The Adult in Society
Chapter 6: The Adult in Society
Case Study: The Opt-Out Revolution
Section 1: Early and Middle Adulthood
Section 2: The World of Work
Section 3: The Later Years
Simulation: Applying What You’ve Learned
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The Adult in Society
Case Study: The Opt-Out Revolution
New York Times journalist Lisa Belkin discussed the
phenomenon of high-achieving women who left the
workplace in order to be stay-at-home moms. Although the
research was informal and based on a population not
representative of all women, her article showed an
intriguing trend. Many women are choosing to spend their
days raising their children instead of pursuing career goals.
In addition to the pull of family, one sociologist found that
mixed messages from husbands and employers often push
women from the workplace.
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Section 1 at a Glance
Early and Middle Adulthood
• In American society, adult stages of development are
experienced differently by men and women.
• Every adult has a life structure that is characterized by a
combination of statuses, roles, activities, goals, values,
beliefs, and life circumstances.
• Daniel Levinson developed a theory of adult male
development based on three main eras: early, middle,
and late adulthood.
• The stages of adult female development are heavily
influenced by marriage, work, family, and raising children.
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The Adult in Society
Early and Middle Adulthood
Main Idea
• Men and women progress through adult development in different
ways.
Reading Focus
• What are the main eras in Daniel Levinson’s theory of adult male
development?
• How does adult female development differ from adult male
development?
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The Adult in Society
What if being an adult
doesn't answer all of
life's questions?
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The Adult in Society
Adult Male Development
Life Structure
• The combination of statuses, roles, activities, goals, values, beliefs, and life
circumstances that characterize an individual
• Life structures show common patterns across many social groups
• Includes early, middle, and late adulthood
Early Adulthood
The Age 30 Transition
• Ages 17 through 22
• Ages 28 through 32
• Going to college or getting a job
• Crucial because lives often change
direction here
• Transition into the adult world
• Expected to explore opportunities
as well as make commitments
• Ends the novice phase, when men
prepare to enter full adulthood
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Settling Down
The Midlife Transition
•
Ages 33 through 39
• Ages 40 through 44
•
Major task is achieving success
•
Try to establish themselves in
society, usually through
occupational advancement
• A bridge between early and middle
adulthood
• Questioning of life structures
•
Commit to things that are
important to them
• Major goal is to escape the
pressure of unattainable dreams
from youth
•
Separation from mentors in order
to define own identity
• Becoming a mentor can lessen the
stress associated with this stage
• The degree of difficulty that an
individual experiences in a period
depends on his success in
mastering the previous period.
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Compare
How are the age 30 transition
and the midlife transition similar?
Answer: Individuals question their life structures
during both transitions.
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Adult Female Development
Similarities with Men
Leaving the Family
• Levinson: Go through basically the
same stages of adult development,
but great difference in social roles
and identities
• Physical and psychological break
from family
• Frieze and Sales: Three phases
specific to women
Entering the Adult World
• Developing a life plan
• May value marriage over work
• Most become mothers in their 20s
Re-entering the World
of Work
• Dual roles of motherhood and
career cause added strain
• Occurs when children reach school
age
• A break in employment for
childbearing can limit career
• Commitment to career at same
time husband is doubting his career
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Find the Main Idea
What factors make adult female development
different from adult male development?
Answer: Women differ from men in their social
roles and identities and deal differently with the
developmental tasks associated with each stage of
adult development.
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The Adult in Society
Section 2 at a Glance
The World of Work
• American workers often spend nearly 50 years in the
labor force, making the world of work one of the most
important components of adult life.
• The composition of the labor force and the nature of work
has changed greatly over the last 100 years.
• According to opinion polls and social science research,
most Americans report being satisfied with their jobs.
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The Adult in Society
The World of Work
Main Idea
The world of work is a major component of adult life. In the last 100
years, major changes have transformed the organization of work and
the composition of the labor force.
Reading Focus
• How has the labor force in the United States changed?
• In what ways has the nature of work changed?
• What factors contribute to job satisfaction?
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The Adult in Society
How far would you be
willing to go for your
dream job?
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The Adult in Society
The Labor Force
Work
• Work involves performing all of the tasks necessary to produce
goods and provide services that meet human needs.
• The basis for the economy
• Typical individual will spend about 50 years in the labor force
Labor Force
• All individuals age 16 and older who are employed in paid positions
or who are seeking paid employment.
• People who are not paid for their labor are part of the informal
economy.
• In 2007, 66 percent of U.S. population over age 16 was in the labor
force.
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The Adult in Society
Composition of Labor Force
• Recent decades have seen increase in number of working women
• Women hold just over half of professional jobs—high-status
occupations that require specialized skills and knowledge obtained
through formal education
• Fastest growing minority group, Hispanics, are increasing in labor
force, too
Occupations
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The Adult in Society
Unemployment
•
Unemployment occurs when a
person does not have a job but is
actively seeking employment
•
Unemployment rate is the
percentage of the civilian labor
force that is unemployed but
actively seeking employment
•
Unemployment rate varies across
social groups
•
Five percent unemployment
considered acceptable in the
United States
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Summarize
What major trends characterize
U.S. employment patterns?
Answer: more women and minorities in the labor
force, higher workforce level of education, women
holding more professional positions
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The Adult in Society
The Changing Nature of Work
• In 1900:
– 35 percent worked in agriculture
– 45 percent worked in manufacturing
– 20 percent worked in professions, management, office work, and sales
• In 1950:
– Manufacturing dominated
• Today:
– 13 percent work in agriculture and manufacturing
– 76 percent work in professions, management, office work, and sales
• Globalization
– New technology has changed the economy.
– Many manufacturing jobs have been outsourced, or sent to countries
where labor is less expensive.
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Identify Cause and Effect
What has caused the loss of
U.S. manufacturing jobs?
Answer: globalization and outsourcing
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Job Satisfaction
Opinion polls
Factors for satisfaction
• 42 percent said they were
“very satisfied” with their jobs.
• 38 percent said they were
“somewhat satisfied.”
•
•
•
•
•
Factors for dissatisfaction
Job and career changes
•
•
•
•
•
• Changing jobs and/or careers is
a well-established pattern in the
United States
• Average worker changes
companies nine times, careers
five to six times
On-the-job stress
Retirement and insurance benefits
Salary
Recognition
Chances for promotion
Interesting nature of their work
Salary
Working hours
Workplace safety
Relations with co-workers
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Identify Supporting Details
What statistics indicate a high level of job
satisfaction among U.S. workers?
Answer: According to a 2007 Harris poll, 43
percent of respondents stated they were “very
satisfied” with their jobs. Another 36 percent
reported they were “somewhat satisfied.”
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The Adult in Society
Section 3 at a Glance
The Later Years
• Social development continues throughout adulthood and
well into the final stages of life.
• People age 65 and older make up the fastest growing
segment of the world’s population.
• Older Americans face many challenges, including
physical and mental decline, dependency, and death.
• For many aging Americans, retirement opens up a new
world full of freedom and new opportunities for growth
and change.
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The Adult in Society
The Later Years
Main Idea
Americans entering the later years, or old age, face a new set of life
transitions, challenges, and opportunities.
Reading Focus
• What changes characterize late adulthood?
• What new opportunities do older Americans enjoy?
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The Adult in Society
Why are seventysomethings braving
frostbite and altitude
sickness to conquer
Earth's highest peak?
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The Adult in Society
Changes in Late Adulthood
Statistics
• Age 65 and older: 11 percent of U.S. population in 1980; over 12
percent in 2000; projected to be 20 percent by 2030
• Gerontology is the scientific study of aging.
• Social gerontology is the study of the nonphysical aspects of aging.
• Young-old
– Ages 65 through 74
• Middle-old
– Ages 75 through 84
• Old-old
– Ages 85 and older
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Adjustment to Retirement
• Retirement involves loss of role and status associated with a
particular job as well as with being a working adult.
• Some are greatly bothered by this loss; others rank it as low stress.
• Factors such as income, health, social networks, and identity affect a
person’s adjustment to retirement.
• Loss of independence can have negative consequences.
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The Adult in Society
Physical and Mental Functioning
• Aging involves the weakening and slowing of body processes.
• Intellectual ability declines very little.
• Alzheimer’s disease is a leading form of dementia.
Dealing with Dependency and Death
• Dependency is the shift from being an independent adult to being
dependent on others for physical or financial assistance.
• Most elderly people fear dependency, and it is known to cause stress
in parent-child relationships.
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The Adult in Society
Click on the image to play the Interactive.
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Cause and Effect
How does dependency change
an older person’s life?
Answer: It changes an individual’s status in
society, requiring the individual to assume new
roles and behavior, and it often reverses the
parent-child relationship
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The Adult in Society
New Opportunities
• Retirement is often accompanied by a feeling of freedom.
– Free time to try new things, travel, attend college, pursue
activities such as crafts, golf, or gardening, or become politically
active
– Begin second or volunteer career
• Individuals who have planned for retirement have a better
position to take advantage of the opportunities in this
period of life.
– Financial planning
– Broadening one’s interests
– Developing hobbies
– Taking care of one’s health
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The Adult in Society
Reading Check
Draw Conclusions
What social factors contribute to the ability of older
Americans to volunteer in their community?
Answer: an appreciation by others of the skills
and experience possessed by older Americans,
established programs such as the Foster
Grandparent program that recruit older adults for
volunteer positions
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The Adult in Society
Current Research in Sociology
Challenging Stereotypes about the Aging
According to popular wisdom, as people grow older, they grow more
rigid in their habits and more conservative in their social and political
thinking. But is this true?
• Stereotypes about older people
becoming more conservative
have been proven inaccurate by
studies.
• In fact, older people grow more
liberal on many subjects.
• One possible explanation is that
as society has become less
conservative about topics such
as race relations or premarital
sex, the difference is more
noticeable in older respondents.
• Results show that people’s
attitudes grow and change
throughout their lives.
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The Adult in Society
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The Adult in Society
Thinking Critically
• Why do you think stereotypes of aging Americans as
conservative persist?
• Do you think it is possible to use people’s age to predict
their attitudes on topics? Explain.
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The Adult in Society
Simulation: Applying What You’ve Learned
Trading Places: Becoming Your Parent’s Parent
How would you cope with becoming your parent’s
caregiver?
1. Introduction
2. Writing the Case Study
• In this lab you will review the
stages of adulthood.
• Select at least two changes that
would lead to an adult parent
becoming dependent.
• Work in small groups to
describe the symptoms of an
aging person.
• Role-play the roles of aging
parent and adult children.
• Describe the changes that an
adult child would encounter in
caring for his or her dependent
parent.
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The Adult in Society
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Simulation (cont.)
3. Reversing Roles
4. The Simulation
• Work with your groups to
brainstorm what life would be
like when the parent and child
roles reverse.
• Review with your group the
case study you wrote.
• Identify why specific decisions
might be a source of conflict.
• Write a short script that focuses
on a conflict that arises
between an aging parent and
an adult child.
• Perform the script for the class.
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The Adult in Society
Simulation (cont.)
5. Discussion
What did you learn from this
simulation? As a group, discuss
the following:
• How successful were the simulations
in illustrating the challenges faced by
families?
• Which role would you rather be in?
• How are the reversed roles similar to
the relationship of a parent and
child?
• Do you think a third party would be
helpful or not?
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