Social Development of Late Adulthood Essay

In this paper I will be looking at ageism and stereotypes that associated with late adulthood, evaluating how people in late adulthood can promote health and wellness to help prevent the negative effects of aging. I will also be analyzing the importance of relationships and social interactions towards the end of a person’s life and identifying the cultural and personal attitudes about death and dignity in late adulthood.

Early to Middle Adulthood covers a vast age group. This age group is from 18 years of age to 65 and more. There are many changes that an individual will experience while at the beginning of this age groups and transcending through till the end. The most obvious of these changes can be recognized by appearance, being the physical change. However, there are far more changes that happen, from a cognitive thought process change to a self-internalized realization of perspective roles that an individual chooses to take on for themselves. These changes have very distinct characteristics that define each phase of life.

the most part. These years in a persons life have often been referred to as emerging adulthood.

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:

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

Aging is a natural occurrence in a human being life. As human’s age and transition into adulthood little attention is given to retirement, rather individuals focus on individual decisions, such as going to college, starting a family, buying a home and other individual choices. Often times, as individuals age so do their social roles and identities, for instance a student, sister, daughter, wife, and mother. Hence, in society there is an age norm in which a society assigns roles and division of labor based on age. Thus, a key component to age norms is timing an appropriate age to marry, have a child and retirement. Furthermore, specifically aging women engage in the social clock that orders major events like marriage, having children

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

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.

Rogers, A. T. (2010). Human behavior in the social environment (2nd ed.). New York, NY

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.

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.

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]).

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.

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.

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