Women's Prime of Life: Is It the 50s?

Mitchell, Valory; Helson, Ravenna

doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1990.tb00224.x

Cited by 91 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…For example, Erikson suggested that the maturity and superior functioning associated with midlife is linked to the "generativity" stage, during which individuals tend to be increasingly productive and creative at work, while at the same time promoting and guiding the next generation. Similarly, Mitchell and Helson (1990) described the latter part of midlife as a period characterized by higher levels of psychological maturity and adjustment and noted that during the postparental period "the energy that went to children is redirected to the partner, work, the community, or selfdevelopment" (p. 453). Role theories of aging suggest that over the course of adulthood individuals increasingly occupy positions of power and status, which might convey a sense of self-worth (Dannefer, 1984;Helson, Mitchell, & Moane, 1984;Hogan & Roberts, in press;Sarbin, 1964).…”

Section: What Have We Learned About the Development Of Self-esteem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Trzesniewski

Donnellan

Robins

2003

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

647

479

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This study provides a comprehensive picture of age differences in self-esteem from age 9 to 90 years using cross-sectional data collected from 326,641 individuals over the Internet. Self-esteem levels were high in childhood, dropped during adolescence, rose gradually throughout adulthood, and declined sharply in old age. This trajectory generally held across gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and nationality (U.S. citizens vs. non-U.S. citizens). Overall, these findings support previous research, help clarify inconsistencies in the literature, and document new trends that require further investigation.

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Section: What Have We Learned About the Development Of Self-esteem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Trzesniewski

Donnellan

Robins

2003

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

647

479

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although considerable research suggests that menopause is experienced by many women as not particularly significant subjectively (see, e.g., Mitchell & Helson, 1990), it has nonetheless been examined extensively in terms of its expected implications for women's sexual desire, sexual attractiveness, and sexual activity, as well as women's self-esteem (Marshall & Katz, 2006;McHugh, 2007). Sometimes the findings have contradicted cultural stereotypes.…”

Section: Gender and Aging Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Gender, Adult Development, and Aging

Stewart

Newton

2009

Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology

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The subject of gender in adulthood is, on its face, too large for a single chapter. In an attempt to define it so that it is feasible to address, we narrow our focus to three broad issues: gender and lifespan developmental approaches to studying adult personality; gender and the aging mind and body across adulthood; and the implications of gendered social roles for adult development and aging. We chose these issues for several reasons.First, we wanted to highlight the differences between a "lifespan developmental" approach to understanding gender in adulthood and an "aging" approach (see also Elder & Shanahan, 2006;Fuller-Iglesias, Antonucci, & Smith, 2008). The first emphasizes growth across the lifespan, often includes qualitatively distinct periods or stages, and does not focus on decline or decrements. This approach emphasizes ways that adults of different ages (e.g., in their 20s vs. their 40s) may differ from each other in important ways. The second approach nearly always includes attention to processes of decline and decrements in functioning, but also increasingly notes functions that do not decline or that might even increase. These two approaches are both important and have both been used to study some phenomena, but in many cases only one of them has been employed. For that reason, we have quite different impressions of aging itself according to these different views, and those differences have consequences for our understanding of gender. For example, personality has been examined most thoroughly in developmental terms in adulthood, is often understood in terms of continuities or lack of change, but has rarely been examined in terms of decline or "aging." In contrast, the cognitive and physical changes associated with adulthood are nearly always conceptualized in terms of broad processes rather than stages and, indeed, usually in terms of decline. Individual researchers who take both approaches to understanding gender in adulthood have advocated attention to contextual issues such as culture, class, or race/ethnicity, but most research has failed to incorporate it. We examine social roles as one set of contextual issues that have been studied in some depth and are often gendered, though men and women both occupy many of them.Finally, in this chapter we pay attention to those aspects of the psychology of adult persons that seem to be inflected by gender, though we note with interest areas where there has been little research. We assume that some aspects of adult psychology are general to both women and men (e.g., that responsibilities for work and other people generally increase until old age, that there is a switch in focus to "time left" after mid-life), and we do not focus on those. Instead we consider evidence that gender matters in certain psychological experiences of adulthood in the three areas mentioned above: personality, cognitive and physical changes, and social roles. Thus, for example, A

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Section: Purpose Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Midlife seems to constitute a key developmental stage for African American women and was therefore selected for examination in the study. These women are coping with a host of bio-psycho-social processes, and superimposed on these for African American women are the over arching factors of racism and politically sanctioned oppression (Larke, 1996;Westbrooks, 1995; hooks, 1992;Weed, 1992;Collins, 1990;Fodor, 1990;Mitchell & Helson, 1990; Giddings, 1984).Specifically, four research questions formed the basis for the current study:(1) Do African American women report differences in their levels of spirituality and their levels of religiosity?(2) As the aging process occurs do African American women become more spiritually connected? …”

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confidence: 99%

African American Women at Midlife: the Relationship Between Spirituality and Life Satisfaction

Starks¹,

Hughey²

2003

affilia j wom soc wo

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In order to examine the potential relationship between life satisfaction, spirituality and other demographic variables, 147 African American women from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri were asked to complete the Adult Life Satisfaction Scale (ALSS) and the Black Women=s Spirituality/Religiosity Measure (BWSRM). In-depth interviews were also conducted with six African American women. Data obtained were subjected to correlated groups t test, Pearson r=s and regression analysis; content analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Although no significant difference was found among the ratings of life satisfaction and spirituality with respect to age or education level, the African American women did report higher levels of religiosity than spirituality which correlated significantly with life satisfaction. Analysis of a subscale of the BWSRM found that the women reported significantly higher levels of spirituality than religiosity. A moderate correlation was found between age and religiosity while spirituality was found to be a critical variable in contributing to life satisfaction in African American women at midlife, regardless of age, income or education. African American Women at Midlife: The Relationship Between Spirituality and Life SatisfactionAfrican American women share a history steeped in both oppression and spirituality. Subordination obviously has a deleterious effect on the potential of individuals to contribute to the well being of society (Akbar, 1991;West 1993). Currently, more African American women are being sent to prison than ever before and the percentage of African American women with AIDS/HIV is at an all time high (US Census Bureau, 1998). Life transitions also become more difficult and often it is only through the evolution of their spirituality that African American women achieve greater life satisfaction (Devi, 1994; Warfield-Coppack, 1995). Unfortunately, many religious belief systems and practices contribute to, rather than distract from, the stress experienced by African American women.The genesis of self help in the African American community was the ABlack church,@ which, for sake of clarity, is used to denote a community of churches with a membership that is predominately African American. Within this institution existed a dichotomous process and blend of African-centered focus and mainstream Euro-American doctrine and philosophy (Asante, 1990;Frazier, 1974;Karenga, 1988). Religion has been manifest as a political force, a protective factor and an educational and transformational vehicle (Collins, 1990;hooks, 1990;Karenga, 1988). And even though the majority of African Americans in the United States are protestant with a Judeo-Christian base, there are growing numbers of African American who affiliate or identify with Islam, ancient African religions as well as various nontraditional and unorthodox sects (Karenga, 1993).Several developmental theorists (Fodor, 1990;Jones, 1998;Ruffin, 1989) have alluded to the fact that African American women a...

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Women's Prime of Life: Is It the 50s?

Cited by 91 publications

References 25 publications

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Stability of self-esteem across the life span.

Gender, Adult Development, and Aging

African American Women at Midlife: the Relationship Between Spirituality and Life Satisfaction

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