In this paper, I will discuss the adult experiences of three adults during middle adulthood. I will reflect on how everyone has experienced generativity and found meaningfulness in his or her life. I will also discuss my parent’s experience during middle age. I will conclude using Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development as a theoretical framework and describe how my activities and priorities are likely to change over the course of the next 20 to 30 years.
Communion
In the video, the first interviewee describes the importance of communion in her lifespan, this can be described as demonstrating the care and concern for others. As she spoke in the video, she mentioned as she entered middle adulthood, that her main importance in her life was her children, family, and their well-being. She made it a priority that they would have anything and everything that is essential to have a joyful and dynamic life. She had a background as a nurse, which contributed to her joy of caring for others. According to Broderick and Blewitt, characteristics such as kind, caring, sensitive to others, compassionate, and nurturing apply to the type of person the women in the video (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). According to the text, behaviors relating to being generous, donating, and contributing are characteristics of communion which are characteristics of women.
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Three Adaptive Processes
In the second video, the man demonstrates a comparative increase in maintenance and variation of loss and the relative reduction in development as adaptive processes across the lifespan. During his interview, this person displayed the three adaptive processes that have been recognized and acknowledged by many lifespan theorists. He speaks about how he and his wife felt depressed and lonesome when their children grew up and went on their own.
One of the adaptions is growth, according to Broderick and Blewitt, growth is a way of adding new qualities, insights, abilities, and so on to our developmental range (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). One example of growth demonstrated by the interviewee was the quality time spent with his wife that they did not have time for before. The couple can give their marriage the nurture it was lacking. According to Broderick and Blewitt, maintenance is another process, which discovers approaches to resume operating at the same level of handling tasks (Broderick and Blewitt, 2020). The regulation of loss is a process in which a person understands the loss of what once was, discovers a way to accept it, and develops a new way of operating (Broderick and Blewitt, 2020). But as time progressed, they became accustomed to them being gone. According to Broderick and Blewitt, this is a delightful change in their lives (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).
Feelings of Generativity
The woman in the last video displayed feelings of generative. Generative adults tend to combine commonly agency and communion in the fears that they express and in their professional behaviors. The third interviewee displays her emotions of generativity by continuing to coach field hockey and tennis within her neighborhood. She also stays active spending time with her family. According to Broderick and Blewitt, she is quite the epitome of generativity, or attentiveness and concern for others shown through productivity (Broderick and Blewitt, 2020). Although she battled with health issues, she is still committed to remaining active in her private life. This is an example of how generativity can be passed on through middle adulthood.
Experience During Middle Age
As I spoke to my mom about her middle adulthood, I found the information to be interesting. I believe that Mom demonstrates the adaptive process. She has come to a period in her life where she no longer must care for her children and grandchildren. Her new journey has her caring for herself and paying attention to herself. She still finds herself running to her grandsons when they call. I think this reflects a way for her to be needed.
Some of the questions that I have would be how segregation impacted her life personally. According to Broderick and Blewitt, specific historical experiences can affect how an individual grows (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). My mother grew up during segregation, she always told him that although we are Hispanic, she was not allowed to drink water from the same water fountain. I think this experience has caused her to not trust other races because of the fear of being judged. Another question I may ask would be regarding physical changes occurring in middle adulthood, that influenced her decisions. My mother lost her mother at a young age and I often wonder if this is the reason why she tries to take care of herself and maintain her health. According to Broderick and Blewitt, it is noted that in middle adulthood numerous have great health, and there are those who begin to suffer from chronic health issues that may establish obstacles to experience activities (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).
Changes Over the Coming Years
As I think of the next twenty to thirty years, my first thoughts are to think that I will have grandchildren. It is difficult for me to believe that I can have grandchildren, I still look at my children and cannot believe how quickly they have grown up. I believe that I identify with the Stagnation faze, which is defined in the text as an adult who desires to contribute to the following generation, to produce, mentor, and create something of long-lasting worth, as in the education of children or community services or expert work (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).
At the age of 15, I met my husband in high school, by the age of 19, I was married to my husband. According to Broderick and Blewitt, it states that Erickson stages an individual to commit to relationships, generating shared uniqueness, in young adulthood, they should be making professional choices and targets for adulthood during their teens and twenties (Broderick and Blewitt, 2020). During the developmental stages, I began to have a family and prioritized taking care of my children. As I grew older into middle adulthood, I found myself establishing a career. As a school counselor, I hope that I can be an inspiration to children in counseling and, I hope that I can make a lasting impact on my student’s lives.
References
- Broderick, P. C., Blewitt, P. The Life Span. [Yuzu]. Retrieved from https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9780135206171/
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