Describe the common understanding of midlife crisis. What is Schaie’s description of crisis and what factors are necessary for a life change to be considered a crisis?
Midlife crisis is a concept that is a stereotype of the middle adulthood years. Middle adulthood is ranged from 40-60 years old. Midlife crisis is mainly associated with the sense of impending loss of health and vigour, of professional status, of the parental role, of life itself. For example, parents who have “empty nest” stage of life may feel lonely when their children are no longer living with them (Sugarman, 2001). In earlier time, there were several theories of development in early and middle adulthood (e.g. Erikson, Levinson), including evidence for the presence of crises and transitions. According to the Erikson’s eight stages theory of psychosocial development, maturity stage (aged 30-65) is the crisis stage of generativity versus stagnation. This stage is about whether the individual has generating something that the individual care about in his or her life. Later on, Levinson refined the stages around midlife by suggested that lifespan is made up by life seasons (Sugarman, 2001). Levinson (1977) conducted a biographical study of 40 males in the "mid-life decade" (age 35-45). 80% of the subject faced midlife crisis where they questioned almost every aspect of their lives.
Schaie’s work focused mainly on the study of cognitive functioning from young adulthood to old age by the ongoing Seattle Longitudinal Study (http://geron.psu.edu/sls) since 1959. In the study, he placed health, demographic, personality, and environmental factors that have impacted on the individual differences in successful cognitive aging. Perhaps, these variables are determining factors that may linked to negative events like midlife crisis. Schaie had conducted a list of research based on the data of Seattle Longitudinal Study.
For example, Bosworth and Schaie (1997) supported association between social relationships and heath outcome and service utilization in adulthood (mean age = 58). For unmarried individuals, increased age was associated with greater medical usage and estimated total health care cost; while lower levels of perceived social environment were correlated to a higher numbers of hospital visits. Thus, supportive social environment and broad social networks are helpful to the adult’s health, which would possibly to reduce the midlife crisis.
Bosworth, Schaie, and Willis (1999) examined the relationship between cognitive function and the survival rate for sample of survivors and individuals who subsequently died. Level of cognitive function was found to be associated with subsequent mortality; including crystallized abilities, visualization abilities, verbal memory, and perceptual speed. Individuals in the highest 25th percentile of performance in various factors (e.g. verbal memory) had a lower risk for mortality compared to individuals in the lowest 25th percentile. Overall, mortality rate tend to be ability specific rather than age-related.
Schaie' longitudinal studies have shown that there is no uniform pattern of age-related changes across all intellectual abilities (Schaie, 2005). In terms of job performance, Schaie (2000) stated that there is no correlation between industrial productivity and chronological age. Thus, midlife crisis is less likely to occur too. Schaie also suggested that positive self-concept is important in adulthood. Successful aging is enhancing in midlife by learning methods for stress reduction and developing techniques for coping with change, and maintaining adequate social support from others.
In short, changes in midlife may often be as a turning point rather than crisis. This is supported by Shek (2006) where only some respondents were dissatisfied with their work and personal achievement but majority did not experience to the extent of midlife crisis.
References:
Bosworth, H. B., & Schaie, K. W. (1997). The relationship of social environment, social networks, and health outcomes in the settle longitudinal study: Two analytical approaches. Journals of Gerontology, 52, 197-205.
Bosworth, H. B., Schaie, K. W., & Willis, S. L. (1999). Cognitive and sociodemographic risk factors for mortality in the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Journals of Gerontology, 54, 273-282.Levinson, D. J. (1977). The mid-life transition: A period in adult psychosocial development. Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes. 40, 99-112.
Schaie, K.W. (2000). How does maintenance of intellectual competence contribute to quality of life and successful aging? In K. Manger (Ed.), [Jena University lectures] (Vol. 9, pp. 21-40). Jena, Germany: Hausdruckerei der FSU Jena [Friedrich Schiller-University Press].Schaie, K. W. (2005). Observations from The Seattle Longitudinal Study of adult intelligence. John Hopkins Memory Bulletin, January 28, 23-30.
Shek, D.T.L. (1996). Mid-life Crisis in Chinese Men and Women. Journal of Psychology, 130, 109-119.Sugarman, L. (2001). Life-spam development; Frameworks, accounts and strategies. (2nd ed.). New York: Psychology Press.
