CHAPTER 4
From Birth to Death: Life-Span Development
Theme: Development over a lifetime reflects a delicate balance between stability and change.
Preview
The Story of a Lifetime
Everyone is born. Everyone will die. This is the short summary of a life. Although it’s accurate, the story certainly leaves out a lot, doesn’t it? How might we develop a fuller picture of what happens during a lifetime?
Perhaps we could begin by studying interesting lives. For example, what do Jennifer Lopez, Michael Jordan, Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates,Whoopi Goldberg, John Glenn,Maya Angelou, and Amy Tan have in common? Of course, they’ve all been uncommonly successful. Yet beyond that, their lives appear to be quite different. However, if we consider many people and look beyond surface differences, all lives follow at least some general patterns. Why should this be so? What do you and I have in common with Michael Jordan or Jennifer Lopez? The answer is that we all face similar challenges in growing up, becoming an adult, and aging. Also, we are all affected by the same universal principles that guide human development.
Each of us will face problems on the path to healthy development.
Some obstacles, such as learning to walk or finding a personal identity, are universal. Others are unusual or specialized. In addition to such challenges, psychologists have probed the question, “What makes a good life?” Their findings, which are described in this chapter, may provide a road map you can use to make your own life happier, more meaningful, and more fulfilling.
The challenges of development extend far beyond childhood and into old age. Let’s scan some of the milestones, challenges, problems, and potentials you are likely to encounter across the life span.
¡ Development over a lifetime is marked by both continuity and changes in behavior.
¡ Life-span psychologists identify general patterns that provide an approximate map of human development.
¡ Erik Erikson analyzed a series of psychological challenges that occur across the life span.These range from gaining trust in infancy to living with integrity in old age.
¡ Parents must be able to distinguish normal childhood problems from those that are more serious.
¡ The incidence of child abuse could be reduced with appropriate social and psychological efforts.
¡ Forming a personal identity is a major task of adolescence.
Developing mature moral standards is also important during this period.
¡ Personal development does not end after adolescence.
Periods of stability and transition occur throughout adulthood.
¡ Physical aging starts early in adulthood. Every adult must find ways to successfully cope with aging.
¡ Death is a natural part of life.There is value in understanding it and accepting it.
¡ Successful lives are based on happiness, purpose, meaning, and integrity.
Gateways to Life-Span Development
What are the typical tasks and dilemmas through the life span?
What are some of the more serious childhood problems?
Why is adolescent development especially challenging?
How do we develop morals and values?
What happens psychologically during adulthood?
What are the psychological challenges of aging?
How do people typically react to death and bereavement?
What factors contribute most to a happy and fulfilling life?
In what ways are attitudes toward death changing?
Key Questions
The Cycle of Life—Rocky Road or Garden Path?
Erik Erikson, a personality theorist, analyzed the major psychological events that occur in a “typical” life. Although questions can be raised about parts of his theory, it provides a good overview of an entire life cycle. In Erikson’s view, everyone faces a predictable series of psychological conflicts on the way to optimal development. Let’s see what they are.
Development Across a Life Span
There really is no such thing as a “typical person” or a “typical life.” Nevertheless, broad similarities can be found in the life stages of infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and old age. Each stage confronts a person with new developmental tasks that must be mastered for optimal development. Examples are learning to read in childhood, adjusting to sexual maturity in adolescence, and establishing a vocation as an adult. Every life is also marked by a number of
developmental milestones. These are notable events, markers, or turning points in personal development. Some examples include graduating from school, voting for the first time, getting married, watching a child leave home (or move back!), experiencing the death of a parent, becoming a grandparent, retiring, and facing one’s own death. In the following pages we will examine development from a life-span perspective. Life-span psychologists study both continuity and change in behavior during a lifetime (Kaplan, 1998).
In an influential book titled Childhood and Society (1963), personality theorist Erik Erikson (1903–1994) suggests that we face a specific psychosocial dilemma, or “crisis,” at each stage of life. A psychosocial dilemma is a conflict between personal impulses and the social world. Resolving each dilemma creates a new balance between a person and society. A string of “successes” leads to healthy development and a satisfying life. Unfavorable outcomes throw us off balance, making it harder to deal with later crises. Life becomes a “rocky road” and personal growth is stunted. ¡Table 4.1 lists Erikson’s dilemmas.
What are the major developmental tasks and life crises? A brief description of each psychosocial dilemma follows.
Stage One, First Year of Life: Trust Versus Mistrust
During the first year of life, children are completely dependent on others. Erikson believes that a basic attitude of trust or mistrust is formed at this time. Trust is established when babies are given warmth, touching, love, and physical care. Mistrust is caused by inadequate or unpredictable care and by parents who
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are cold, indifferent, or rejecting. Basic mistrust may later cause insecurity, suspiciousness, or an inability to relate to others.Notice that trust comes from the same conditions that help babies become securely attached to their parents (see Chapter 3).
Stage Two, 1 to 3 Years: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt
In stage two, children express their growing self-control by climbing, touching, exploring, and trying to do things for themselves. Parents can foster a sense of autonomy by encouraging children to try new skills. However, the child’s first efforts can be crude. Often, they result in spilling, falling, wetting, and other “accidents.” Thus, parents who ridicule or overprotect their children may cause them to doubt their abilities and feel
shameful about their actions.
Stage Three, 3 to 5 Years: Initiative Versus Guilt
In stage three, children move beyond simple self-control and begin to take initiative (drawing on the walls with Crayolas, for instance.) Through play, children learn to make plans and carry out tasks. Parents reinforce initiative by giving children freedom to play, ask questions, use imagination, and choose activities.
Feelings of guilt about initiating activities are formed if parents criticize severely, prevent play, or discourage a child’s questions.
Stage Four, 6 to 12 Years: Industry Versus Inferiority
The challenges of middle childhood are symbolized by that fateful day when you started school. With dizzying speed your world expanded beyond your family, and you faced a whole series of new developmental tasks.
Erikson describes the elementary school years as the child’s “entrance into life.” In school, children begin to learn skills valued by society, and success or failure can affect their feelings of adequacy. Children learn a sense of industry if they win praise for productive activities, such as building, painting, cooking, reading, and studying. If a child’s efforts are regarded as messy, childish, or inadequate, feelings of inferiority result. For the first time, teachers, classmates, and adults outside the home can be as important as parents in shaping attitudes toward oneself.
Stage Five, Adolescence: Identity Versus Role Confusion
Adolescence is often a turbulent time. Caught between childhood and adulthood, teens face some unique problems. Erikson considers a need to answer the question “Who am I?” the primary task during this stage of life. Mental, physical, and sexual maturation bring new feelings, a new body, and new attitudes (œFig. 4.1). Adolescents must build a consistent identity out of their talents, values, life history, relationships, and their culture (Douvan, 1997). Conflicting experiences as a student, friend, athlete, worker, son or daughter, lover, and so forth,must be integrated into a unified sense of self (more on this later). Persons who fail to develop a sense of identity suffer from role confusion.
That is, they are uncertain about who they are and where they are going.
Stage Six, Young Adulthood: Intimacy Versus Isolation
What did Erikson see as the major conflict in early adulthood? In stage six, people need intimacy in their lives. After establishing a stable identity, we are prepared to share meaningful love or
TABLE
4.1 Erikson’s Psychosocial Dilemmas
AGE CHARACTERISTIC DILEMMA
Birth to 1 year Trust versus mistrust 1 to 3 years Autonomy versus shame and doubt 3 to 5 years Initiative versus guilt 6 to 12 years Industry versus inferiority Adolescence Identity versus role confusion Young adulthood Intimacy versus isolation Middle adulthood Generativity versus stagnation Late adulthood Integrity versus despair
© Bettmann/CORBIS
Erik Erikson (1903–1994) is best known for his life-stage theory of human development.
His last book, Vital Involvement in Old Age, published in 1986, described his ideas about successful aging.
© David Young-Wolff/PhotoEdit
According to Erikson, children aged 3 to 5 learn to plan and initiate activities through play.
FROM BIRTH TO DEATH: LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 139
deep friendship with others. By intimacy, Erikson means an ability to care about others and to share experiences with them.
In line with Erikson’s view, 75 percent of college-age men and women rank a good marriage and family life as important adult goals (Bachman & Johnson, 1979). And yet, marriage or sexual involvement does not guarantee intimacy:Many adult relationships remain superficial and unfulfilling. Failure to establish intimacy with others leads to a deep sense of isolation (feeling alone and unloved in life). This often sets the stage for later dif- ficulties (Rennemark & Hagberg, 1997).
Stage Seven, Middle Adulthood: Generativity Versus Stagnation
According to Erikson, an interest in guiding the next generation provides emotional balance in mature adulthood. Erikson called this quality generativity. It is expressed by caring about oneself, one’s children, and future generations. Generativity may be achieved by guiding one’s own children or by helping other children (as a teacher or coach, for example). Productive or creative work can also express generativity. In any case, a person’s concerns and energies must turn outward, to include the welfare of others and society as a whole. Failure to do this is
Life stages Widely recognized periods of life corresponding to broad phases of development.
Developmental task Any skill that must be mastered, or personal change that must take place, for optimal development.
Developmental milestone A significant turning point or marker in personal development.
Life-span perspective The study of continuity and change in behavior over a lifetime.
Psychosocial dilemma A conflict between personal impulses and the social world that affects development.
Trust versus mistrust A conflict early in life centered on learning to trust others and the world.
Autonomy versus shame and doubt A conflict created when growing self-control (autonomy) is pitted against feelings of shame or doubt.
Initiative versus guilt A conflict centered around learning to take initiative while at the same time overcoming feelings of guilt about doing so.
Industry versus inferiority A conflict in middle childhood centered around lack of support for industrious behavior, which can result in feelings of inferiority.
Identity versus role confusion A major conflict of adolescence, involving the need to establish a consistent personal identity.
Intimacy versus isolation The challenge in early adulthood of establishing intimacy with friends, family, a lover, or a spouse, versus experiencing a sense of isolation.
Generativity versus stagnation A conflict of middle adulthood in which stagnant concern for oneself is countered by interest in guiding the next generation.
œ Figure 4.1 Dramatic differences in physical size and maturity are found in adolescents of the same age.The girls pictured are all 13, the boys 16.Maturation that occurs earlier or later than average can affect the “search for identity.” (Reprinted with permission of Nelson Prentiss.)
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marked by a stagnant concern with one’s own needs and comforts.
Life loses meaning, and the person feels bitter, dreary, and trapped (Peterson & Klohnen, 1995).
Stage Eight, Late Adulthood: Integrity Versus Despair
What are the major conflicts of old age? Old age is a time of re- flection. According to Erikson, a person must be able to look back over life with acceptance and satisfaction. The person who has lived richly and responsibly develops a sense of integrity
(self-respect). This allows us to face aging and death with dignity.
If previous life events are viewed with regret, the elderly person experiences despair (heartache and remorse). In this case, life seems like a series of missed opportunities. The person feels like a failure and knows it’s too late to reverse what’s been done. Aging and the threat of death then provoke feelings of fear and depression.
The Life Span in Perspective
To squeeze a lifetime into a few pages, we must ignore countless details. Although much is lost, the net effect is a clearer picture of an entire life cycle. Are Erikson’s stages an exact map of your future? Probably not. Still, the dilemmas he described are major events in the lives of many people. Knowing about them may allow you to anticipate typical trouble spots in life. You may also be better prepared to understand how friends and relatives are feeling at various stages in life.
Now that we’ve completed a whirlwind birth-to-death tour, we will revisit several points in life for a closer look at various challenges, tasks, and problems. Before we begin, it might be a good idea to complete the Knowledge Builder that follows.
RELATE
See if you can think of a person you know who is facing one of Erikson’s psychosocial dilemmas.Now see if you can think of specific people who seem to be coping with each of the other dilemmas.
LEARNING CHECK
As a way to improve your memory, you might find it helpful to summarize Erikson’s eight life stages. Complete this do-it-yourself summary and compare your answers to those given below.
Stage Crisis Favorable Outcome
First year 1. __________________ vs. Faith in the environment of life 2. __________________ and in others Ages 1–3 Autonomy vs. Feelings of self-control
3. __________________ and adequacy Ages 3–5 4. __________________ Ability to begin one’s own vs. guilt activities Ages 6–12 Industry vs. Confidence in productive
5. __________________ skills, learning how to work Adolescence 6. __________________ vs. An integrated image of role confusion oneself as a unique person Young Intimacy vs. Ability to form bonds of adulthood 7. __________________ love and friendship with others Middle Generativity vs. Concern for family, society, adulthood 8. __________________ and future generations Late 9. __________________ vs. Sense of dignity and fulfilladulthood
10. __________________ ment, willingness to face death
CRITICAL THINKING
11. Trying to make generalizations about development throughout life is complicated by at least one major factor.What do you think it is?
ANSWERS
K N O W L E D G E B U I L D E R
The Life Cycle
1. trust 2. mistrust 3. shame or doubt 4. initiative 5. inferiority 6. identity
7. isolation 8. stagnation 9. integrity 10. despair 11. Different cohorts (groups of people born in the same year) live in different historical times. People born in various decades may have very different life experiences. This makes it difficult to identify universal patterns (Stewart & Ostrove, 1998).
© Jeff Greenberg
According to Erikson, an interest in future generations characterizes optimal adult development.
FROM BIRTH TO DEATH: LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 141
Problems of Childhood— Why Parents Get Gray Hair
Most children have at least a few minor behavioral problems while growing up. However, some children have more serious difficulties. If left untreated, learning disorders, hyperactivity, and similar disorders can have lifelong consequences. This section explores a variety of problems children may face.
Can you remember a time in childhood when your actions led to a disaster or a near-disaster? It shouldn’t be hard. It’s a wonder that many of us survive childhood at all.Where I grew up, digging underground tunnels, wiggling down chimneys, hopping on trains, jumping off houses, crawling through storm drains—and worse—were common childhood adventures.
Normal Childhood Problems
Stress is a normal part of life—even in childhood. Certainly, parents shouldn’t intentionally stress a child. However, it’s also true that children need not be completely sheltered from distress.
Overprotection, or “smother love,” can be as damaging as too much stress. (Overprotection refers to excessively shielding a child from ordinary stresses.)
Most children do a good job of keeping stress at comfortable levels when they initiate an activity. At a public swimming pool, for instance, some children can be observed making death-defying leaps from the high dive while others stick close to the wading area. If there’s no immediate danger, it is reasonable to let children get stuck in trees, make themselves dizzy, squabble with other children, and so forth. Getting into a few scrapes can help prepare a child to cope with later challenges. (If your author hadn’t crawled through a few storm pipes, his adult interest in plumbing the depths of the psyche might have gone down the drain.)
Typical Difficulties
How can you tell if a child is being subjected to too much stress?
Child specialist Stella Chess identified several difficulties experienced at times by almost every child. They are normal reactions to the unavoidable stresses of growing up.
1. All children occasionally have sleep disturbances, including wakefulness, nightmares, or a desire to get into their parents’ bed.
2. Specific fears of the dark, dogs, school, or a particular room or person are also common.
3. Most children will be overly timid at times, allowing themselves to be bullied by other children.
4. Temporary periods of general dissatisfaction may occur, when nothing pleases the child.
5. Children also normally display periods of general negativism.
Repeatedly saying “no” or refusing to do anything requested is typical of such times.
6. Another normal problem is clinging. Children who “cling” refuse to leave the sides of their mothers or do anything on their own. (However, see the discussion of attachment disorder in Chapter 3.)
7. Development does not always advance smoothly. Reversals
or regressions to more infantile behavior occur with almost all children (Chess, Thomas, & Birch, 1976).
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