Later Life & Theories of Aging
Unit 5 – Chapter 13
Middle Adulthood
• Middle age is defined as the stage of life from
45 to 64 years of age
• As Canadians delay the major transitions of
life, the traditional image of middle age as the
time when children “are launched from the
nest” and parents settle down to wait for
grandchildren no longer fits the lifestyle of
middle-aged Canadians
The Sandwich Generation
• An increasing number of adults are providing
some care to aging parents
• In addition, emerging adults tend to remain at
home longer
• As a result, parents who delayed childbearing
until their late 20s or early 30s may have adult
children at home until they are almost 60
• Those who have responsibilities for children
and aging parents are referred to as the
sandwich generation
The Sandwich Generation
• Women in midlife shoulder most of the
burden of caring for older parents who
become physically dependent on others
• Women are more likely to work part-time to
accommodate their caregiving responsibilities
• Caregiving is defined as providing care to a
family member who is suffering from a
physical or mental disability, is chronically ill,
or frail
The Sandwich Generation
• In some cases, care becomes a fulltime responsibility
• Social polices in Canada assume that the
family will take care of its dependent
members in the same way that they take care
of children
• Those being cared for include older parents, ill
or frail spouses and disabled children
The Sandwich Generation
• Most Canadians report that they would prefer
not to be cared for by their families if physical
care becomes necessary, but sometimes their
financial situation leaves no other option
• Because of the improved life expectancy of
older Canadians, their physical dependency
often coincides with the retirement of their
caregivers
The Sandwich Generation
• In some cases, individuals take early
retirement to be available to care for a spouse
or parent
• Although caregiving can be both socially and
financially beneficial for dependents; loss of
employment , increase in parttime work, or early retirement
can have long-term effects on
the middle-aged caregiver’s
income and pension
Becoming Grandparents
• The role of grandparent developed in the
20th century, when couples had children while
they were young, when their children married
younger and had children even earlier than
their parents did, and when people lived
longer
• In the 1980s, many Canadians became
grandparents in their 40s and 50s, so
grandparents were younger, probably working
and living active, independent lives
Becoming Grandparents
• Only 3% of Canadians under the age of 50
are grandparents now, by age 60 half of these
individuals have grandchildren and by 70 over
80% of older adults are grandparents
• On average, grandparents have 4.7
grandchildren
• Although 1 in 5 children have no contact with
a grandparent, 40% see them at least once a
month
• Grandparents serve an important role in the
socialization of grandchildren
Becoming Grandparents
• Grandparents provide a valuable role as family
historian, linking children with their family’s
ethnic and cultural past
• Grandparents serve as role models for older
adulthood and may counteract the
stereotypical images of later life
• They may act as mentors who are experienced
in life transitions within the family
Becoming Grandparents
• Grandparents might receive more
affection and recognition from their
grandchildren than they did from their
children because they are free of the
obligation to be a disciplinarian
• If grandparents and grandchildren form a
cross-generational alliance when there is
conflict between parent and child, they can
interfere with the parent’s ability to raise their
child independently
The Stability Template Model
• Assumes that individuals do not change once
they achieve adulthood
• Based on the belief that the basic personality
is formed in childhood
• This model explains that if an individual’s
identity is stable over time, they will respond
to events and stresses in life in a consistent
manner
• There will be variations in behaviour from
person to person, but an individual’s
behaviour will be predictable
The Orderly Change Model
• Explains that an individual’s identity is formed
earlier in life but changes through interaction
with the environment in the present
• Daniel Levinson suggests that in midlife,
individuals examine their Dream, the life
structure they have been building in early
adulthood, and define a new life structure for
themselves in later life based on changing
circumstances
• Suggests that identity changes
according to the options available in society
The Theory of Random Change
• Explains that fate, or non-normative events,
causes change in identity because of how
individuals adapt to their new roles
• Patterns of behaviour exist because
cohorts are exposed to the same events
• Although the behaviour of individuals within
generations might conform to a pattern, it is
not possible to predict the behaviour of future
generations
Generativity
• Meaning productivity
• The range of ways people are able to reach
out to leave their mark on future generations
• By investing in the future and caring for
others, individuals can develop the virtue of
care
• However, by becoming self-indulgent, focusing
only on their own lives, individuals do not
develop, a state that Erikson called stagnation
Generativity
• Individuals may have a need to nurture others,
but society expects adults to take
responsibility for themselves, care for their
children and pass on the culture to their
offspring
• Therefore, adults in their 30s and 40s who are
not ready for steady employment and a family
are considered to be “out of time” with the
social clock
Generativity
• People who do not meet the time lines of the
society in which they live might be judged as
“immature” and be encouraged to “settle
down”
• Generativity is a universal task of adulthood,
but the form and the timing are defined by
the society
Generativity
• However, for some individuals, generativity
is not attainable
• They may feel that they cannot generate good
products and outcomes, that they are unable
to leave a positive mark on their world
• Their struggle to tend to and maintain
themselves may be so taxing that they cannot
find the resources to care for those who will
eventually survive them
Forms of Generativity
• Generativity is the motivation for the rest of
adult life
• Psychologist John Kotre states that because of
the limits of fertility, especially for women,
generativity must be defined as something
more than reproduction and parenthood
Forms of Generativity
1) Biological generativity or parenthood
2) Parental generativity or the raising of
children
3) Technical generativity or the passing on of
knowledge
4) Cultural generativity or the sharing of culture
and tradition
Biological Generativity
• Parenthood is occurring later in life for most
Canadians
• As a result of the impact of contraception,
parenthood has become a choice
• Individuals saw less need for children when
improved health enabled them to live longer
and healthier lives in which they could
accomplish their goals
• Therefore, there is currently less biological
generativity
Parental Generativity
• Attained through interaction with children,
as active participants in parenting
• In the past, women bore most of the
responsibility for childcare and parenting, so
parental generativity was assumed to be the
motivation for a woman’s life in adulthood
• Now, men have gained greater opportunities
for parental generativity as they share an
active parenting role with their working wives
Parental Generativity
• Increased life expectancy is changing the
nature of parental generativity
• A longer life allows individuals to have longer
connections with past and future generations
within the family
• Grandparenting provides additional parental
generativity roles
• Those who did not have children achieve
parental generativity by taking on the role of
“guardian” and caring for others’ children as
teachers or childcare providers
Technical Generativity
• Another way of providing for the future
and leaving one’s mark on the world that
extend beyond family
• Technical Generativity means teaching
knowledge and skills to the next generation so
that they can develop competence
• Parents or aunts and uncles teaching children,
teachers instructing students and older men
and women mentoring younger adults are
some examples of the ways technical
generativity is expressed
Cultural Generativity
• Means creating and sharing ideas
and artifacts that will contribute to the
cultural experience of society
• Whether by producing beneficial products or
services at work or by expressing creativity by
sewing painting, singing, writing or dancing,
individuals can achieve cultural generativity
• Like Technical Generativity, Cultural
Generativity can be achieved by developing
and nurturing ideas
Bereavement
• Marriage is much more likely to be
dissolved by death in old age, not by
divorce
• The death of a spouse is the most stressful
and disruptive event in life
• Because women have traditionally married
men who are several years older and because
the life expectancy of men is shorter by
several years, women are more likely than
men to be widowed
Bereavement
• Women will probably spend their final
years alone, while men are likely to die with a
spouse and family around them
• In 2001, 42% of older women were widowed
compared to 11.2% of men
• Men have more difficulty adjusting to the
death of their spouse than women do
• Men tend to have a greater dependence on
their wives for meeting their needs
Bereavement
• Traditionally, men have fewer close friends
and depend on their partners for
companionship
• Men have performed fewer household
activities in the past, so the loss of their wife
has a greater impact on their lifestyle
• The older a woman is when her husband dies,
the more likely she is to live alone
Bereavement
• Three-quarters of Canada’s older widows are
living on their own, but few of them report
being lonely
• Women are less likely to remarry than men
• Women compared to men, have more actively
maintained family ties and have
closer relationships with
their children and friends
The Stages of Death
• Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross made it her
life’s work to study the process of dying to
learn how to support those who are dying
• She identified 5 stages of death, which are
experienced in order, if there is time
1) Denial of the diagnosis and attempting to
find a solution or another explanation
2) Anger at the fact of death, which might be
directed at anyone, including self, family or
health-care staff
The Stages of Death
3) Bargaining, with promises to alter who they
are and what they do, to change the
diagnosis
4) Depression, arising from the certainty of
death and the resignation that there is no
hope
5) Acceptance, indicating that the individual has
come to terms with his or her fate and is
ready to prepare for the end of life
Grieving
• The grieving process occurs in 3 distinct but
overlapping phases over a period of several
years
1) In the shock phase, bereaved individuals
experience periods of numbness and crying.
Daily activities will be disrupted and are
completed with little thought or pleasure. At
this time, others might wish to increase their
closeness, but the bereaved person might
prefer time alone.
Grieving
2) In the disorganization phase, there is a need
to talk about the deceased person and vent
feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety and guilt.
A person might be less able to function in
day-to-day life because of the necessity to
make lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, other
people are less available to talk after the
brief period of mourning.
Grieving
3) In the reorganization phase, new routines
have been established for day-to-day life and
there is less evident grief. The bereaved
person has a new relationship with the
deceased as someone they remember rather
than someone with whom they share their
life.