Development through Adulthood

Oliver Robinson

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781352009590
• eBook ISBN: 9781350312272
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Now updated for its second edition, this illuminating textbook explores the developmental stages and changes during adulthood that define some of the most pivotal years of our lives. Relationships, cognitive ageing, parenthood, personality shifts, life crises, fulfilment, funerals, friendships, retirement, and death – all are presented in light of psychological theory and the latest research. Taking a thematic approach, the chapters cover interdependent areas of our cognitive, psychological, social, cultural and moral lives that constitute this fascinating area in psychology. Providing an empirical analysis, Robinson considers models for understanding behaviour and development, methods of collecting data and study design. Academically rigorous and elegantly written, Development through Adulthood is the perfect guide to classic and current research in the field. It is essential reading for students studying adult or lifespan development, gerontology and the psychology of ageing. It will also appeal to those studying an applied social science, and anyone interested in fully understanding adulthood and ageing. New to this Edition:
- Spotlights on landmark studies, fully updated to cover the latest key research in each subject area
- Increased focus on gender issues
- Real-world applications boxes updated with current and relevant examples of important intervention strategies

1	ADULT DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTS, HISTORY AND PARADIGMS

During a research interview, I asked Joe, age 68, whether he thought he had developed since he had become an adult. He recalled that in his early thirties he became more mature and responsible than he was as a younger man, particularly after the birth of his first child. He then said that his career seniority and income peaked in his fifties, a time when he was most recognised by others as being a ‘success’ and a ‘man of influence’. He felt that his memory had declined slightly over the past few years, but he reckoned he was quicker at solving crosswords than he had ever been. Finally, he reflected that now, in his late sixties, he was much happier and at peace with the world than he was earlier in life. Retirement from full-time work had helped this, as his job had involved a lot of pressure and reputation management. Joe reflected that he thought all these changes were important developments that had occurred in his adult life.

Adulthood and development are two words that appear at first glance to be simple enough to define. Both are, in fact, surprisingly difficult to pin down. Given that this whole book hangs on their meanings, I start with a reconnaissance and critical evaluation of their varying definitions. This is followed by a brief history of adult development theory and research and then an overview of the biopsychosocial approach to studying development. Once all that is covered, we will have the basic foundations in place and so can move onto research methods used in adult development – the topic of Chapter 2.

Ways of defining adulthood

The legal definition of adulthood

Being an adult has a defined legal meaning. The law views an adult as a person who, by the fact of reaching a certain age, is able to make informed, autonomous decisions about what they do or refrain from doing. They are therefore seen to be legally accountable for those actions. The ‘age of majority’ is the official term for the age at which a person legally enters adulthood. Those who are below this age are correspondingly referred to as ‘minors’. In most of the world’s nations, the age of majority is 18. When a young person has reached the age of majority, parents are no longer legally responsible for them or held accountable for their actions.

Table 1.1Minimum legal ages for sexual consent, cigarette purchase, alcohol purchase, driving a car, joining the army, marrying without parental consent, casino entry, and voting

Adult-limited activity	UK age limit	USA age limit
Having sex	16	16-18 (varies by state)
Purchasing cigarettes	18	18
Purchasing alcoho	18	21
Gaining a driving licence	17	16
Joining the army	18	17 (with parental consent) 1 8 (no parental consent)
Marriage with parenta consent	16	15-16 (varies by state)
Marriage without parenta	18	18 (except Nebraska – 19 and
consent	(except Scotland – 16)	Mississippi – 21)
Entering a casino	18	18-21 (varies by state)
Getting a loan from a bank	18	18
Getting a tattoo	18	16–18 (varies by state)
Voting in elections	18	18

The age of majority does not necessarily correspond to the legal age at which a person may engage in specific activities that are prohibited to children and permitted to adults, such as getting married, having sexual intercourse, purchasing and consuming alcohol, gambling, and driving a car. The ages at which these activities are permitted tend to cluster within a few years of the age of majority, as they are all considered to be dependent on adult responsibility and informed decision-making. Table 1.1 shows age limits for the UK and USA on a variety of child-prohibited activities. As you can see, all occur within the age range of 16 to 21, a period that is often referred to as the transition to adulthood (Levinson, 1986).

In the eyes of the law, children are considered to lack the capacity to imagine the future implications of their actions for themselves and others and therefore to know whether their actions may or may not lead to harm. An adult, by contrast, is considered capable of understanding the long-term outcomes and implications of their actions and therefore of being able to make informed decisions about which course of action to pursue. This means that they can avoid actions that might lead to harming themselves or others in the future. Correspondingly, activities that are restricted to minors but permitted to adults include those that have the potential for harm (such as smoking, having sex, gambling, driving, and drinking alcohol) or very long-term implications (such as getting married or getting a tattoo). Contractually binding obligations such as loans are also restricted to adults, as entering such contracts in an informed way entails an ability to foresee long-term outcomes and this foresight is viewed to be an adult capacity. Voting in political elections is also legally restricted to adults because of the assumption that children are not well placed to select between voting alternatives in a free and informed manner.

In summary, the legal definition of an adult is an autonomous citizen who has reached the age of majority and therefore can make informed decisions for themselves, be held responsible for those decisions, and participate in the contractual obligations of society.

In what circumstances are adult rights and responsibilities lost?

The only conditions under which the adult permissible activities in Table 1.1 are sometimes revoked are if a person (a) has been found guilty of committing a crime and placed in prison, (b) has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, or (c) has dementia or age-related cognitive decline that disrupts their capacity for safe actions or informed consensual decisions.

In relation to prisoners, the extent to which they have adult rights is variable across activity and culture. For example, with regard to voting, the UK does not allow prisoners to vote, but in countries such as Spain, Sweden and Finland, all prisoners get to vote. In Germany, prisoners lose their vote only if their crime is against the state or against the democratic order (e.g., terrorist crimes).

In relation to dementia and cognitive decline, some elderly adults who experience severe cognitive degeneration or get advanced dementia can sadly no longer be treated as possessing adult rights and responsibilities. For example, if an elderly adult is judged to be no longer able to drive safely, they will have their licence revoked. In relation to the informed consensual decision-making that is a key capability of the adult mind, this is often judged to be lost in cases of dementia or cognitive decline, and other people, typically family members, must start to make decisions for them akin to the way that parents make decisions for their young children. Furthermore, if elderly adults become unable to wash or cook (or both), their living environment must be changed or tailored to ensure that they have access to food and care facilities. If they lose short-term memory as occurs in Alzheimer’s disease, their residence may need to be locked so they don’t get lost or into danger. So, for some, the journey of adulthood ends rather ignominiously in a return to a situation that resembles childhood. This condition of elderly dependency is becoming more common because of the increase in life expectancy over the past century – a fact that I discuss further in Chapter 6.

Personal and social definitions of adulthood

A person is legally an adult when they reach the age of majority, but they might not actually view themselves as an adult at age 18 and others might not either. Research has found that when young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are asked whether they consider themselves to be an adult, the most common answer is ‘in some respects yes, but in some respects no’ (Arnett, 1998). This finding alludes to the fact that adults in modern countries go through a stage of life during which they are legally considered to be an adult but are not yet occupying productive adult roles. Arnett (2000) refers to this in-between phase as emerging adulthood, which spans the period of life from the end of adolescence into the mid-twenties. It has some similarities to adolescence, insofar as it is an exploratory and non-committal period for many, but it is different because the young person has more independence from parents and has adult rights such as being able to drive. When asked about what it means to be an adult, individuals in the emerging adulthood phase mention various things that they have not yet acquired (Arnett, 2000; Lanz & Tagliabue, 2007; Lopez et al., 2005). These include the achievement of financial independence from parents, leaving education and gaining stable employment, a strong sense of personal responsibility, moving out of the parental home, marriage and parenthood. These markers of adulthood are rarely reached by the age of 18 and are typically achieved after the age of 25 (Arnett, 1998, 2006a). For a selection of individual quotes from emerging adults on what it means to be an adult, see Box 1.1.

Box 1.1 Individual Voices

Personal meanings of being an adult

Lopez et al., (2005) interviewed 18 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 about their views on what it means to be an adult and what signifies entry to adulthood and collated their responses into common themes. Example quotes from the young people they spoke to are given next.

Responsibility

‘I guess the biggest word that I relate with adulthood is responsibility … I think being an adult means that, that you’ve learned your lessons and you’re able to take care of yourself’ (p. 17).

Independence from parents

‘I’m at a point in my life where I’m tired of them [parents] helping me because I wanta be independent and I think that’s another part of being an adult, being independent. Not to say you’re gonna carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but, you know, you’re more prone as a child to ask your parents for something than you are as an adult’ (p. 18).

Entry into workforce and career stability

‘I feel like my career is the most important right now just because that’s gonna probably lead the direction that my life is gonna go in. So I wanta make sure that I have a good career choice and that, you know, I’m happy with what I’m doing. If I’m not happy with my future job, then I probably won’t be too happy with other aspects of my life’ (p. 16).

Having and taking care of a family

‘When I got married, that was one, and then when both my kids were born, that’s when it really set in, where I can’t do anything … nothing I do is for myself anymore. You gotta think about others. You can’t just go off and do what you wanta do, like I used to’ (p. 17).

Personal definitions of adulthood such as those in Box 1.1 are shaped by social norms and these differ by ethnic group. For example, one study found that Latino parents of Los Angeles college students defined adulthood by event-related markers, including marriage and getting a job, whereas white parents defined adulthood more by financial and personal independence (Saetermoe, Beneli & Busch, 1999). Arnett and Galambos (2003) report that being in a committed long-term relationship is a signifier of adulthood for some ethnicities and nationalities more than others; 71 per cent of Argentines, 55 per cent of Israelis, 28 per cent of African-Americans and 14 per cent of white Americans see it as a mark of entry into adulthood. In some cultures that are defined by conflict, the transition to adulthood may involve rites of passage that relate to participation in the conflict. For example, Peteet (1994) has researched perceptions of rites of passage into adulthood among Palestinian men and these are described in Box 1.2.

Box 1.2 Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Markers of adulthood for Palestinian men

Peteet’s account of the transition to adulthood in Palestine is a reminder of how important gender is to the adult transition in many countries and also how rites of passage can be forged from adverse circumstances...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Adult development: Concepts, history and paradigms
• 2. Research methods in adult development
• 3. Cognitive development
• 4. Emotional development
• 5. Motivational development
• 6. Psychosocial life stages, transitions and crises
• 7. Personality and ego development
• 8. Moral development
• 9. Wisdom
• 10. Spirituality and religiosity
• 11. Mental disorder, age and adult life events
• 12. Social developments in adulthood
• 13. Career development and retirement
• 14. Dying and bereavement
• Glossary
• References
• Index