For the healthy midlife adult, the second half of life provides a balance for the first half: men become more nurturant while women become more aggressive. The definition of the midlife woman is tied to the family cycle, when her children leave home. Marital satisfaction often increases after the children are gone and relinquishing her role as…

Sex role development is discussed, beginning with processes through which children adopt sexual identity and related behaviors. The growth of androgyny (measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) in adult males and females is documented, and changes in the sex role behavior of men and women over 50 are described. (PP)

While professional women may experience their "dual careers" at home and at work as a source of inner fragmentation, this fragmentation can be a vehicle for developing a greater sense of personhood. Recent data show that women who combine work, marriage, and motherhood are experiencing more general psychological well being than are other women.…

The suggestion is made that the flood of middle-aged women who have recently turned away from traditional approaches to achievement may have shifted their orientation to changing options, but have always had a great desire to achieve. The effect of the changing values of the women's movement is discussed, and a grid of achievement motivation…

Although health is a key element in one's experience of middle adulthood as a time of productivity and personal fulfillment, research on psychosocial factors predictive of mid-life health is sparse, especially for women. Psychosocial variables are not only highly salient to health, but also are potentially modifiable by women themselves. This…

This document is comprised of papers presented at a symposium on Adult Development in Women. A paper entitled "Women in the Middle Years" reviews the major findings on adult women, and describes what an adequate theory of women in the middle years should account for. Mental health, effects of marriage, children and work, and the interrelationships…

Because relationships with family and friends may cause stress for women, the effects of interactions with family, friends, and community on women's adaption to the experiences of aging are important. Interviews were conducted with 75 women between the ages of 44 and 77 who were educated, relieved of child-rearing responsibilities, and relatively…

Contains eight articles related to counseling women and change, including: (1) the impact of traditional values on counseling women, (2) problems of midlife women, (3) women's victimization, and (4) counseling women to be whole persons. Also focuses on women as housewives, working women, and religious women. (RC)

Midlife transition is a potentially problematic time for all women, but especially for those who are unmarried, relatively less well-educated, and who do not reside in urban areas. Some studies suggest that unmarried women have more difficulty in identity formation and acceptance of their role by society. Married women whose children are nearly…

Findings are presented from a study of the midlife dual career family (in which both members of the couple are professionally employed and are highly committed to their work, and where there may or may not be children present). Focus is on the attitudes, perspectives, and personality characteristics of the dual career wife, and distinction is made…

The national field study of women's re-entry programs in community colleges reported here was done to identify factors that impeded or facilitated the progress of these programs. After an introduction, the content is presented in three sections. The first section deals with perspective transformation, the adult development process occurring in the…

Adjustment experiences of South Korean graduate students' wives living in Georgia were examined from a feminist viewpoint. The adaptive process, its cultural meaning, and related social ramifications, was hypothesized to be an example of transformative learning. These two questions guided the study: (1) how did South Korean students' wives adapt…