Module 7
Relationships and Retirement Patterns in Older Adulthood
a. Marriage and Intimate Relationships
The marital relationship has come under intense scrutiny in today’s world. The
union between two adults is thought to serve as the foundation of the entire family
hierarchy that is passed along from generation to generation. You hear about the death
of marriage as an institution, yet interest in marriage itself never seems to wane in the
popular imagination, the media, and professional literature. The decision to marry
involves a legal, social, and, some might say, moral commitment in which two people
promise to spend the rest of their lives together. Furthermore, as the states in the
United States arrive at positions on the legality of gay marriage, it seems clear that
marriage is still a very relevant social institution.
Even as the definition of marriage continues to evolve, the statistics on its
success rate prove to be as discouraging as ever for those who contemplate legalizing
their own relationship with a partner. Given the current divorce statistics, you know
that many people are not able to maintain the hopeful promises they make to each
other in their wedding vows. What factors contribute to a successful marital
relationship, and what might lead to its demise? Social scientists are nowhere near
answers to these questions, but there are a plethora of theories as we shall see shortly.
In the year 2009, 121.7 million adults were married and living with their
spouse, a number that represents 50% of the population age 18 and older. Among the
entire population 18 and older, the percent of those who have ever been married is far
higher—approximately 74% of the population (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010d).
The median age of marriage, 25.9 for women and 28.1 for men (U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 2010e), has steadily risen over the past decades as has the proportion of
unmarried and never married adults (Goodwin, McGill, & Chandra, 2009). Among all
adults 18 and older, over half of Whites (56%) are married. Asian-Americans (62%)
are most likely to be currently married and living with a spouse, and Blacks (34%) the
least (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010d).
As a social institution, marriage is defined as a legally sanctioned union
between a man and a woman (in most U.S. states). People who are married often pay
joint income tax returns and are given virtually automatic privileges to share the rest
of their finances, as well as other necessities such as health care benefits and housing.
They often share a last name, usually the husband’s, although many wives never
change their names. In the 1970s, couples began the practice of creating a new
hyphenated last name, a trend that now appears to have decreased in popularity.
Generally, marital partners are entitled to retirement, death, and health insurance
benefits, as well as the entire portion of the estate when one partner dies. Although
marriages need not legally conform to the statutes of a particular religion, they are
often performed in a religious context. Having explained the legal definition of
marriage, you can clearly see what and who are excluded. People who are not legally
married are not automatically entitled to the benefits available to those who are.
Individuals living within a committed and long-term relationship not sanctioned by
the law must seek exceptions to virtually all of the conditions that are set forth for
married people. If these individuals are of the same sex and living within a committed
homosexual relationship, they face additional barriers to the benefits granted to
married persons.
Obviously, the legal definition of marriage includes no mention of the
partners’ emotional relationship with each other. People can be legally married and
live apart, both literally and figuratively. Most social scientists distinguish between an
intimate and a marital relationship because the two need not exist within the same
couple. The legal commitment of marriage adds a dimension to an intimate
relationship not present in a nonmarital close relationship in that ending a marital
relationship is technically more difficult than ending a nonmarital one. Furthermore,
many people view marriage as a moral and spiritual commitment that they cannot or
will not violate. Definitional concerns aside, there is a body of evidence on marriage
in adulthood suggesting that married adults have many advantages compared with
those who are unmarried. Researchers analyzing the findings of over 50 studies,
including those based on more than 250,000 older adults from a variety of countries,
showed a 9 to 15% reduction in mortality risk for married men and women (Manzoli,
Villari, Pirone, & Boccia, 2007). This protective effect of marriage was greater in
countries from Europe and North America compared to Israel and countries from
Asia. Marriage also confers with it greater happiness and a variety of other benefits to
the quality of life, a fact that came into question (particularly for women) in the
1980s, but now is accepted as well established.
Among people 65 and older in the United States, there is a higher percentage
of men (72%) than women (42%) married and living with a spouse. Consequently,
women over the age of 65 are about twice as likely (39%) as men (19%) to be living
alone (Administration on Aging, 2009). Therefore, older women are at greater risk for
some of the disadvantages that come with single status, including fewer financial
resources, less access to care, and lower social support.
Living in a stable relationship prior to or instead of marrying is referred to as
cohabitation. Since the 1960s, there has been a steady increase in the number of
couples who choose this lifestyle. In 1960 an estimated 439,000 individuals in the
United States reported that they were cohabitating with a person of the opposite sex.
By 2009 this number was estimated at about 6.7 million (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
2010f). From 50 to 60% of all marriages are now preceded by cohabitation (Stanley,
Amato, Johnson, & Markman, 2006); looking at the data on couples who cohabitate,
approximately 28% of women 44 and under who cohabitate eventually marry their
partner.
Though the commonsense wisdom is that the experience of living together
contributes positively to the success of a marriage, the opposite seems to be true, at
least in part. Data on divorce patterns show that there is a greater risk of marital
breakup among people who cohabitated before they became engaged. The greater
likelihood of divorce among couples who cohabitate before they become engaged is
referred to as the cohabitation effect (Cohan & Kleinbaum, 2002). One explanation
for the cohabitation effect is that couples who would not have gotten married ‘‘slide’’
into marriage through inertia; in other words, the fact that they were already living
together becomes the basis for entering into marriage even if the fit between the two
partners is not all that good. Eventually they divorce due to the fact that they were not
well matched at the outset. Not only are they more likely to divorce, but the people
with this relationship history experience greater unhappiness during the period in
which they remain under the same roof after their marriage.
Gay marriage was first legalized in the United States by the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in 2004, and has since been legalized in several other states, including
(at the current time) Vermont, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Iowa, New
Hampshire, and in the jurisdictions of several additional states. California, having
legalized gay marriage through a state Supreme Court ruling in 2008, subsequently
rejected its legality in a contentious 2008 ballot known as Proposition 8. Other U.S.
states are considering similar legislation. Around the world, gay marriage is
considered legal in seven countries, including Canada, Belgium, Norway, Spain, the
Netherlands, Sweden, and South Africa. Clearly, based on the extent of debate about
this issue in the United States and other countries, it is a topic that will remain on
political agendas for the coming years.
As of 2009, 485,000 adults in the United States lived with a same-sex partner
(Kreider, 2010); there are no data on same-sex married couples. The largest
percentage (1.6%) of same-sex partners involves people of two or more races. San
Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon, are the cities with the highest numbers of
same-sex partnerships. It is estimated that 34% of lesbian couples and 22% of gay
male couples who live together have children (Simmons & O’Connell, 2003). In a
comprehensive review of the characteristics of same-sex couples, Peplau and
Fingerhut (2007) concluded that, compared with heterosexual couples, there are many
similarities in the dynamics of the relationship. One notable exception, however, is a
greater sharing of household tasks among lesbian and gay couples. Although there is
little research on the factors contributing to the longevity of these relationships and
partner satisfaction, the available evidence suggests that because most of the
individuals living in these relationships are not legally bound to each other, they are
more likely to dissolve when the partnership is not working out. However, the
majority of same-sex couples would prefer to legalize their relationship.
Approximately 10% of the adult population in the United States is divorced
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010d). Taking into account all marriages that end in
divorce, the average length of first marriage prior to divorce is about 8 years (Kreider,
2005). Divorce statistics also show important variations by race. Black women
between the ages of 25 and 44 have higher divorce rates than White or Hispanic
women (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010). Research on children of
divorced parents suggests that for women, but not men, parental divorce is a stronger
indicator of a lack of commitment and confidence in the marriage.
Divorce rates have been declining since reaching a peak in 1980. Many factors
are thought to account for this decreasing divorce rate. One is that people are
marrying at later ages; the older a woman at marriage, the lower the probability that
she will become divorced (Bramlett & Mosher, 2002). Second, the previously
skyrocketing divorce rates increased consciousness in society about the need for
prevention. Suggesting that such efforts can pay off, a study of over 2,200 households
in the Midwest of the United States showed that couples who participated in
premarital education had higher levels of marital satisfaction, lower levels of conflict,
and reduced odds of divorce (Stanley et al., 2006). Research on second marriages
suggests that couples are less likely to engage in premarital education compared with
couples entering into first marriages; a trend linked to decreased marital happiness
and increased rates of divorce.
The dissolution of a marriage is ordinarily perceived by those involved as a
disappointment and a sad if not tragic event. One or both of the partners may be
relieved to see the end of an unsuccessful relationship, but they are nevertheless
affected in many ways by the inevitable consequences of the divorce on their daily
lives, the lives of children, and the lives of extended family members. A range of
practical issues must be resolved, such as changes in housing and financial affairs, but
the greatest toll is the emotional one. For many couples, child custody arrangements
present the most significant challenge caused by their altered status as a family.
Earlier we discussed the advantages of marriage in terms of benefits to health,
financial security, wellbeing, and lifestyle. Studies on divorced (compared with
married) individuals show that they have lower levels of psychological well-being,
poorer health, higher mortality rates, more problems with substance abuse and
depression, less satisfying sex lives, and more negative life events (Amato, 2000). The
negative consequences of divorce are more severe for individuals who have young
children, especially women (Williams & Dunne-Bryant, 2006). These effects may
persist for many years, particularly for individuals who remain psychologically
attached to their ex-partner, experience conflict in coparenting, or who have unusual
difficulty in living on their own (Sweeper & Halford, 2006). Divorced or widowed
adults who do not remarry are in poorer health (including chronic conditions and
depressive symptoms) than those who remarry (Hughes & Waite, 2009). Divorce in
older adults has negative effects on health in that newly divorced older adults
experience more physical limitations in their daily lives.
Although technically divorce rates in the population as a whole have declined,
the media frequently cite the disturbing statistic that one out of every two marriages
will end in divorce. However, the divorce statistics are much more complicated than
this simple formula would imply. Those who divorce in a given year are generally not
the same people as those who have gotten married, so the number of divorces cannot
simply be compared with the number of marriages to determine the odds of divorcing.
Furthermore, the divorce rate in any given year includes those people who are
divorcing for a second or third time, people who tend to have a higher divorce rate
than those who are getting a first divorce. Including these individuals in the divorce
statistics artificially inflates the divorce rate for all marriages. Another factor
influencing the divorce rate is the number of people in the population of marriageable
age, which itself is influenced by birth and death rates. In the United States,
approximately 18% of all marriages are second marriages, and 4% are third
marriages. The average duration of a second marriage that ends in divorce is slightly
longer than that of a first marriage—8 years for men and 9 years for women (Kreider,
2005). The probability of a second marriage ending in divorce after 10 years is .39,
slightly higher than that of the ending of a first marriage, which is.
People who are more likely to contemplate divorce when their marriage is in
trouble are said to be high on divorce proneness. These individuals are also more
likely to have an extramarital affair (Previti & Amato, 2004). Those high in divorce
proneness may have a long history of difficulties in the area of intimacy (the RALS)
showed that women who in college had low intimacy scores were more likely to have
divorced by their late 50s; the same was not true for men (Weinberger, Hofstein, &
Whitbourne, 2008). Approximately 1 million new children each year are affected by
divorce, a figure that has remained constant since 1980 (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
1998). As difficult as it is for children to be caught in between parents who are
divorced, it may be just as hard, if not harder, to be caught in between parents who are
in a high-conflict marriage.
In one longitudinal study of marriage, children 19 years of age and older were
asked to state whether they felt they had been caught in between parental arguments.
The children of parents whose marriages were characterized by a high degree of
conflict felt most likely to be caught in the middle. Not surprisingly, these feelings
were related to lower subjective well-being and poorer relationships with their
parents. Thus, in some ways, the children were better off when their parents divorced
than if they had remained together in an unhappy marriage (Amato & Afifi, 2006).
Among divorced couples, mediation is increasingly being seen as an effective means
of reducing conflict and hence improving children’s adjustment. Mediation is based
on a model of cooperative dispute settlement rather than the more adversarial
approach that occurs when lawyers become part of the scene. In one 12-year
longitudinal study, divorced couples were randomly assigned to either mediation or
legal assistance. Conflict significantly declined, particularly in the first year after
divorce, among couples who participated in mediation.
When a marriage ends in the death of a partner, the survivor is faced with
enormous readjustments in every aspect of life. Even when there is time to prepare,
adjustment to widowhood is a difficult and painful process. In the United States,
currently there are approximately 14.3 million widowed adults ages 18 and older;
77% of these are 65 and older. The majority (81%) of the over-65 widowed adults are
women. By the age of 85 and older, the majority of women are widows (76%), about
double the rate for men (38%) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010d). The highest rate
of widowhood is among Black women 85 and older, among whom the large majority
(87.5%) have lost their spouses.
Adaptation to widowhood is influenced by the individual’s previous
psychological well-being. Those who adapt more readily are more likely to have
higher well-being prior to the death of the spouse but in general, men seem
particularly vulnerable to depression after the death of their wives (Bennett, Smith, &
Hughes, 2005). Without remarriage, their levels of well-being may not return to
preexisting levels even for as long as 8 years after the spouse has died (Lucas, Clark,
Georgellis, & Diener, 2003). Among both men and women, anniversary reactions may
continue for 35 years or longer following the spouse’s death (Carnelley, Wortman,
Bolger, & Burke, 2006). In what is called the widowhood effect, there is a greater
probability of death in those who have become widowed compared to those who are
married (Manzoli et al., 2007), an effect that is stronger for men. People who become
widows in later life also have a higher risk of suffering weight loss, a trend that is
greater in Blacks (Umberson, Liu, & Powers, 2009). However, in neighborhoods with
a high concentration of widows, the widowhood effect is reduced because,
presumably, there are more opportunities for social interaction among clusters of
widowed individuals (Subramanian, Elwert, & Christakis, 2008). Widows who
receive positive support from their children 6 months after the death of their spouse
report fewer depressive symptoms 18 months later.
Throughout the vicissitudes of marriage, divorce, remarriage, and widowhood,
most adults actively strive to maintain gratifying interactions with others on a day-to-
day basis. Furthermore, for many adults, the feeling of being part of a close
relationship or network of relationships is the most salient aspect of identity
(Whitbourne, 1986). Whether this relationship is called ‘‘marriage,’’ ‘‘family,’’
‘‘friendship,’’ or ‘‘partnership’’ is not as important as the feeling that one is valued by
others and has something to offer to improve the life of other people. Poets,
philosophers, playwrights, and novelists, among others, have attempted for centuries
to identify the elusive qualities of ‘‘love’’. Although they have not been around for as
long, psychologists and sociologists have also contributed their share of theories to
account for why people develop close, loving, relationships and what factors account
for their maintenance or dissolution over time.
The earliest sociological explanations of relationship satisfaction across the
years of marriage attempted to relate the quality of marital interactions to the presence
of children in the home and their ages. As relationships in the real world have seemed
to become more complicated, however, so have the theories, and there is now greater
recognition of the multiple variations that are possible when adults form close
relationships. The emotional factors involved in long-term relationships are also
gaining greater attention, as it is realized that some characteristics of human
interactions transcend specific ageor gender-based boundaries. Socioemotional
selectivity theory, implies that older adults would prefer to spend time with their
marital partner (and other family members) rather than invest their energies in
meeting new people. They should regard the longterm marital relationship as offering
perhaps the most potential to serve emotional functions because their experience
together over the years has allowed them to understand and respond to each other’s
needs. Indeed, research suggests that older adults are more likely to keep sight of the
positive aspects of their relationships even when they have disagreements (Story et
al., 2007). In addition, if older adults are better able to control their emotions,
particularly the negative ones, they should get along better with their partner because
each is less likely to irritate the other one. Finally, because older adults do experience
strong feelings, their affection for one another should not fade.
Attempts by sociologists and social psychologists to understand the dynamics
of long-term relationships go back to the 1930s, when interest in marriage and the
family had its formal beginnings as a field of inquiry. Some of the questions that
researchers working in this tradition ask include the age-old puzzles involved in
explaining why some relationships ‘‘work’’ and others do not. Early theories tended to
focus on what now seem like simplistic notions such as whether ‘‘opposites attract’’ or
whether, instead, ‘‘like attracts like’’ (later we will discuss these theories as they
pertain to the quality of long-term relationships). Sociologists typically seek answers
in examining factors such as socioeconomic status or geographic residence. Social
psychologists are more likely to explore people’s perceptions of themselves and
others, as well as their ability to read interpersonal signals in relationships. Social
exchange theory attempts to predict the stability and dissolution of social relationships
in terms of rewards and costs of an interaction. According to this theory, people
continue in relationships when they perceive that the rewards of remaining in the
relationship outweigh the rewards associated with its alternatives (Previti & Amato,
2003). The rewards of marriage include love, friendship, and feelings of commitment.
If they believe the rewards outweigh the alternative of not being in that relationship,
they will stay together. When considering a breakup, partners weigh the benefits of
staying together against the barriers presented by legal, financial, social, and religious
constraints. They might also take into account the presence of children. When the
balance shifts so that rewards no longer outweigh the costs, one or both partners will
initiate a breakup. Over time, exchange theory predicts that the intrinsic rewards of
being in the relationship if not dependency on the partner increase to the point that the
attractiveness of alternatives tends to fade.
In support of the notion of social exchange as a factor in relationship
formation, researchers find that the earning potential of young women is becoming
more important in determining their desirability as mates. With women making strides
in the labor market, their income is now being seen by husbands as an important asset
in their own movement up the occupational career ladder (Sweeney & Cancian,
2004). It is not always obvious, though, what factors will be seen as assets when
contemplating involvement with a new partner. Although women may cite earning
potential and men state physical attractiveness as characteristics of an ideal mate, a
study assessing speed dating and subsequent meetings found that these characteristics
were not enough to predict romantic interest (Eastwick & Finkel, 2008). However,
there are still some very traditional determinants of what makes men happy, at least in
the early years of marriage. In a 3-year longitudinal study of characteristics important
in a mate, men were found to place higher value on good looks, a pleasing disposition,
and a dependable character over time rather than financial prospect or favorable social
status.
For cohabitating couples, at least, sexuality seems to follow the principles of
social exchange theory. In one study, comparisons of relationship dissolution among
cohabitating and married couples showed that cohabitators were more likely to end
relationships characterized by low frequency of sexual intercourse. Presumably, those
who are cohabitating perceive fewer barriers to ending a relationship if the sexual
dimension of the relationship no longer proves to be satisfactory (Yabiku & Gager,
2009). Another theory with economic overtones is equity theory, in which the cost–
benefit analysis in the relationship occurs specifically when evaluating the benefits
that each partner brings to the relationship (Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978). Do I
benefit more than you do or is the opposite the case? According to equity theory,
people become increasingly dissatisfied when the partners perceive that there is some
form of imbalance in how much each brings to the relationship. As their feelings of
inequity grow, commitment to the relationship also decreases (Sprecher, 1988).
Eventually a dwindling relationship commitment leads to a greater likelihood of
ending it (Floyd & Wasner, 1994). Equity theory seems to apply particularly well to
people in the early stages of a relationship when couples are deciding whether or not
to build further ties with each other.
The behavioral approach to marital interactions emphasizes the actual
behaviors that partners engage in with each other during marital interactions as an
influence on marital stability and quality (Karney & Bradbury, 1997). According to
this perspective, people will be more satisfied in a long-term relationship when their
partners engage in positive or rewarding behaviors (such as expressing affection).
Punishing or negative behaviors (such as criticism or abuse) decrease satisfaction
(Gottman, Coan, Carrere, & Swanson, 1998). Not surprisingly, high levels of hostility
expressed by partners also contribute to unhappy relationships (Matthews, Wickrama,
& Conger, 1996). Couples may also be mismatched in their conflict styles. When one
partner’s style is avoidant and the other’s is highly reactive or volatile, for example, it
is unlikely that their interactions during disagreements will be satisfactory to either
person.
b. Families
The transformation of a marriage into a ‘‘family’’ traditionally is thought to
occur when a child enters the couple’s life on a permanent basis. Most of the
psychological literature on children and families focuses not on the parents but on the
children and their adjustment to the various arrangements for living worked out by
their parents (Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). Here, we will examine areas of research
specific to studies of adult development and aging.
Despite population trends toward more single-parent and cohabitating
families, the large majority of households in the United States (77%) consist of people
living together as a family. In the United States, the average household size is 2.57
people. Households with married couples constitute 53.6% of all households (U.S.
Bureau of the Census, 2010d). Changes in the family living situation in recent
decades are often discussed in terms of blended families, also known as reconstituted
families. Within these family situations, at least one adult is living with a child who is
not a biological child of that adult. Often these family situations develop after a
divorce and remarriage (or cohabitation) in which two adults establish a household
together. The dynamics within these relationships, though the subject of many
fictional accounts, are only beginning to receive empirical attention in the literature.
Some evidence suggests that these relationships are more stressful in the case of
mothers and stepchildren than between fathers and stepchildren.
Much of the family literature focuses on the period in which a first child is
born, the so-called transition to parenthood. From a biopsychosocial perspective, this
event involves biological changes (when the mother bears the child) as her body
adapts to rapid hormonal and other physiological alterations. Psychological changes
include the emotional highs and lows associated with first-time parenthood for both
parents. In addition, the individual’s identity begins to incorporate the concept of
being a parent during this crucial phase. Social changes involve the new role that
adults acquire when they become parents, altering their status with other family
members and the community. At the sociocultural level, there are also changing social
expectations for parents, expectations that typically reflect social norms for men and
women as fathers and mothers. Clearly, once the transition occurs, parenthood
continues to make a multifaceted impact on the individual. Although biological
factors recede in importance, psychological effects and social changes continue, in
effect, for the rest of the individual’s life. Approximately 4.3 million women in the
United States give birth each year. In the United States in 2006, 75% of all children
were born to mothers between the ages of 20 and 34 years old (National Vital
Statistics System, 2010). In 2008, the number and rate of births fell from its high point
reached in 2007, reflecting the downturn in the economy. The exception to this overall
trend was among women in their 40s who may have felt that despite the poor
economic times, they could not wait longer to have a child.
Much of the literature on parenthood and its effects on adults is based on
studies of the transition to parenthood within traditional two-parent families. The
logic behind such research is that the most significant changes take place during this
crucial time as the couple adjusts to its newest member of the family. The original
impetus for studies on the transition to parenthood was provided by the consistent
finding based mainly on cross-sectional studies showing that marital satisfaction dips
during the child-rearing years, a drop-off particularly marked for women. To a certain
extent, the overall data still support this trend, including a recent longitudinal study of
couples with and without children studied over an 8-year period prior to the time that
the eventual parents first knew they were expecting. Following the birth of the child,
new parents displayed steeper rates of relationship decline compared with couples
without children.
Typically, the division of labor in the home becomes more traditional after
children are born. Working women without children already perform more household
duties than men do, but after becoming mothers, the situation is exacerbated
(Coltrane, 2000). Mothers assume more of the stereotypically female roles of
performing household duties such as laundry, cooking, and cleaning, in addition to
providing the bulk of the child care. Men increase their involvement in paid
employment outside the home after the child enters the family (Christiansen &
Palkovitz, 2001). In part, these changes reflect policies in the workplace as well as the
beliefs that couples have about how family responsibilities should be equitably
divided.
process referred to as doing gender. When the woman earns more money than
her husband, this sets up a dynamic that violates normative expectations (Bittman,
England, Sayer, Folbre, & Matheson, 2003). Rather than doing 50% or less of the
housework, the wife actually takes on the majority of household duties, in the process
enacting traditional gender expectations for women. If the woman perceives the share
of the labor as unfair, the stage is set for both she and her husband to become
psychologically more distressed (Grote, Clark, & Moore, 2004). Women who are
more likely to ease into their new roles as mothers tend to have other psychological
characteristics. They will be happier during the transition if they enjoy performing
family work, are oriented toward family in terms of their overall life goals, feel that
they are particularly good in their new role, and do not view the unequal division of
labor as unfair (Grote, Naylor, & Clark, 2002; Salmela-Aro, Nurmi, Saisto, &
Halmesmaeki, 2001). What about the situation in same-sex couples? Do they also
change in their perception and enactment of household roles? In one short-term
longitudinal study of lesbian women becoming first-time parents (Goldberg & Sayer,
2006), researchers observed similar patterns. Feelings of love tend to decrease and the
amount of conflict tends to increase across the parenthood transition. As is also true
with heterosexual couples, lesbian couples report that they have less time to spend
with each other and are stressed by the new roles they have taken on as parents.
c. Grandparents
For many older adults, the rewards of family life begin to grow much richer
when they reach the status of grandparents. At this point, they are in a position to be
able to enjoy the benefits of expressing their generativity through interacting with the
youngest generation. At the same time, grandparents can avoid the more arduous tasks
of parenthood. One of the most challenging aspects of life for the older person is loss
of a spouse. The opportunity to be a grandparent can offset some of this loss.
Unfortunately not all grandparents are able to enjoy the benefits of their status, nor do
all grandparents want to assume this role. Furthermore, increasingly grandparents are
being asked to substitute for a parent who is not present in the home, or whose job has
extensive time commitments. Many people still think of grandparents as the warm,
generous, older adults portrayed in the media as kindly relatives who have ample time
to spend with their families and want to do so. However, variations in patterns of
grandparenting, along with a rapidly increasing growth in the number of grandparents
in the population, may require that this image be changed.
Estimates are that there are approximately 56 million grandparents in the
United States (Fields, O’Connell, & Downs, 2006); about 11% (6.2 million) live with
their under-18-year-old grandchildren. Of grandparents living with grandchildren, 2.5
million are responsible entirely for their basic needs (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
2009b). This situation, referred to as a skip generation family, may occur for a variety
of reasons, including substance abuse by parents, child abuse or neglect by parents,
teenage pregnancy or failure of parents to handle children, and parental
unemployment, divorce, AIDS, or incarceration. Although only a small percentage
(14%) of grandparents in skip generation households are over the age of 60 years,
substantial percentages live in poverty (Economist, 2007). Many have a disability.
However, on the positive side, the role of surrogate parent can contribute favorably to
the grandparents’ sense of identity, particularly for Black grandmothers (Pruchno &
McKenney, 2002). Feeling that others are supportive can help ameliorate the negative
effects of the stress and strain of caring for the grandchild.
The classic study of grandparenting conducted by Neugarten and Weinstein
(1964) identified five types of grandparents. The first type, the formal grandparent,
follows what are believed to be the appropriate guidelines for the grandparenting role.
Formal grandparents provide occasional services and maintain an interest in the
grandchild, but do not become overly involved. By contrast, the fun seeker prefers the
leisure aspects of the role and primarily provides entertainment for the grandchild.
The surrogate parent is the third type and, as the name implies, takes over the
caretaking role with the child. Fourth, the reservoir of family wisdom, which is
usually a grandfather, is the head of the family who dispenses advice and resources
but also controls the parent generation. Finally, the distant figure is the grandparent
who has infrequent contact with the grandchildren, appearing only on holidays and
special occasions.
Other attempts to characterize or delineate styles or categories of
grandparenting have followed a similar pattern, with distinctions typically being made
among the highly involved, friendly, and remote or formal types of grandparents
(Mueller, Wilhelm, & Elder, 2002). The ‘‘remote-involved’’ dimension is one that
seems to resonate in the attitudes that grandchildren have toward their grandparents as
well (Roberto, 1990). The symbolic value of the grandparent in the family lineage, or
the ‘‘family watchdog’’ (Troll, 1985), is another critical component identified in
several classifications. There is evidence that the role of grandparent is more central
in the lives of grandmothers than grandfathers (Pollet, Nelissen, & Nettle, 2009).
Although these variations may exist in patterns of grandparenting, it is safe to say that
the role of grandparent is an important one for the older adult and that grandparent
identity is an important contributor to well-being (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004).
Grandparents feel a strong sense of connection to the younger generation
(Crosnoe & Elder, 2002) and may play a significant role in mediating relationships
between parents and grandchildren during conflicts (Werner, Buchbinder, Lowenstein,
& Livni, 2005). Unfortunately for most grandparents, contact with their grandchildren
declines steadily through the grandchild’s early adulthood, particularly when they
leave the home of their parents and start an independent life of their own (Geurts,
Poortman, van Tilburg, & Dykstra, 2009). Grandparents who are unable to maintain
contact with their grandchildren due to parental divorce or disagreements within the
family are likely to suffer a variety of ill consequences, including poor mental and
physical health, depression, feelings of grief, and poorer quality of life.
d. Friendships
Of the areas of relationships examined, friendship has probably received the
least attention regarding its function, meaning, and changes over the course of
adulthood. Yet oddly enough, everyone can attest to the importance of friends in their
own life, and the many roles that friends play in providing many forms of support and
boosting one’s emotional well-being.
From a life course perspective, the major dimension that underlies close
friendships is reciprocity, or a sense of mutuality (Hartup & Stevens, 1997). The
fundamental characteristic of reciprocity is that there is give and take within the
relationship at a deep, emotional level involving intimacy, support, sharing, and
companionship. At the behavioral level, reciprocity is expressed in such actions as
exchanging favors, gifts, and advice. Close friends in adulthood confide in each other,
help each other in times of trouble, and attempt to enhance each other’s sense of well-
being. Although there may be developmental differences across the life span in the
expression of reciprocity, the essence of all friendships remains this sense of deep
mutuality. Another important function of friendships is socializing, or helping each
other through life transitions in other spheres, such as changes in health, marital
relationships, residence, and work.
When adults first enter long-term intimate relationships, they engage in
‘‘dyadic withdrawal,’’ in which their individual friendships diminish and their joint
friendships increasingly overlap (Kalmijn, 2003). Overall this means a decline will
occur in a person’s total number of friends. One exception occurs among women who
have become divorced, whose number of close friendships increases. Friendship
patterns at any age may be seen as following a developmental trajectory from
formation to dissolution. You have probably experienced this trajectory with your own
friends. The stage of friendship formation involves moving from being strangers to
acquaintances to friends. The maintenance phase encompasses what is usually thought
of as ‘‘friendship,’’ during which friends sustain an active interest and involvement
with each other. They may evaluate the quality of the friendship periodically during
this phase, deciding to increase or decrease their level of involvement. In terms of
Hartup’s framework, it would be during the maintenance phase that reciprocity levels
are highest. Friendships may remain in the maintenance phase for years, even
decades, at varying levels of closeness. The end of a friendship, which occurs during
the dissolution phase, may be hard to identify. A friendship may end gradually over a
period of time as feelings of reciprocity dwindle and the relationship essentially falls
by the wayside. Friendships may also end through a conscious decision based on
insurmountable disagreements and conflict.
Friendships in adulthood may also be distinguished in terms of the closeness
of the relationship, which may or may not change over time. People may maintain
peripheral ties, which are not characterized by a high degree of closeness, for many
years (Fingerman & Griffiths, 1999). Peripheral ties include people such as neighbors,
coworkers, professional contacts, gym buddies, friends of friends, or the parents of
one’s children’s friends. These relationships may be amicable and cordial but never
progress beyond this level. Other peripheral ties may be those that are in the
friendship formation stage and will later progress to close friendships. A third type of
peripheral tie is one that was formerly a close friendship and has now moved to the
dissolution/disinterest stage.
There may also be variations in friendship patterns in adulthood based on
individual differences in approaches toward friends, called friendship styles
(Matthews, 1986). Individuals who have an independent friendship style may enjoy
friendly, satisfying, and cordial relationships with people but never form close or
intimate friendships. The type known as discerning individuals are extremely selective
in their choice of friends, retaining a small number of very close friends throughout
their lives. Finally, people with an acquisitive friendship style are readily able to make
and retain close friendships throughout their lives and therefore have a large social
network. People tend to choose as friends other people who are similar in gender,
socioeconomic status, and ethnicity (Adams & Blieszner, 1994). Throughout
adulthood, close social ties serve as a buffer against stress and are related to higher
levels of well-being and self-esteem. Relationships with friends may even be more
predictive of high levels of self-esteem than income or marital status. For people who
have no family members, friendships serve as an important substitute for keeping an
individual socially active (Lang & Carstensen, 1994). Moreover, friendships play a
particularly important role in the lives of older gay men and lesbians, who have
considerably more elaborated conceptions of their friendship ties than do heterosexual
individuals.
e. Work Patterns in Adulthood
The labor force includes all civilians in the over-16 population who live
outside of institutions (prisons, nursing homes, residential treatment centers) and have
sought or are actively seeking employment. In 2010 the total civilian
noninstitutionalized population over the age of 16 amounted to 236.8 million people,
and of these, nearly two thirds (65%) were in the labor force. Reflecting the downturn
in the U.S. economy beginning in late 2008, the percent employed in 2010 was 90%,
down from 96% just three years earlier. This means that 58% of those in the labor
force were occupying jobs. Although Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics have similar
labor force participation rates, the unemployment rates are higher for Blacks or
African Americans (16.5%) and those of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (12.6%) than for
Whites (8.7%) and Asians (8.4%). Between 2009 and 2010, the number of people
unemployed for 27 weeks and over rose from 2.7 million to 6.3. People with a college
education are far more likely to be employed than people with a high school education
or less (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010a). Employment rates rise after the early 20s
from about 74% to a peak at about 83%; by the late 60s, the percent who are
employed drops to about 30% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010b). Age group is a
factor in income. The highest income is earned by men in the 45 to 64 age group; for
women, the highest income was earned by those who were 55 to 64 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2010e).
Although students about to graduate from college often worry about whether
they will get a job, a college degree is a benefit when it comes to occupational level
and ultimately, lifetime earning potential. Statistically speaking, your income is likely
to rise with each increase in your educational level (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
2010e). In the United States, those holding a college degree earned $1,121 per week
compared to the $638 earned by high school graduates. Unfortunately, education
alone does not account for earning potential. Even when controlling for education,
Black and Hispanic workers typically have lower earnings than do Whites, a disparity
particularly pronounced among men. For example, in 2009, among men with a
bachelor’s degree, collegeeducated and higher Black men earned 73% of the income
of Whites, and Hispanic college graduates earned 82% of the income of White men.
This disparity remains approximately the same even at the advanced graduate degree
levels (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010e).
f. Vocational Development
Development in the world of work is influenced in many ways by the social
factors of education, race, gender, and age. However, a person’s choice of an
occupation, or vocation, reflects personal preferences and interests as well; preferably
people are doing what they want to do rather than what is simply available. Of course
with rising unemployment rates, more and more people are likely to make
compromises. Nevertheless, vocational development theories are based on the
premise that individual choice plays a large role in determining choice of career. Your
desire to enter a given field is what most likely has prompted your choice of a career
path and hence your college major. You may be majoring in psychology, consumer
studies, nursing, education, chemistry, or music. Assuming the process was not
randomly made; it is more likely that your choice reflects your personality, skills, and
experience. These are the factors that vocational development theories take into
account when they attempt to explain the career choices that people make and
determine people’s levels of happiness and productivity once they have acted on those
choices.
The most prominent theory in the vocational development literature is that of
the late John Holland. According to Holland’s vocational development theory
(Holland, 1997), vocational aspirations and interests are the direct expression of the
individual’s personality. Holland proposed that there are six fundamental types (also
called codes) that represent the universe of all possible vocational interests,
competencies, and behaviors. Each of the six types is identified by its initial letter:
Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and
Conventional (C). Based on the letters that describe the six types, the theory is also
referred to as the RIASEC model.
Occupations can be described in terms of the same six RIASEC types as can
vocational interests. According to Holland, occupations reflect particular patterns of
job requirements and rewards that are characteristic of their environments. As such
they serve as the settings that elicit, develop, and reward the specific interests,
competencies, and behaviors associated with each of the types. The occupational
types are the same as the interest types. For example, social occupations involve work
with people, and realistic occupations involve work with one’s hands. In applying the
RIASEC types, a combination of two or three of the initials are usually assigned
rather than just one. The first letter reflects the primary type into which a person’s
interest or occupation falls (‘‘S’’ for Social, for example). The second and third letters
allow for a more accurate and differentiated picture of the individual or occupation.
Both a construction worker and a corrections officer are R code occupations, and both
have the RE code designation. They differ in their third code, which is C for the
construction worker and S for the corrections officer.
In addition to the theorized vocational and occupational descriptions,
personality descriptions are thought to characterize each of the six types, based on
correspondence between the Holland codes and scores on measures of the Five Factor
Model. The translation of RIASEC codes into personality traits works particularly
well when facets are used, rather than only the scores on the major trait domains
(Armstrong & Anthoney, 2009). Putting the two together, researchers have suggested
that there are three underlying dimensions: interest in people versus things, preference
for abstract versus concrete ideas, and striving for personal growth versus striving for
accomplishment. However, personality traits do not completely map onto vocational
interests. The six RIASEC types are organized theoretically to exist in a hexagonal
structure. This structure implies that the types have a relationship to each other based
on their distance from each other on the structure. Types that are most similar (such as
R and C) are closest, and those that are the most dissimilar (such as C and A) are
furthest away from each other.
The notion of the hexagon is an important one because it helps define the way
that your interests correspond to your environments. You will be most satisfied in
your jobs if you are in an environment that fits your personality type, a situation
referred to as congruence or ‘‘fit.’’ The hexagon can be thought of as two knobs, one
on top of the other. Congruence is the situation where the two knobs are completely
aligned. Congruence also influences the ability to be effective on the job. According
to vocational development theory, if you are happy, you will also be most productive.
Unfortunately, as we mentioned earlier, people cannot always find jobs congruent
with their interests, particularly in a tough economy. In these situations, the RIASEC
model predicts that people will experience low job satisfaction and a high degree of
instability until they can find fulfilling work environments. When they are unable to
do so, their work productivity may suffer.
Supporting this idea, researchers have found that individuals with Artistic
interests working in Realistic environments, for example, have lower work quality
than people whose interests match their environments (Kieffer, Schinka, & Curtiss,
2004). Again, when jobs are scarce, people may have to take whatever work they can
find and seek congruence elsewhere through leisure pursuits instead of through work.
The Artistic type in the Realistic job may wait out the hours until the work day is over
and then rush home to work on crafts, play a musical instrument, or go to a pottery
studio. The RIASEC theory is empirically derived from the responses of many
thousands of individuals who have been tested over the years of its development. If
you wanted to have your vocational interests assessed using this model, you could
take one or both of the most common assessment instruments. The Strong Vocational
Interest Inventory (SVII) (Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994) consists of
items in which respondents indicate their preferences for occupations, topics of study,
activities, and types of people. The SVII is administered by a professional counselor
and must be scored through a testing service. The second assessment method can be
administered and scored on your own. The SelfDirected Search (SDS) (Holland,
1994) provides an assessment along the RIASEC dimensions, but also asks about
your strengths, allowing you to determine the profile of your abilities as well as your
interests.
The RIASEC codes now have become fully integrated into O*NET, the
Occupational Information Network (O*NET, 2010), an online interactive national
database of occupations used by vocational placement agencies and state labor
departments in the United States. People who are trying to find a job that will fit their
interests, training, and experience can be greatly aided by this system, even if they do
not live in the United States. O*NET provides a comprehensive and searchable
database of occupations, along with important data such as salary and expected
growth (in the United States) in the next 10 years. Occupations that have a high
priority are flagged. The RIASEC model appears to be an appropriate fit for both men
and women in the O*NET, meaning that gender adjustments do not have to be made
in interpreting an individual’s pattern of scores.
Because of its widespread incorporation into occupational interest inventories
and classification schemes, the RIASEC model is likely to be prominent for some
time to come. Vocational counselors have adopted the RIASEC model as an easily
interpretable and user-friendly system. Assessment tools for both people and jobs are
readily available and inexpensive, and there is adequate (if not perfect) empirical
support for it from large-scale studies. From the standpoint of vocational counseling
for young adults, the codes seem to be relatively stable during the crucial career
development years of the late teens and early 20s. However, there are individual
differences in patterns of stability, possibly corresponding to variations in personality.
For example, people who are more open to new experiences may be more likely to
change their career interests over time.
Within the field of industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology, congruence is
now a major focus when it comes to the business of matching people to jobs. At the
same time, as anyone who has spent time in a workplace would attest to, it is also
important to determine the fit or match among individuals working together as a team
(Muchinsky, 1999). Does an RCE type get along better with another RCE, or would
their similar styles lead to narrow thinking and lack of productivity among members
of a work unit? Perhaps the RCE should be working alongside an SAI, whose
‘‘people’’ orientation will complement the ‘‘thing’’-oriented approach of the Realistic
individual. The notion of congruence between people and jobs has received
considerable empirical support, not only in terms of job ratings but also in terms of
career change behavior. All other things being equal, people will tend to move out of
incongruent jobs and into ones that are more suited to their interests (Donohue, 2006).
Unfortunately, for many people, factors outside their control, such as race and
ethnicity, limit these choices. For individuals whose vocational situations are affected
by such constraints, the role of identity and the possibility for realizing one’s true
vocational interests are far less significant than the reality of these sociocultural
factors.
g. Vocational Satisfaction
Given that work takes up anywhere from one quarter to one third of a person’s
waking life during the week, it is safe to assume that most people prefer to maximize
their level of satisfaction. Although not everyone can achieve full self-realization
through work, it is still possible to find sources of satisfaction either within the work
itself or in the rewards it provides. On the other hand, a job may possess neither
source of fulfillment but instead remain a daily grind that the person must endure to
maintain self and family. Theories and research on vocational satisfaction deal with
these questions of how people find enjoyment in the work that they do or, conversely,
of what factors limit their ability to achieve an optimal vocational situation.
Vocational satisfaction refers, very simply, to the extent to which a worker has
positive views of the job or aspects of a job (Dawis, 1996). In turn, the more that
workers view the job as providing a sense of ‘‘fit’’ with their needs, the more satisfied
they will be and ultimately the stronger their commitment will be to the job and the
organization (Hoffman & Woehr, 2006). Because of its presumed importance in
determining both how productive and committed the worker is within the job,
vocational satisfaction is one of the most heavily researched areas in vocational
psychology. Although it may be relatively simple to define vocational satisfaction in
general terms, it is surprisingly difficult to identify its components or, more
importantly, determinants.
A distinction universal to the various theories of vocational satisfaction is the
difference between factors inherent in the work itself and those that are unrelated to
the particular work involved in the job. The factors inherent in the work itself are
referred to as intrinsic factors and include the physical and mental actions that the
individual must perform in order to carry out the job. For example, sculpting involves
the intrinsic physical activities of molding clay or stone, and accounting involves the
intrinsic mental activities of manipulating numbers. Obviously, sculpting involves
mental work, as the artist plans the piece before and during its completion.
Conversely, intrinsic to accounting is the physical manipulation of keys on the
keyboard or the writing of numbers on the page with a pencil. However, these are
secondary activities compared with the nature of the work itself. The central defining
feature of an intrinsic factor is that it cannot be found in precisely the same fashion in
a different type of job. Molding materials is intrinsic to sculpting, and computing
numbers is intrinsic to accounting.
Intrinsic factors can also be characterized as involving or engaging your sense
of identity in that the work directly pertains to your feelings of competence,
autonomy, and stimulation of personal growth. Highlighting this point, in one short-
term longitudinal study of older workers, researchers found that identity as a worker
related positively to changes in self-esteem (Reitzes & Mutran, 2006). Your ability to
express autonomy and self-direction in the daily running of the job is also part of the
intrinsic aspects of work because these factors are directly tied to your sense of self.
Furthermore, the engagement of your intrinsic motivation in work that is cognitively
challenging and self-directed maintains a constant stimulus for your cognitive activity
and may serve to enhance your intellectual functioning over time.
Other extrinsic factors are associated with the conditions of work such as the
comfort of the environment, demands for travel, convenience of work hours,
friendliness of coworkers, amount of status associated with the job, and adequacy of
the company’s supervision and employment policies. These aspects of work do not
directly engage your sense of personal identity and competence. Although a high
salary may certainly reinforce your sense of worth (particularly in Western society), as
noted above, high salaries may be earned in many ways that are not necessarily tied to
a person’s true vocational passions. The racial climate is another condition of the
workplace that may be particularly important for workers from racial and ethnic
minority backgrounds. Supervisors may not always be aware of the importance of
maintaining an environment that is nonracist and promotes respect.
h. Retirement
Retirement may be the furthest thing from your mind, if you are a college
student in your late teens or early 20s. You are most likely concentrating on finding a
job rather than retiring from one. Ideally, you will find a job that you enjoy and that
will also give you a solid basis for being able to spend 10 or 20 years (or more)
enjoying your retirement years. Traditionally, retirement is the end of an individual’s
work career. Many people think of retirement as an event that is marked by a
ceremony such as the proverbial ‘‘gold watch’’ given to the retiree as thanks for years
of loyal service. This traditional image of retirement is rapidly vanishing, though. In
fact, even though it is a popular view, it may have ever applied in the past only to a
minority of workers—men in the middle and upper middle social classes with
organized or regular careers. Furthermore, compared with other celebratory rituals in
adulthood, such as college graduation, marriage, and the birth of children, retirement
is more likely to carry with it ambivalent associations.
Just as labor force participation affects and is affected by the health of the
economy, the opportunities for financial security available to retirees are heavily
dependent on economic factors such as interest rates, tax policies, inflation, and the
overall growth of the economy. The fate of the millions of retired persons in the
United States will depend on how these forces play out in the coming decades. You
might feel as though you are years away from retirement and therefore are not
affected by these debates, but if you take a close look at your paycheck at the section
labeled Social Security taxes (called ‘‘FICA’’), you will see that the topic is closer to
you than you may think
Retirement is defined simply as the withdrawal of an individual in later life
from the labor force (Moen, 1996). As straightforward as this sounds, it is actually not
all that easy a process to define. Most people do not just step off the job merry-go-
round and onto the ground when they hit retirement. There are five phases in the
retirement process: an anticipatory period that may last for decades, the decision to
retire, the act of retirement, continual adjustment following the actual event, and
making further decisions regarding the structuring of the individual’s life and activity
patterns. Because retirement is not simply an event with a defined start and end point,
it is best conceptualized in terms of an adjustment process (Wang & Shultz, 2010).
Few retirees show a ‘‘crisp’’ pattern of leaving the workplace in a single,
unreversed, clear-cut exit. Most experience a ‘‘blurred’’ exit in which they exit and
reenter the workplace several times. They may have retired from a long-term job to
accept bridge employment, such as an insurance agent who retires from the insurance
business but works as a crossing guard or server at a fast-food restaurant. Other
workers may retire from one job in a company and accept another job performing
another role in the same company. Workers who have a long, continuous history of
employment in private sector jobs tend not to seek bridge employment because they
typically have sufficient financial resources (Davis, 2003). In general, involvement in
bridge employment is strongly related to financial need. Ultimately, the criteria for
retirement are met when an individual in later life with a cohesive past work pattern
has not worked for a sustained period of time and is not psychologically invested any
longer in work.
Even though they may arrive there in phases, by the age of 65, the large
majority of Americans are no Phases of Retirement Anticipatory period Decision to
retire Continual adjustment Changes in activity patterns R E T I R E M E N T longer
in the labor force. At present, about 17% of the 65 and older population are still
considered to be in the labor force, meaning that they are either working or actively
seeking employment. Virtually all of those 75 years and older (93%) have ended their
full-time participation in the nation’s workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010b).
However, many remain employed on a part-time basis; nearly half of all men and 61%
of all women 70 years and older engage in some paid work.
Approximately 10.5 million Americans receive pension benefits other than
Social Security, and as of 2008, 35.5 million over the age of 65 were receiving Social
Security benefits. The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker
through 2008 was $1,164 (Social Security Administration, 2009b). As of the end of
2007, 36% of the income of Americans 65 and older came from Social Security. The
remaining percents of income come from earnings (29%), assets such as interest
income (16%), and either private (9%) or government pensions (8%) or other sources
(3%) (Social Security Administration, 2009a). Retirement is in many ways a 20th-
century phenomenon (Sterns & Gray, 1999). Throughout the 1700s and mid-1800s
very few people retired, a trend that continued into the 1900s; in 1900 about 70% of
all men over 65 years were still in the labor force. The jobs held by older workers
often held high status and prestige. The wisdom and experience of older workers were
valued, and it was considered a benefit to society to have them continuing to
contribute to the workplace. However, pressures on the economy in combination with
the growth of unions led, by the early 1930s, to the first instance in the United States
of compulsory retirement (in the railroad industry). Because older workers were
forced to retire but did not receive retirement benefits, they lived in poverty.
