Late Adulthood is a time in people’s lives when they come to terms with their lives and reevaluate what they have done or accomplished in the lieu of what they still would like to accomplish for the remainder of their lives. During this stage of life adults around the ages of 65 begin to experience a variety of changes in their physical appearance and a decline in their health. The process of aging in an individual occurs at different speeds and during this stage older adults are being treated as second-class citizens especially by younger adults. The skin begins to wrinkle at an
Successful aging is a complicated and multifaceted concept that varies contextually among individuals, disciplines, and even time. Gerontologists have traditionally considered a person to have aged successfully upon having reached old age with their physical health, mental well-being and spirit still intact. Ultimately, successful aging is a matter of personal perspective, largely influenced by an individual 's values and experiences. Even those within America 's elderly population hold conflicting perspectives on what it means to have aged successfully. A qualitative study published by Reichstadt and Sengupta titled Older Adults ' Perspectives on Successful Aging, concluded that “older adults viewed successful aging as a balance between self-acceptance and self-contentedness on one hand and engagement with life and self-growth in later life on the other” (Reichstadt, "Older Adults ' Perspectives on Successful Aging: Qualitative Interviews", pp. 567-575.)
The skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well
Although one may think with maturity come freedoms the responsibilities of adult life can be limiting and have adverse effects on life.
The journey through late adulthood can be experienced in different ways. One particular movie entitled “The Bucket List” exhibits an astounding portrayal of late adulthood. In fact, there are many accounts that the movie entails about late-adulthood. This includes the illustration of Erickson’s late adulthood stage – “Ego Integrity vs. Despair,” wisdom, marriage, friendship, parent-child relationship, and death and dying in late adulthood.
There are five key features that characterize emerging adulthood. The first s identity exploration. The second is “Instability.” For many the instability is a result of residential changes such as living in a dorm. There is also instability in friendships, romantic relationships, academia, and work. Emerging adults have few obligations, responsibilities, and commitments. Because they have so much autonomy in controlling their own lives the third key feature is “Self-Focused.” One of the most difficult
Integrity. To me, integrity is being honest to others and to yourself. It’s to have moral uprights. It’s the state of being whole. It’s a word used to describe someone’s level of honesty. No one is gets integrity once they are born. It is developed by good influences actions. Having integrity is doing the right thing is a trustful way. Someone who has integrity means they have a moral compass that leads them in the right direction. They follow their moral judgements and do good things under all circumstances, even if no one pays attention. They would do nothing that dishonors themselves.
Human development is a process that starts right from childhood to adulthood. Individuals’ success and life satisfaction depends on what they develop in the society from their childhood period. This is a topic that has always drawn the attention of many scholars and theorists who try to explain what development entails through various stages of life. This paper provides an analysis of various relevant theories and research that focus on the developmental changes that take place in early, middle, and late adulthood. It focuses on Schaie’s stage of achieving, and Erikson’s theory on intimacy, generativity, and identity development. It also explores life satisfaction in middle adulthood, and lastly, the common illnesses of the elderly.
Late adulthood is a time many people tend to suppress in their minds. Late adulthood is often considered a time of physical and mental decline, but in reality for many older adults it is a time of mental and spiritual growth. During late adulthood, people tend to start reflecting on their lives and what is really important. During younger ages, people tend to focus on things that may not matter in the future, and spend time worrying about things that are unimportant. Through interviewing older adults, younger people can learn several important life lessons and begin to appreciate the things that really matter in life.
Once an adult reaches retirement, they begin to slow down, if they have not already, and reflect upon a long life lived. They are at the mercy of many decades worth of memories, some good and some bad. The elder will feel a sense of wellbeing if they are satisfied with their life. This satisfaction roots itself in accomplishment. Humans usually want to undertake many things in their lives. Some are able to attain these and others are not. Those that do achieve their goals are filled with a sense of gratification. Arlene Handler says that Erikson calls this “integrity” (The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson, 2002 (revised 2009)). This also allows for a quiet acceptance of death. People who accept death as inevitable do so with grace and ease. They look at their life and see an adventure with hills and valleys, but valleys that they were able to climb out of with might and determination. Erikson thought this to be remarkable and was amazed by elderly people’s resiliency. He found that the strength at this stage was wisdom and that all the experiences
The stage that follows early adulthood is known as middle adulthood where people are generally caught between being productive and being stagnant. This stage reflects the need to create a living legacy: they would either need to feel they have become an important figure for the next generation to follow or they would develop a sense of purposelessness which is generally known as a “mid-life crisis”. This crisis can be solved by having the adults care and nurture children or help the fore-coming generation in other ways or means, however if the crisis remains the person would persist in random non-age-appropriate behavior as well as a continued feeling in stagnation. During this stage adults lose some of their physical aspects as their muscular strength, ability and agility weakens. Women will go through a menopausal
Happiness usually is derived from feelings of independence, competence, self-esteem, or relating well to other people (Sheldon et al., 2001). One aspect of adulthood that still remains the same, despite generational changes, is the development and maintenance of relationships. Erik Erikson spoke of young adulthood as the “Intimacy-Versus-Isolation Stage.” During this period, the focus is on developing close, intimate relationships
Finally, Millennials filter their world through the lens of trust. Due to their existence online, Millennials have developed keen instincts for integrity. A young college student described it as “a radar that can spot a sale’s pitch a mile away” (M. Newaye, M., personal communication, October 25, 2017). The level to which Millennials feel comfort for openness and honesty depends upon the level of integrity and competency the sense in the church and its leadership (Waters, & Bortree, 2012, p. 203). Integrity, the belief that people will be fair and just, serves as the foundational any leader’s influence in the lives of others. Maxwell and Dornan (1997) describe this as “essential for anyone who desires to become a person of influence” (p.
There are numerous ways to define successful aging. The word “aging” usually has a negative connotation. However, when putting the word success behind it introduces positive aspects that can essentially promote a long-term developmental outcome for an individual. Happening around midlife and late adulthood, successful aging is simply when an individual has complete development and maintenance of control throughout life, has achieved in the selection of goals and purposes, as well as maximization of gains and compensations of failure. This is the complete and ultimate goal for those in their late adulthood and is quite fascinating to developmental scientist. Those who engross themselves with attempting to achieve a successful aging will most likely have characteristics which in turn encourage and advocate for things such as health, growth, and vitality, maintaining social encounters and productive activities, and lastly maintaining high physical and cognitive functioning. Two developmental scientist, Vaillant & Mukamal, have discovered the factors that predict satisfaction of life are those an individual is able to control. These factors include are health habits, marital stability, years of education, and coping strategies. On the other hand those factors that are out of an individual 's control can not predict the level of happiness or satisfaction with life. These include the length of life of a family member, early health status, parental SES, and family warmth in
We are presented with choices every day. Many are easy to make and cause very little stress, but some choices can be extremely difficult and have significant consequences. The difference between making the right choice or the wrong one is often determined be a persons character, which is based upon the qualities of integrity, responsibility, and honesty. Gaining an understanding of these three character traits and how to build them is critical to creating a lifetime of positive outcomes.