Introduction
During their lifespan, people experience different stages of development. This paper will move deeper in development during middle adulthood, outlining the major influences on similarities and differences of people in this stage of life. Generally, middle adulthood takes the age approximately from 40 to 65. Although the body of people starts showing some signs of aging, middle adulthood is considered as a peak of personal abilities and skills.
Physical, Cognitive, Emotional and Social Development
The main process that can characterize middle adulthood is the increased physical aging of people. People in middle adulthood can face more serious and life-threatening diseases, their hearing, vision, skin, reproductive systems experience fundamental changes (Berk, 2017). However, people in countries with a differentiated level of development fell themselves in a different way. For example, the study conducted with the data for 1986-2006 showed that 85% of Americans reflected about their health condition either “excellent” or “good” (Zajacova & Woo, 2016). In contrast, in some low developed African countries, life expectancy is lower than 60 (Worldometer, 2021).
As for cognitive development, Berk (2017) indicates that “adults who use their intellectual skills seem to maintain them longer” (p. 526). This use of intellectual skills is not always related to intellectually demanding jobs because people can have leisure occupations like reading or playing intellectual games. These activities make people’s brain to be active through more time.
Emotional and social development also have some similarities and differences between people. While interviewing two respondents of age from 40 to 65, there were made some assumptions about the essence of such variations and commonalities. The major observation is that people in middle adulthood become quite conservative in their views, trying not to strikingly change their worldview. It is a quite applicable empirical trait to Valiant’s theory of adaptation of life. Berk (2017) explains Valiant’s ideas underscoring that “in societies around the world, older people are guardians of traditions, laws, and cultural values” (p. 542). Nevertheless, my respondents did not feel any “midlife crisis” anymore in their age, which many people in middle adulthood have. The main reason was that they have already overcome these difficulties in their early 40s, so in middle adulthood, they found a firm meaning in life in their family and cultural activities.
Influences Affecting Similarities and Differences
The similarities and differences between people could be explained through different lenses and perspectives. In other words, development is multidimensional because it is influenced by biological, environmental, cultural, social, and psychological forces (Berk, 2017). First of all, biological influences are fundamental for the explaining of differentiation. It is evident that there are some biological reasons that can explain why some people in middle adulthood feel better than some other people. For example, there can be the situation when two identical males who live in the same town and buy similar food in the same supermarket can feel strikingly different in their late 40s.
Experts call such phenomenon primary aging, which is determined by biological, genetically influenced factors (Berk, 2017). This influence is limited only to individuals’ health conditions, which could not be explained by environmental or other factors.
Environmental influence presents the other side of influence affecting people’s development in their middle adulthood. Scientists refer to such influence as secondary aging, distinguishing it from biological one. Differential susceptibility theory explains that people in middle adulthood are more sensitive to the environmental factors surrounding them (Kawamoto, 2019). More precisely, environmental factors impose different impacts on individuals with distinctive characteristics.
For example, the climate of Russian Siberia impacts differently on people. While the native residents of Siberia have adapted to such severe conditions, people in their middle adulthood who moved there will definitely experience serious health and mental disorders. It also results in different life expectancies, so people in their 60s can feel differently about their health conditions in various environments.
Cultural influences presumably have an impact on the social and emotional development of middle-aged people. The way how people reflect on their health is different worldwide. The relevant explanation is the various cultural codes that form the perception of diseases, aging problems, and so forth. Berk (2017) explains this phenomenon in the example of menopause, which is a characteristic process in middle adulthood, and women’s response to it. For example, in cultures where aged women are respected and have new roles and responsibilities in their new life period (caring for grandchildren) rarely complain about menopausal symptoms (Berk, 2017).
This cultural understanding is prevalent in Asian cultures; in Japan, women do not think about menopause as an important signal of aging. Another example is Yucatán Mayan women, who marry and can already have children much earlier than in other countries (Berk, 2017). They perceive aging as happy news because they will be freed from the obligation of childbearing. This broad example of menopause highlights the importance to value the cultural influence on similarities and differences of people.
Besides the biological, environmental, and cultural influences, there are many important factors that have an effect on people in middle adulthood. People in their 45-65 do not have many opportunities to change their occupation, so the economic influence is also crucial. Rich people will have much more ways to improve their health conditions than poor people. Also, there are quite complicated psychological influences that could be explained in Freudian terms. All in all, students of human development should have a firm understanding of the multidimensionality of factors affecting it.
Conclusion
Middle adulthood is a border stage that encompasses characteristics of early and late adulthood. People in their 45-65 sometimes feel “free like a youngster again” but they already have the set of obligations and foundations that make them more conservative in their decisions. The main observation is that almost all people in their middle adulthood are extremely different. Such variations are determined by various influences, from biological to cultural.
References
Berk, L. E. (2017). Development through the lifespan (7th edition). Pearson Education. Web.
Kawamoto, T. (2019). Personality change in middle adulthood: With focus on differential susceptibility. The Journal of psychology, 153(8), 860-879. Web.
Worldometer. (2021). Life expectancy of the world population. Web.
Zajacova, A., & Woo, H. (2016). Examination of age variations in the predictive validity of self-rated health. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71(3), 551-557. Web.