Access options
Buy single article
Instant access to the full article PDF.
39,95 €
Price includes VAT (Singapore)
References
Adorno, T., Frenkel-Brunswick, E., Levinson, D., & Sanford, R. (1950).The authoritarian personality. New York: Harper.
Google Scholar
Acsádi, G., & Nemeskéri, J. (1970).History of human life span and mortality. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado.
Google Scholar
Bailey, D. (1971).Cicero. New York: Scribner's.
Google Scholar
Erikson, E. (1950).Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
Google Scholar
Erikson, E., Erikson, J., & Kivnik, H. (1986).Vital involvement in old age. New York: Norton.
Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1925).The interpretation of dreams. S.E., 3–4.
Freud, S. (1925).An autobiographical study. S.E., 20.
Gersick, C. (1991). Revolutionary change theories: A multilevel exploration of the punctuated equilibrium paradigm.Academy of Management Review, 16, 10–36.
Google Scholar
Gilligan, C. (1982).In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Google Scholar
Goodman, A., & Armelagos, G. (1988). Childhood stress and decreased longevity in a prehistoric population.American Anthropologist, 90, 936–944.
Google Scholar
Holder, A. (1992). A historical-critical edition. In D. Ornston, (Ed.),Translating Freud. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Google Scholar
Jaques, E. (1965). Death and the mid-life crisis.International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 46, 502–514.
Google Scholar
Levinson, D. (1978).The seasons of a man's life. New York: Knopf.
Google Scholar
Levinson, D. (1981). Explorations in biography: Evolution of the individual life structure in adulthood. In I. Rabin, J. Aronoff, A. Barclay, & R. Zucker (Eds.),Further explorations in personality (pp. 44–79). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Google Scholar
Levinson, D. (1991).Middle adulthood: The least explored season of the life cycle. Unpublished manuscript.
Levinson, D. (in press).The seasons of a woman's life. New York: Knopf.
Luttwak, E. (1994, June 10). The poor get poorer.The Times Literary Supplement, pp. 11–12.
Masson, J. (1985).The assault on truth. New York: Penguin Books.
Google Scholar
Mills, C. W. (1959).The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar
Newton, P. (1978).The Seasons of A Man's Life, a review.American Scientist, 66, 630.
Google Scholar
Newton, P. (1983). Periods in the adult development of the faculty member.Human Relations, 36, 441–458.
Google Scholar
Newton, P. (1984). Samuel Johnson's breakdown and recovery in middle-age: A life span developmental approach to mental illness and its cure.International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 11, 93–118.
Google Scholar
Newton, P. (1992). Freud's mid-life crisis.Psychoanalytic Psychology, 9, 447–475.
Google Scholar
Newton, P. (1995).Freud: From youthful dream to mid-life crisis. New York: Guilford Press.
Google Scholar
Rabin, I., Aronoff, J., Barclay, A., & Zucker, R. (Eds.). (1981).Further explorations in personality. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Google Scholar
Runyan, W. (1982).Life histories and psychobiography. New York: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar
Sanford, N. (Ed.). (1962).The American college. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Google Scholar
Shakespeare, W. (1952).The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark. In G. B. Harrison (Ed.),Shakespeare: The complete works. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc.
Google Scholar
White, R. (1981). Exploring personality the long way: The study of lives. In I. Rabin, J. Aronoff, A. Barclay, & R. Zucker (Eds.),Further explorations in personality (pp. 3–19). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Google Scholar
Download references
Perhaps middle adulthood is best known for its infamous midlife crisis: a time of reevaluation that leads to questioning long‐held beliefs and values. The midlife crisis may also result in a person divorcing his or her spouse, changing jobs, or moving from the city to the suburbs. Typically beginning in the early‐ or mid‐40s, the crisis often occurs in response to a sense of mortality, as middle adults realize that their youth is limited and that they have not accomplished all of their desired goals in life. Of course, not everyone experiences stress or upset during middle age; instead they may simply undergo a midlife transition, or change, rather than the emotional upheaval of a midlife crisis. Other middle adults prefer to reframe their experience by thinking of themselves as being in the prime of their lives rather than in their declining years.
During the male midlife crisis, men may try to reassert their masculinity by engaging in more youthful male behaviors, such as dressing in trendy clothes, taking up activities like scuba diving, motorcycling, or skydiving.
During the female midlife crisis, women may try to reassert their femininity by dressing in youthful styles, having cosmetic surgery, or becoming more socially active. Some middle adult women try to look as young as their young adult children by dying their hair and wearing more youthful clothing. Such actions may be a response to feelings of isolation, loneliness, inferiority, uselessness, nonassertion, or unattractiveness.
Middle‐aged men may experience a declining interest in sexuality during and following their male climacteric (male menopause). Fears of losing their sexual ability have led many men to leave their wives for younger women to prove to others (and to themselves) that they are still sexually capable and desirable. In contrast, middle‐aged women may experience an increasing interest in sexuality, which can cause problems in their primary relationship if their significant other loses interest in sexual activity. This leads some middle‐aged women to have extramarital affairs, sometimes with younger sexual partners.
The field of life‐span development seems to be moving away from a normative‐crisis model to a timing‐of‐events model to explain such events as the midlife transition and the midlife crisis. The former model describes psychosocial tasks as occurring in a definite age‐related sequence, while the latter describes tasks as occurring in response to particular life events and their timing. In other words, whereas the normative‐crisis model defines the midlife transition as occurring exactly between ages 40 and 45, the timing‐of‐events model defines it as occurring when the person begins the process of questioning life desires, values, goals, and accomplishments.