The Psychology of Middle Age

There are many schools of thought in psychology, and I often wondered about the validity of the science and practice of psychology from the perspective of, which one is the correct or most useful school of thought?  Freud? Erickson? Maslow? Pavlov? Popper? Fries?

Am I just hungry or are there really psychologists named Popper and Fries? Oh wait, Karl Popper and Jakob Fries were philosophers. I must be a little hungry. Hmmm…Why am I salivating all of a sudden? I don’t know…it’s probably my mom’s fault though.  Did I just hear a bell?

Pardon me.  Discussing psychology always makes me over analyze my internal thoughts and motivations.

While I am not really going to challenge traditional psychology of middle age, you will be pleased to know that I have ordered my all-terrain Hoveround®.  

Ugh.  Pardon me again.  It's that age-activated attention deficit disorder issue. Back on track now...

The truth is, useful information may be gleaned from all schools of psychological thought.  However, economic, social and family mores have changed so much over the past 30 years that  while we may be able to apply analytical principals to behaviors, traditional solutions or remedies are dated and not very effective. So, we find that the traditional approaches to handling middle age issues may actually be counterproductive to creating quality years prior to old age.

•    People live longer than they did 30 years ago.  
•    Middle-agers usually had grown children by now and nowadays, middle-agers are just starting to have children.
•    Gone are the days when you could begin your career AND retire with the same company.

The list of marked changes over the past 30 years is endless.  Let’s not even talk about all the changes the world wide web has ushered in.  Thus, the need to reinvent middle age for us accordingly.  More importantly though, traditional psychology does not answer the deeper more serious questions about middle age such as the one my beautiful friend asked me after she read my last post:

Beautiful Friend: I understand the horizontal wrinkles gracing the bridge of my nose, but how on earth did I get a vertical wrinkle on my nose?

If my readers have an answer for her, please leave your comments below.  I tried to research vertical nose wrinkles for her, but every time I tried I did more Giggling than Googling!

Okay, enough fun and frivolity.  Let’s talk middle age psychology.

In  Erik Erickson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development, he considers middle-agers to be in Stage 7.  

Here is Erickson’s brief synopsis of Stage 7.

In this stage generativity refers to the adult's ability to care for another person. The most important event in this stage is parenting. Does the adult have the ability to care and guide the next generation? Generativity has a broader meaning then just having children. Each adult must have some way to satisfy and support the next generation. According to Erikson, "A person does best at this time to put aside thoughts of death and balance its certainty with the only happiness that is lasting: to increase, by whatever is yours to give, the goodwill and higher order in your sector of the world"(Erikson, 1974). (Emphasis added)

Elements for a positive outcome:
To have and nurture children and/or become involved with future generations.

Elements for a negative outcome:
An individual must deal with issues they are concerned with or it can lead to stagnation in later life.

Examples:
In this stage an adult will be concerned with issues such as: the future of the environment, what kind of world will we leave the next generation, equality for all people, etc.

LEGACY OR LETHARGY?

With that in mind, middle age is a time when both men and women begin contemplating the age-old question, what have I done with my life?

So, I ask you:

 What have you done with your life?

I do agree with Erickson’s broad psychosocial summary of middle age issues.  Myself as an example, I am not married and I do not have children.  Even if I were to get married tomorrow, I do not know how I feel about producing a child who would receive his/her kindergarten diploma the same year that I receive my AARP card.  Additionally, it would  be dangerous to go through menopause at the same time my child was going through adolescence.  Our home would not be big enough for both of our mood swings and one of us would eventually have to go.

However, I have invested in the lives of many, many children over my lifetime so for me there is not a sense of loss in the generativity capacity.  On the contrary, it is very fulfilling to reflect on my life and know that I have contributed in some capacity to the future generation on a broad scale. I know this because many of them are still in contact with me.  At the same time, I also know there is still much more to accomplish.  I cannot top the first half of my life, so my middle age question becomes this:  exactly what do I do with the second half of my life? 

People who are very self-absorbed at this age are unhappiest and most apt to find middle age a negative thing. People who fail to invest all or a portion of themselves in some one (people) or some thing (causes) become stagnant, unsure, without a sense of purpose, and possibly a haunting sense of failure.  Selfish people do not realize the gift they are given and the value that each day – or for that matter each breath - life has to offer.  

Success in middle age then, is a matter of 
inhaling the gift of life,

then finding a way to exhale it to the world.

You will find that life itself has leveled the playing field in middle age.  If you do not believe it, just attend your next class reunion.  No one has an unfair advantage or disadvantage.  Your success or failure depends solely on whether you choose legacy or lethargy for the next 20-40-60 years.  So, think of your life/legacy as a valuable piece of a time capsule to be found by the future generations!  Invest first and foremost in your faith and family.  Then answer these simple questions:

What valuable lessons have I learned along the way?  
What wrongs have I righted?  
What would I improve for the next generation?
What beauty worth sharing have I found in the world? In life? In love? In living day-to-day?  

Find a way to share it with the world!  Someone may never have the opportunity to experience something but though your legacy.  Write it, draw it, speak it, etch-a-sketch it, paint it, dance it, sing it, give it, live it, build it, design it, but just make sure you do not leave a legacy of lethargy!  

DO IT AND SHARE IT!  

Life is the only gift we receive that is required to be given away to others!

If you choose legacy, then go after it with all the vim and vigor you can muster with these decaying old bodies of ours!  Beat out every drop of life with your cane! I strongly suggest you order your all-terrain Hoveround® today like I did, so you won’t miss a beat! 

     ~Solissea

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Cultivating Middle Age