that work stress during midlife creates a higher propensity for cognitive problems in late-life. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that stress is a common factor in midlife. However, the positive effects of working in midlife clearly outdo any negative and adverse effects thereof.
References
Case , A., & Deaton, A. (2015). Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 112 (49), 15078-15083
Chetty, R., Stepner, M., Abraham, S., Lin, S., Scuderi, B., Turner, N., ... & Cutler, D. (2016). The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014. Jama , 315 (16), 1750-1766
Platts, L. G., Webb, E., Zins, M., Goldberg, M., & Netuveli, G. (2015). Mid-life occupational grade and quality of life following retirement: A 16-year follow-up of the French GAZEL study. Aging & Mental Health , 19 (7), 634-646
Psychology Today. (2018). Midlife. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/midlife
Sindi, S., Kåreholt, I., Solomon, A., Hooshmand, B., Soininen, H., & Kivipelto, M. (2017). Midlife work-related stress is associated with late-life cognition. Journal of Neurology , 264 (9), 1996-2002
Stojanovska, L., Apostolopoulos, V., Polman, R., & Borkoles, E. (2014). To exercise, or, not to exercise, during menopause and beyond. Maturitas , 77 (4), 318-323.
Thompson, M. (2017, September 03). Are you older than 60 and paying off student loans? Tell us your story. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/retired-paying-off-student-loans-tell-us-story
von Bonsdorff, M. E., Rantanen, T., Törmäkangas, T., Kulmala, J., Hinrichs, T., Seitsamo, J., ... & von Bonsdorff, M. B. (2016). Midlife work ability and mobility limitation in old age among non-disability and disability retirees-a prospective study. BMC Public Health , 16 , 154
