Emotional and social development in middle adulthood is connected with many challenges and transformations. The first noteworthy argument in this material is that the beginning of early and middle adulthood is always followed by the transition phase, which is at 40 years old. At this stage, individuals evaluate their accomplishments, seek age-appropriate activities, and search for their true traits and identities. Still, people undergo challenges regarding gender identity, marriage and divorce, parent-child relationships, and others at this phase.
Furthermore, from young adulthood and middle adulthood, there are several stages that people might go through. The first is generativity, which is an objective is to transmit information, ideas, and resources to subsequent generations. Personality, friendship, community, culture, and society make up the traditional path of generativity. In midlife, the intention to leave a legacy for future generations after one’s death is one of the main drivers of generativity. However, the unfavorable ending of the stage is stagnation, which is a point in life in which people become lost. They typically dislike the decisions they have made in life. People who reach stagnation concentrate on themselves, how to make their own lives better, and what other individuals can do for them. They do not care about the next generation, unlike those who are at the stage of generativity. As a result, despite various factors in middle adulthood, such as matters regarding employment, family, and relationships, one must promote well-being and concentrate on health, social connections, and a sense of control.
As for the most interesting, I found the discussion about people’s perspectives of themselves quite exciting to read. It was mentioned that the younger people are, the more they compare their accomplishments in life to those of others. Moreover, people compare their current selves to their former selves as they become older. Another example of interesting information is that individuals gain more self-acceptance, independence, and feelings of competence by middle age. I agree with these points since I can see such patterns via personal experience. Overall, the arguments were convincing since the authors used the theories of prominent psychologists, such as Erikson and Levinson.