The Social Development in Late Adulthood
LaTricia R. Scott
BHS 325
May 20, 2013
Jane Winslow, MA, LMFT
Social Development in Late Adulthood 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
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Menopause happens due to the decrease of estrogen in the female body which then leads to the
Marriage, Family, and Peer Relationships
Social Policies
Conclusion In middle adulthood there are many changes that occur physically, psychologically, and socially as explained in the above passages. Yet, some say that this is the best time of their life, they experience enhanced self-confidence, great sex lives, career success, and enhanced brain functions. Middle age adults are better equipped to make better life choices and decisions and not worry so much about the negative parts of life. Their problem solving skills are greater which allows them to reason more creatively. They are able to enjoy sex freely without the worries of getting pregnant and they feel more confident with their partners. In general they are happier about life and look forward to enjoying the rest of their lives.
References Dale, O., Smith, R., Norlin, J. M., & Chess, W. A. (2009). Human behavior and the social indent second line of references please environment: Social systems theory (6th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Drury, K.(2009) 12 Steps of Middle Adulthood. Welcome to Middle Age. Retrieved from http://www.drurywriting.com/keith/development.middle.age.htm
Zastrow C. H. & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (8th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole
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References
Duncan, R. (2010) Education.Com: Family
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.siu/10.1037/a0018847 Hutchinson, E.D. et al. (2011). Dimensions of human behavior (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
“Though the age boundaries are not set in stone, we will consider middle adulthood as the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). I interviewed two individuals for this paper. Each person was asked the same fifteen questions (Appendix). I interviewed a male and a female who fell in the midrange of middle adulthood.
There is a fundamental human need to belong to social groups especially if people were to live and work together, it is likely that they need to agree on common beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours in order to get along and fit-in. Thus, we learnt to conform to rules of other people, the more people see others behaving in a particular way or making particular decisions, the more likely people will feel obliged to follow the suit. This is called conformity and can be defined in different ways, Aronson, Wilson & Akert (2014) stated it is the changing of one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. According to Deutsch and Gerard (1955), social influence should be distinguished into two types, the informational social influence and normative social influence. The occurrence of social influence has implied to many real life events, which has drawn many researchers to attention. This has lead many researchers to design distinct experiments to try and understand the cause of the conformity, whether conformity is situation dependent, and whether we are able to resist social influences.
Van Wormer, K., & Besthorn, F. H. (2011). Theoretical Perspectives. In (Ed.), Human Behavior and The Social Environment (Second Edition ed., p. 15). New York: Oxford University
During middle adulthood biological and physical changes become apparent. During this time visual perception, hearing and the reproductive system
Informational Social Influence this theory consists of the need to analyze different the information and different points of view. When a person is found in an unknown environment, without sufficient information about it. That person will look at other people’s behavior to know what the social norm is and will then behave in a similar way. People need information about their environment to feel comfortable.
According to the Pew Research (2017), “After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children. The likelihood of living alone has grown since 1990 for older men and for women ages 85 and up.
Late adulthood is known as the period of life after middle adulthood, usually from around 65 years old to death (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). There are many varying stages of development and health in late adulthood, along with steady changing of life expectancy. Aging is a part of life, and with it comes changes in every area of living. Many diseases find late adulthood as an opportune time to affect people. Eventually, whether caused by disease or another reason, every individual dies. Death is unique to every person, and healthcare in America is changing to reflect that. This stage of life is a time when bodily processes and functions may be decreasing, but depending on lifestyle choices, death can come at different times.
Rogers, A. T. (2010). Human behavior in the social environment (2nd ed.). New York, NY
Social aging is referring to the changes in individual’s roles and relationship in the society as they age. There are many different theories concerning sociological aging. Social theories on aging examine the relationship between individual experiences and social institutions e.g., aging and retirement; aging and institutional care; aging and government policy etc (Barkan 2012). All have limitations, and some can be considered more than others when attempting to understand social changes in aging. Also individuals move through life surrounded by social support system. Some theories of aging such as, role theory, activity theory, modernization, etc. consist of different ways older adults transition through life such as, networks of relatives, friends, and organization that help provide emotional support and help in managing activities in daily living.
Chapter 12 social psychology cover how we affect one another’s behaviors. Culture, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination attitude, and interpersonal attraction are all factors that contribute to behavior in a social setting. Understanding how we influence one another on a social level forces us to look at not only ourselves, but also look at how others affect the world we live in and why it is important to be able to identify these influences and the impact they have on our behaviors good or bad
In an unfamiliar situation, a person is likely to shape their behavior to match that of others (Wang, Zimbardo, 2006, [Online]). The actions of others inform the person of the customs and accepted practices in a situation. Others inform us of what is right to do, and how to behave in new situations. In addition to conforming to the group standards due to lack of knowledge, we also conform when we want to be liked by the group. Another reason for conforming is the desire to accomplish group goals (Lumbert, 2015, [Online]).
The purpose of this essay is to outline and evaluate at least three psychological perspectives of human behaviour. The three approaches that will be summarised are humanistic, social learning theory and the Biological approach. They will also be criticised and compared to one another. A brief description on psychology will occur, and there will also be a short summarisation on some key early influences of psychology, from its origins in philosophy.
Zatrow, C. &.-A. (210). Understanding human behavior and social enviornment (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Human behaviour is the response to given stimuli, which are socially and environmentally affected. This response is something that can easily be influenced and shaped through many personal, situational, social, biological, mental factors. In this essay the case of social norms influencing human behaviour will be analyzed using previous studies. Social norms are part of a larger influential scale generally named as social influence. Social influence is the exercise of power that an individual or a group can use on other individuals or society in order to alter their attitudes, behaviours and lead them to a desired