The Distinguishing Cultural Construct of the Middle Aged.pdf

Running head: THE PHYSICAL & COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDDLE

AGED

Geleta Parker

Liberty University CCOU 304

The Distinguishing Cultural Construct of the Middle Aged

Abstract

There are many features that distinguish the middle aged. Physical changes, intelligence and

thought processes change, different factors affect health at midlife. Many factors help to

construct the middle adulthood stage of life. This paper will show the recognizably differences in

the opportunities, challenges, responsibilities, social norms, and roles especially in today’s

society. During the middle adulthood life span there are cognitive gains and losses which occur.

The Distinguishing Cultural Construct of the Middle Aged

Middle age often brings a restructuring of social roles. These include launching

children, becoming grandparents, changing jobs, and eventually retiring. As people age they tend

to spend less time with others (Carstensen, 1996). In the book The Fountain of Age, Betty

Friedan wrote “Why not look at these new years of life in terms of new roles in society, another

than younger adults to be satisfied with a smaller network of friends. Yet the social contacts older

adults do have are more important to their well-being than ever (Lansford, Sherman, &

Antonucci, 1998). Please note however, today’s lifestyles are more diverse, people’s social

clocks tick at different rates and a fluid life cycle has blurred the boundaries of middle adulthood

(Neugarten & Neugarten, 1987).

The middle aged life span was least studied until recently. The middle adulthood years

were looked at as an insignificant gap between the more effective changes of young adulthood

and old age. The baby-boom generation is currently in the middle aged stage of life and studies

have heightened (Lachman, 2001; Moen & Wethington, 1999). Studies show that in the United

States, by this year in 2015, the 45 to 64 year old population is expected to reach 80 million; this

is a 72 percent more increase than in 1990. Anne Morrow Lindbergh author of Gift from the Sea

wrote, “The primitive, physical, functional, pattern of the morning of life, the active years before

forty or fifty is outlived. But there is still the afternoon opening up, which one can spend not in

the feverish pace of the morning but in having time at last for those intellectual, cultural, and

spiritual activities that were pushed aside in the heat of the race”(1955). This excerpt gives

meaning of some common changes in the middle aged life span.

The term “middle age” was introduced in both the United States and Europe around the

many signs of improved health as well as longevity of life. The National Council of Aging

reports that one- third of Americans in their seventies, and half of those between the ages of 65

and 69, think of themselves as middle aged (National Council on Aging, 2000), however in the

United States society the term middle age is progressively blossoming into a state of mind

(Menon 2001). To define the middle aged in a more chronological term, classifying the years

between 40 and 65 is a little unpredictable. From a contextual point of view one may identify or

define middle age by taking into account the family consisting of couples with either grown adult

children or elderly parents. Yet there are many people in their late forties, even older still raising

young children, there are some who still haven’t bore any children. The families with grown

children may realize that the time has come to experience the nest emptying or filling up for that

matter. In addition to the chronological and contextual term there is also a biological aspect

concerning when middle age is. From a biological aspect one can examine the active lifestyle of

a 55 year old that spends a lot of time working out. Biologically the 55 year old who actively

worked out is more likely to be much younger biologically in comparison to 36 year old whose

most strenuous work out is reaching for the potato chip bag.

The definition of middle age differs with ethnicity, gender, health, culture, and

socioeconomic status (Helson, 1997; Moen & Wethington, 1999). In comparison to the previous

unfolds in stages; our lives consist of a wide variety of activities strewn through definite stages”

(Hart, 2003).

Whether and when to retire are among the most crucial lifestyle decisions people make

as they approach middle adulthood. These decisions are affected by their financial situations,

emotional state, as well as the way they spend their waking hours and the ways they relate to

family and friends. The problem of providing financial support for large numbers of retired older

people also has serious implications for society, especially as the baby boom generation nears old

age. For many Americans retirement involves many transitions out of and into paid and unpaid

work. (Kim & Moen, 2001) Some retire to bridge jobs which can mean new part time or full time

jobs that may serve as bridges to complete retirement. Some are semiretired which means they

continue to do what they were doing before but cut their hours down as well as responsibilities. A

poll of 803 men and women ages 50 to 75 found that 40 percent were working for pay in

retirement or planning to do so (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 1999). Filled with many

responsibilities and various demanding roles middle aged adults are assured that the necessary

ability to successfully manage households, enterprises, launching children, starting careers or

caring for aging parents (Lachman, 2001).

Most people lives are enriched by the presence of longtime friends and family members.

give a midlife marital relationship a new aspect of life (Lavee, 1996).

As far as friendships are concerned older people have very close friends. Those with an active

circle of friends are healthier. These friends provide support as well as companionship which are

needed in the later age of life.

Generalizing the meaning of relationships in the middle aged people of today’s society may

be rather difficult. This period of life covers a quarter of a century of development as well as

embraces a greater multiplicity of life paths than ever before. According to NFO research, Inc.,

after completing a mail survey of 1,384 adults 45 and older, most middle aged and older adults

are optimistic about the quality of their lives as they age. One 45 year old might be happily

married and raising children; another may be contemplating marriage or, like divorced and

at midlife and beyond. Having a close friend like or family members of varying degrees of

closeness, for example an adult children , on whom one can rely on for assistance, well-being, as

well as social support, and offer care, concern, and support is needed during the middle aged

stage of life.

Another distinguishing cultural makeup of the middle aged includes the following changes.

There are changes in the sensory and psychomotor functioning, structural and systemic changes,

and changes in sexuality and reproductive functioning in men and women, health concerns, as

well as influences of emotional state, personality and stress. The genetic makeup in addition to

aging contributes to some of the physiological changes experienced during the middle years. Age

related conditions like presbycusis and presbyopia cause a minor decline in the sensory and

(Whitborne 2001).Dr. Joseph and Mary Ann Mayo co- authors of Menopause Manager defines

woman no longer has viable eggs in her ovaries and has hot had a period for a year.” Some

middle aged men have a decreased in fertility as well as frequency in orgasm. There is generally

a slight and gradual diminishment of sexual activity. Sexual dysfunction decreases with age in

women for men it is the opposite. A vast majority of men experience erectile dysfunction which

can have physical causes but may also be in relation to lifestyle choices, health and emotional

well- being.

The factors that affect health at midlife include but not limited to:

Managing stress is imperative as certain stressors may explain why middle aged women are

especially susceptible to depression and other health problems and why they tend to be unhappier

with their marriages than men (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1997; Thomas, 1997). Midlife crisis is

known as a stressful time set off by a review and reevaluation of one’s life. Personality and

lifestyle changes often contribute to midlife crisis. Also known as the second adolescence midlife

crisis was theorized as a crisis of identity. At this stage there is a need to rebuild one’s lives. A

turning point such as the transition of becoming middle aged involves developing an identity and

with aging goes back to how people would say when a woman has wrinkles and gray hair it

defines a woman as “over the hill”. For a man however, wrinkles and gray hair signifies that a

man is in the “prime of life”. This double standard not only downplays the beauty and sex appeal

of a woman but it can also present a stumbling block in the adjustment of a married couple’s

sexual relationship.

Middle age has many distinguishing features and they are not the same for everyone. It is a

time where one experiences both gains and losses. The concept of middle age is socially

constructed it cannot be defined alone by a birthday, or the day your baby leaves the nest. The

middle aged has physical changes like deterioration of the sensory abilities. Women experience

menopause, and there is a continued sense of identity development that transitions during

change and continuity is put into perspective.