National survey data were utilized to measure differences in self-perception, motivation, and social support through seven stages of the family life cycle. In most cases, stages of family life were significantly associated with psychological and social change in adulthood, regardless of sex. (Author)

The past 15 years have brought a re-evaluation of women's adult development in light feminist thinking. However, many outdated assumptions in psychological theory remain comfortably ensconced; to challenge these ideas, some misrepresentations of women's experience are examined. The focus is on Erik Erikson's explanation of the second stage of…

Several works have suggested that life proceeds in a pattern of developmental stages characterized by expansion during the early adult years and restriction, or withdrawal, after middle age. Postulating that self-concept might also be expected to reflect this curvilinear pattern of life stages, the author explored differences in adult self-concept…

Evaluates the effects of expanding sex-role alternatives on the passage of American middle-class women through the Eriksonian model of identity achievement. Contrasts contemporary norms regarding appropriate feminine roles with the more constricted social expectations of Erikson's time. Discusses validity of Erikson's original model of female…

Explores gender and ethnicity in relation to Marcia's (1980) model of identity development, based on the centrality of crisis and commitment in the formation of adult identity during the college years. Suggests that Marcia's model does not adequately account for the centrality of relationship to female development, nor the importance of…

This book argues that radical adult education, which supports progressive social movements and tries to produce critically reflexive people capable of shifting social balance towards social justice, needs to recast the ways that it conceives of the human subject, experience, and power by taking on board recent developments in feminist…

A systematic review and critique of the work of midlife researchers and theorists such as Gould, Vaillant, Jung, Newman and Levinson, among others, indicates that: (1) a midlife transition period exists from approximately 35 to 55 and lasts as many as 10 years for both men and women; (2) a series of unique and fundamental biological, psychosocial,…

The process by which people construct and reconstruct their identities when they face cultural changes resulting from education, learning, or moving to another culture was examined through a study of narratives from immigrants to Sweden and students who were in the process of learning to become researchers at a well-established university, as well…

This encyclopedia contains 106 articles on adult development that were written by more than 75 specialists in such diverse fields as anthropology, communication, education, health sciences, history, and psychology. In a guide to related topics that is presented at the beginning of the encyclopedia, the 106 articles are grouped under the following…