Chapter 2: Models of Development: Nature and Nurture in Adulthood
Reciprocity in Development:
- An important assumption of the interactionist model is that adults are products of their
experiences
- Adults also shape their own experiences through active interpretation of the events and
through the actions they take
- Reciprocity in development:
o States that people both influence and are influenced by the events in their lives
o Not only are you shaped by your experienced by you in turn shape many of the
experiences that affect you
- You were influenced by earlier events to choose a particular path that brought you to
where you are right now
- You are where you are having been influenced one way or another by your prior life
events
- You have an effect on your environment and this in turn will affect subsequent events in
your life
- By virtue of your existence you will affect the people who know you
o Life footprint
o Not only is it very possible but it is also very likely that their lives have already
been altered by their relationship to you
- You many nevertheless influence the people around you in much smaller ways that lead
to important changes
- Some of these influenced may be good ones
o Express kindness to a stranger who in turn expresses kindness to another
- Others may be less positive
o Single wrong turn you take behind the wheel has the unfortunate effect of causing
an accident
- The reciprocal process takes a basic assumption of the idea that people are not passive
recipients of environmental effects
o Instead choices and behaviours that each of us make leave a mark on the world
o Changes in the environment may further alter people in significant ways which
leads to further impact in society
o Continuing process as both ongoing and unpredictable to some extent
Sociocultural Models of Development:
- More emphasis to the environment a san influence on development
Ecological Perspective:
- Proposed by developmentalist Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Identifies multiple levels of the environment as they affect the individual over time
- Defines five levels of the environment or systems
o All of which interact in their influence on the individual
 You are involved with each of these 5 systems and each influences your
development in different ways
o You are aware of some of the influences but the further you go out from the
center the less likely you are to have direct experiences with these systems
- In the center of the ecological diagram is the microsystem
o Setting in which people have their daily interactions
o Therefore, have the most direct impact on their lives
- The exosystem includes the environments that people do not closely experience on a
regular basis but that impact them nevertheless
o Institutions such as community center, extended family etc.,
 Whom people may not see very often
- Macrosystem includes the larger social institutions ranging form a country’s economy to
its laws and social norms
o Influences the individual indirectly through the exosystem
- Mesosystem is the system in which interactions take place among two or more
microsystems
o You may be having difficulties at home that carry over into your relationship with
your coworkers
- Chronosystem refers to the changes that take place over time
o Interacting systems within the ecological model are affected by historical changes
 Includes events within the family, events in larger society that indirectly
impact the individual by affecting the Macrosystem
- Development in one sphere interacts with development in other spheres
- Concentric circles are not just static
- Events that take place in the outer perimeter of the circle
o Ex, country’s economy or laws also impact your life at the inner biological level
 Ex, late 2000s when the economy suffered people experienced deprivation
in ways that affect their physical and mental functioning
- Concept of reciprocity – people can affect their own development
o Individuals can have an impact on their exosystem even the Macrosystem if their
influence spreads that far into society
- Whitehall II study provides compelling evidence to support the importance of social
factors in determining health status
o Continuing to demonstrate the significance of relations with others and social
roles on health
o One key finding: the participants who reported negative characteristics of close
relationships were more likely to be obese
o Provides evidence that social support from a close person relates to maintained
levels of physical activity even after controlling for physical functioning and selfrated health
o Lower physical functioning from those in lower employment grades
The Life Course Perspective:
- Norms, roles, and attitudes about age have an impact on the shape of each person’s life
- Course is not the same as life span
o Refers to the course or progression of a person’s life events that is heavily shaped
by society’s views of what is appropriate and expected to occur in connection
with particular ages
- Specific theories attempt to link society’s structures to the adaption, satisfaction and wellbeing of the people who live in that society
- Social gerontology focuses on age as the primary structure that influences an individual’s
quality of adaptation
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Social class, family roles, and work are additional areas of study by gerontologists
looking at the life course
Age norms in adulthood are linked to social clock
o The expectations for the ages at which a society associated major life events
o Sets the pace for how people think they should progress through their family and
work timelines
o Deciding whether they are on or off time with regard to the social clock
 Those who see themselves as off time may become distressed when they
are criticized by others who expect people to follow more normative
prescriptions
o Non-events are the failure to experience an expected life change may have as
much of an influence on an individual as actual events
Increasingly people are setting their own social clocks
o Former astronaut John Glenn
 Too many people when they get old think that they have to live by the
calendar
Age is also linked to people’s social roles, the resources available to them, and the way
that they are treated by those with whom they interact
Activity theory:
o Guiding framework regarding age and role satisfaction
o Views that older adults are more satisfied if they are able to remain involved in
their social roles
o If forced to give up their social roles they will also lose a major source of identity
as well as their social connections
o Older adults should be given as many opportunities as possible to be engaged in
their work, families and community
Disengagement theory:
o Contrasts activity theory
o Proposes that the normal and natural evolution of life causes older adults to
purposefully loosen their social ties and aging is accompanied by a mutual
withdrawal process of the individual and society
o Natural detachment is not only inevitable but desirable
o Retirement and isolation from failure members are sought out by older adults and
result in higher levels of well-being
o When first proposed gerontologist where shocked and outraged by the theory
 Idea that older adults wanted to be put on shelf and could even benefit
from social isolation reinforced negative treatment of older adults in
society
 Critics of DT regarded it as disrespectful to older adults and as a
justification for what is already harsh treatment by society and its older
adult members
Continuity theory:
o Makes sense that not all older adults want to be as active and involved in their
work, families, and community
o Proposes that whether disengagement or activity is beneficial to the older adult
depends on the individuals personality
o What makes older adults experience lower life satisfaction is when they don’t
want to be excluded from their social roles by virtue of age
o Forced retirement and forced activity causes poor adjustment and self-esteem in
middle aged and older adults than letting them find their own right amount of
involvement
Ageism as a Social Factor in The Aging Process:
- Social context in which aging happens Is not favourable to the overall well-being of older
adults
- Many are affected by ageism
o A set of beliefs, attitudes, social institutions, and acts that denigrate individuals or
groups based on their chronological age
- Ageism occurs when an individual is assumed to possess a set of stereotyped traits
- Does not only affect older adults can be teenagers too
- Disengagement theory was through of by its critics as a justification for ageism as a way
to conveniently move older people to the margins of society
o Implying that all older people have the same drive to withdraw from society
perpetuates the stereotype that all older adults have similar personalities
- Primarily negative feature of ageism is that is it founded on overgeneralizations about
individuals based on a set of characteristics that have negative social meaning
- Negative social meaning may have a positive spin
- Ageism applies to both good and bad characteristics that are the same for everyone
o Cute
- One effect of ageism is to cause younger people to avoid close proximity to an older
person
o May also take the form of not being openly hostile but of making older adults
invisible
o Often experienced in the workplace although prohibited by law
 Older workers are penalized for making mistakes that would not insure the
same consequences if made by a younger worker
- Aging is the one stereotype that if you survive to old age you will most likely experience
- People who hold aging stereotypes will eventually become the target of their own
negative beliefs as they grow old
- Research on college students found that the ones most likely to experience ageist
attitudes are those who identify most strongly with their own age group
o More likely you are to think of yourself as a teen the more likely you are to hold
biased views of older adults
- Why does ageism exist?
o We view older adults negatively because they remind us of the inevitability of our
own mortality
o Terror management theory
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People regard with panic and dread and through of the finitude of their
lives
 Engage in defensive mechanisms to protect themselves from the anxiety
and threats to self-esteem that this awareness produces
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Unconsciously wish to distance themselves as much as possible to protect
themselves from the anxiety and threats to self-esteem that this awareness
produces
 Having acquired ageist beliefs at a young age older adults may express
ageist beliefs because they wish to distance themselves from what they
have come to learn is a devalued social identity
o Modernization hypothesis:
 Older adults are seen negatively because they have lost their utility to
society
 Increasing urbanization and industrialization of Western society is what
causes older adults to be devalued
 No longer procedure they become irrelevant and even drain on the
younger population
 Some sociologists argue that this theory is over simplistic
 Even when life expectancy was lower there were fewer older
adults in the population attitudes were not consistently positive
 Evidence for negative attitudes toward elders is also found in
current pre-industrialized societies
 Some highly developed countries older adults are treated with
respect and reverence and are well provided for through health care
and economic security programs
o Modernization alone doesn’t seem to account for ageism
Multiple jeopardy hypothesis:
o Individuals who fit more than one discriminated-against category are affected by
biases against each of these categorizations
 Women are subject to sexism and ageism, minority women subject to
racism, sexism and ageism etc.
o Systematic biases interact with age to produce greater risk for discrimination in
attitudes and the provision of services to specific subgroups of older adults
Age-as-leveler view:
o Proposes that as people become older age overrides all other “isms”
o Older adults all become victims of the same stereotypes
o Regardless of minority status, gender, or other social characteristics all older
adults are viewed in the same negative light
o Equally low social standing no matter race
o Single jeopardy of ageism facing older adults rather than multiple jeopardy
resulting from a combination of isms
Older adults potentially facing multiple jeopardy may be protected from its effects and
even fare better than those with higher social standings
o Inoculation hypothesis
 Older minorities and women have actually become immune to the effects
of ageism through years of exposure to discrimination and stereotyping
 They have developed a tolerance over the years
 Upper income white man may actually find it harder to accept the
stereotypes of ageism than the low income minority women
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One Canadian study examined factors related to quality of life among seniors in seven
cities
o Ontario, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Regina, Vancouver, Whitehorse
o Key factors promoting quality of life were access to information, health care,
social contacts, safety and security, networks, and transportation
o Ageism was identified as a major barrier to quality of life and appeared in many
ways
 Perpetuation of myths about aging, being devalued by society and lacking
a political voice
 Permeate many sectors in society including education, health care,
employment, and the law
o For example, ageist attitudes are common among medical students and doctors
and act as a significant barrier to recruitment to geriatric medicine programs in
Canada
 Not just an issue in healthcare but all professions
Psychological Models of Development in Adulthood
- Psychological models attempt to explain the development of the person in the personenvironment equation from the standpoint of how adaptive abilities unfold over the
course of life
- Focusing on the changes that occur in the individuals self-understanding, ability to adjust
to life’s challenges and perspective on the world
Erikson’s Psychological Theory:
- He was a developmental psychologist who developed a series of 8 life stages that people
go through from birth to death
- Attempted to understand how people navigate the major life issues they face when they
encounter each of life’s new challenges
- Theory proposes that at certain points in life a person’s biological, psychological, and
social changes come together to influence their personality
- Each stage of development as a crisis or turning point that influences how people resolve
the issues they face in a subsequent period in life
o Crisis is not a disaster or catastrophe but a stage when an individual may move
closer to either a positive or negative resolution of a particular psychosocial issue
- Young adult- intimacy versus isolation stage
o Likely that people are faced with decisions about committing to long-term
relationships
 Biologically capable of sexual relationships, psychologically capable of
serious emotional involvement with another adult
o Socially young adults are expected to settle down and find a partner
o They emerge from this crisis either ready to embark on a close relationship or
unable to make long-term commitments (isolation)
- Everyone goes through the 8 crisis stages in the same order
- Epigenetic principle:
o Asserts that each stage unfolds from the previous stage according to a predestined
order
o They are built into the hard-wiring of the human being
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The diagonal in the matrix of ages and psychosocial issues shows how each age period is
associated with a crisis
Diagonal line is not the only possibility for development
o People may experience a psychosocial issue at an age other than the one shown
where it crosses the diagonal
 Each stage may coexist as relevant concerns throughout adulthood
 Any stage may reach ascendancy in response to events that stimulate its
re-appearance
Off diagonal situations may occur for example if an 80-year-old women is attacked and
robbed on the streets
o Left emotionally shaken and reliving the issues of trust experienced in infancy
must regain the feeling of safety in the environment
 May also be left feeling vulnerable as her physical functioning decreased
as she aged leaving her a target
Another implication of the epigenetic matrix is that a crisis may be experienced before its
time
o 35-year-old diagnosed with breast cancer may be faced with issues of mortality
and contemplate issues usually dealt with at an older age
The first of the stages directly relevant to adulthood is identity achievement vs, identity
diffusion
o Individuals must decide who they are and what they wish to get out of life
o Emerges in adolescence and continues to hold importance throughout adulthood
o A cornerstone of adult psychosocial crises
o An individual who achieves a clear identity has a coherent sense of purpose
regarding a clear identify and sense of continuity with the past
o Indemnity diffusion involves a lack of direction, vagueness about life’s purpose,
and an unclear sense of self
Intimacy vs. isolation
o Individuals are faced with making commitments to close relationships
o Emerges in early adulthood
o Attaining intimacy involves establishing a mutually satisfying relationship with
another person whom a lifelong commitment is made
o Perfect intimate relationship is an intersection of tow identities not an overlap
because each partner maintains some separateness
o State of isolation is when a person never achieves true mutuality with a life
partner
 More likely to develop in individuals who lack a strong identify because
establishing a clos relationship with others depends to some extent on how
securely formed the individuals sense of self is
Motive for caring for the next generation emerges from the resolution of the intimacy
psychosocial crisis
During the stage of generativity vs stagnation
o Middle aged people focus on the psychosocial issues of precreation, productivity
and creativity
o Most common path to generativity is through parenthood
o Individuals who do not have children can still achieve generativity through
mentoring teaching, caring for youth
o Main feature of generativity is a feeling of concern over what happens to the
younger generation and the desire to make the world a better place for them
o Stagnation occurs when an individual turns concern and energy inward or solely
to others of one’s own age group rather than the next generation
 Lack interest or may even reject the younger generation
 Being a parent is no guarantee of generativity
- Ego integrity vs despair
o Older adults who establish a strong sense of ego integrity can look back at their
experiences with acceptance
 Also involves an ability to look at and accept the positive and negative
attributes of one’s life and self even if it may be painful for people to
acknowledge their past mistakes and flaws
o Sense of acceptance of the past and present self allows the individual to also view
mortality with the acceptance that life inevitable must end
 Helps people accept being at the end of their lives
o Despair is the outcome of the individual’s realization that death is coming too
soon to help them achieve their major life goals or rectify their mistakes
 Discontent with life and melancholic to the thought of death
- Erickson’s theory radically re-envisioned the life span
o Generativity, ego integrity and intimacy are now central themes of adult
development
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
- Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget brought a new perspective on the process of cognitive
development
- He tried to explain the processes underlying the growth of their cognitive abilities
- After watching his kids play he hypothesized the existence of a set of underlying
processes that eventually slowed them to achieve understanding and mastery of the
physical world
- Believed that development involves continuing growth of the individual’s knowledge
about the world through a set of opposing complementary processes called schemas
o The mental structures we use to understand the world around them
o Children’s schemas change and mature as they explore their environment – a
process which helps them to bring their schemas increasingly in tune with reality
- Process called assimilation
o People use their existing schemas as a way to understand the world around them
 Doesn’t have the common meaning it usually does
o Refers to the situation in which individual change their interpretation of reality to
fit the schemas they already hold
o Instead of changing themselves to fit the culture they change their perception of
the culture to fit their own way of understanding it
o People engage in this assimilative process until they are able to gain experiences
that allow them to refine their concepts of schemas
o You impose your schemas on the world making it fit you
- When you change our schemas in response to new information about the world
o Process of accommodation
 More like how assimilation is normally thought of
 You change yourself in order to fit the larger culture that you’re now a
part of
 You are the one changing = accommodation
- At certain points in childhood there are major shifts in children’s understanding of their
experiences
o Correspond to the stages associated with early infancy (sensorimotor) all the way
to adulthood (formal operations stage)
 Preschool- preoperational period
 Middle childhood- concrete operations stage
 Adolescence – formal operations
- Each stage represents a time of equilibrium when assimilation and accommodation are
perfectly balanced
o Equilibrium achieved in formal operations is the most stable because it is when
the individual I able to use the highest level of thought to understand and learn
from experience
o Throughout life people rely on all forms of thought
 Sensorimotor to concrete (non-verbal and the here and now)
Identity Process Theory:
- Identity process theory process proposes that identity continues to change in adulthood in
a dynamic manner
o Assume that people approach their experiences from the vantage point provided
by identity
 Identity is the set of schema that the person holds about the self
 Their views about their physical self, their cognitive abilities, their
personality characteristics, and their social roles
 Includes the individuals sense of connection their cultural heritage
that is important in adolescents and emerging adults from
immigrant and minority groups
- People interpret threshold experiences in one of these 3 ways
- Identity: favourable view of the self
- Threshold experience- normal changes, illness
- Identity accommodation: over the hill syndrome, compulsive illness behaviour, changing
your view of yourself
o Make changes in identity in response to experiences that challenge their current
view of themselves
o May be difficulty because you need to grasp your weaknesses
o Result will ultimately produce a self-image that is more in sync with reality
o Also possible for identity accommodation to bolster a negative view of the self
 Focusing on weaknesses rather than strengths
o Can help develop a more realistically positive set of schemas about personal
characteristics and strengths
o Assimilation and accommodation are most useful when they are used in tandem
- Identity balance: gradual integration, appropriate adaptation, maintain a stable sense of
yourself but making some changes
o The dynamic equilibrium that occurs when people tend to view themselves
consistently but make changes when called for by their experiences
o Relying too much on accommodation can have destructive consequences
 Defining yourself entirely based on the criticisms of others may lead to
devastation when they feel rejected
- Identity assimilation: unhealthy denial, healthy denial, not changing your sense of self
o Refers to the tendency of the person to interpret new experiences in terms of a
person’s existing identity
o May have experiences that contradict your self-image but you won’t change your
identity at all
o Tend to resist changing their identities in the face of criticism or disconfirming
experiences
o Most people prefer to see themselves in a positive light of being mentally and
physically competent, liked by others, honest, and concerned for the welfare of
other
o Advantage of identity assimilation is it allows people to feel reasonably happy
and effective despite being less than perfect
o The disadvantage is that it can lead to a distorted interpretation of experiences
when change can truly be warranted
o Allowing the preservation of a positive view of the self may have negative
consequences of refusing to incorporate these experiences into your identity
o These limitations need to be confronted learning to accept imperfections is vital to
personal growth
- Piaget’s theory the ideal is a balance between assimilation and accommodation that is
achieved in adulthood
o Proposed people have a natural tendency to use assimilation when confronted
with a new situation
o People use what has worked in the past to help understand what is happening in
the present
o If criticism is consistent enough and comes from various sources, you may be
well advised to look honestly at yourself and see whether something needs to be
changes
- When identity balance is operating effectively individuals feel a strong sense of selfefficacy
o A persons feeling of competence at a particular task
o Older adults with strong self-efficacy recognize they have experienced age-related
changes but feel in control of their ability to succeed
 The changes stimulate changes in identity
Multiple Threshold Model:
- Proposes that individuals realize that they are getting older through a stepwise process as
aging-related changes occur
- Each age related change brings with it the potential for another threshold to be crossed
- People are likely to monitor areas of the greatest significance to their identities with care
or vigilance and pay less attention to the thresholds that don’t mean as much to them
- Whatever the area of greatest relevance, people are prompted to recognize the reality of
the aging process in that particular area of functioning
o During the process of moving from assimilation to accommodation through the
occurrence of these thresholds that a new state of balance is reached
o People will only be able to adapt to age-related changes once they examine the
meaning of the change and have incorporated it into their existing view of the self
 Ex, many people say they first feel old when someone calls them sir or
ma’am
 Start to challenge the view they had of themselves as youthful and
the option is to either disregard the experience and not change their
identity or to assimilate or balance
o The unhealthy type of assimilation occurs when people ignore warning signs that
the changes their body is going through require attention
o Healthy denial occurs when people avoid becoming overly preoccupied with agerelated changes that are truly inconsequential to their overall health and wellbeing
 Continue to engage in preventive behaviours without overthinking their
actions and reflecting their own mortality
o Identity accommodation helps to keep assimilation in check
o Eventually if the pendulum swings from accommodation back to assimilation and
re-establish a middle ground between being overly preoccupied and pretending
the changes are not occurring
o Advantages of identity balance and healthy denial to some extent are that older
adults adopt active use it loss it approaches to the aging process and avoid bad
habits
The Selective Compensation with Optimization Model
- Proposes that older adults attempt to preserve and maximize the abilities that are of
central importance and put less effort into maintaining those that are not
o Making conscious decisions about how to spend time and effort in face of losses
in physical and cognitive resources
- Implies that at some point in adulthood people deliberately begin to reduce efforts in one
area in order to focus more on achieving success in another usually pick areas where
success is more likely
o Switching from aerobic activity to yoga
o Solving word problems rather than fast paced computer games and audio books
rather than reading is eye sight is fading
- Concepts from the multiple thresholds model fit well in the SOC model
o People may make choices based on what aspects of functioning are central to their
identities
o Making accommodations to age-related changes without becoming overwhelmed
helps with re-establishing a sense of self
- May adopt a negative view of aging by emphasising the way that people adapt to loss it
can also offer a realistic perspective that losses can often outweigh the gains
o People adapt to the changes by readjusting goals