Development during Middle Age - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages As middle age is considered as the age of wisdom, emotional stability and social acceptance of an individual, the theories possess ample importance on human psychology and physiology. Here, an attempt is to assess the validity of foretold theories by analyzing the findings related to an interview with two middle-aged individuals.
As it is not fair to disclose the identity of interviewees who co-operated with the interview, imaginary names and professions are used. The first person is George Thomas, my friend, a doctor and the second person is John Mackenzie, my relative, a professor of English Language & Literature. Louise Simmers makes clear that middle age shows emotional change and it may be either a period of satisfaction or crisis (Simmers, 2003, p. 197). Related to the theories of Erikson, Vaillant, Levinson, and Peck, which deals with the socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive development of middle-aged people, a questionnaire (see appendix-1) was prepared including fifteen questions that can be answered as yes /no. Then I informed them that they do have the right to refuse to answer any question posed to them. This helped the respondents to have a clear idea about the aim of the interview. The following part deals with the data manipulation and findings derived from the foretold interview.
According to Erikson, there exist a conflict between generativity and stagnation among the middle-aged individuals. Neil J. Smelser & Erik H. Erikson concludes that: “Speaking of middle age, Erikson describes even generativity in terms of ego.” (Smelser & Erikson, 1980, p. 161)Erikson deals with problems of middle-aged people and describes generativity by relating it to the ego. The response to the first question proves that both the respondents are generative in their career but feel stagnant in their family life. Bernice Levin Neugarten reflects that middle-aged people possess different perceptions, related to their male/female role in the family (Neugarten, 1968, p. 4). ...Download file to see next pagesRead More