Adult Development Theories

Class 5ADLT 671, Theory and Practice of Adult Learning

Personal Development Theorists

• Age / Stage• Development proceeds according to a

series of stages adults pass through as they age

• Life Events• Development coincides with major life

events such as marriage, death of spouse, etc

• Transitions • Development marked by periods of

transition from one stage to another

Age – Stage Theorists Levinson (1978, 1996)Gilligan (1982) Havighurst (1981)Maslow (1968)Gould (1978)Erikson (1959)

Daniel Levinson • Life cycle composed of 4 developmental

periods

• Childhood – Adolescence (birth – age 20)

• Early Adulthood (ages 17-45)• Middle Adulthood (ages 40 – 65)• Late Adulthood (ages 60 – onward)

• Each transition takes 3-6 years to complete

• Concept of individuation – changing relationship between self and the world

• Conceived of the midlife crisis

Carol Gilligan• Feminist perspective on age-stage

theories

• Highly critical of Levinson’s concept of “the dream”

• Male identity build upon contrast and separateness to primary care-giver

• Female identity based on perceptions of sameness and attachment to primary caregiver

Gilligan, con’t • Women’s moral judgment proceeds

through three levels

• Focus on self (Level 1)

• Caring for others equated with good (Level 2)

• Caring for others and responsibility for individual needs (Level 3)

• Two transitions

• Movement from selfishness to responsibility

• Movement from goodness to truth

Havighurst Chickering and Havighurst

• Concept of the “teachable moment” when the learning opportunity coincides with the life task at hand

• Identified developmental tasks specific to white, middle-class North Americans

Abraham Maslow• Highest level of development is reaching self-

actualization• Accepting of themselves and others • Problem-centered not self-centered• Have spontaneity• Have had mystical or spiritual experiences• Resist conformity to culture• Need for privacy• Deep relationships with a few special others• Express creativity

Roger Gould• Development is a process of

confronting layer upon layer of childhood pain

• Development involves separation from childhood assumptions

Erik Erikson• Development occurs as demands of society

provoke struggle or crisis within the person

• Eight psycho-social stages: five in childhood based on Freudian concepts

• Adult stages• Intimacy• Generativity• Integrity

Life Events TheoristsNeugarten (1976)Baltes et al. (1980)Riegel (1976)Merriam and Clark (1991)

Neugarten• Adult development defined by time factors

• Social time• Development situations are not experienced as crises if

they occur “on time” as socially appropriate• Crises come from “off time” life events when

experience differs from expectations

• Historical time – creates age appropriate norms

• Chronological age – increases ability to interpret experience in more refined ways

Baltes et al. • Normative age-graded developmental influences

• Physical maturity, commencement of education, death of parents

• Normative, historically-determined events

• Economic depressions, wars, etc

• Non-normative influences of great impact

• Experiences unique to the individual such as contracting rare disease, winning the lottery, etc

Riegel• Individual is a changing person in a changing world

• Human development moves along 4 dimensions

• Inner-biological (maturation, health)

• Individual-psychological (self-concept, self-esteem)

• Cultural-social (rules, regulations, social rituals)

• Outer physical (natural world events)

• When any 2 dimensions are in conflict, developmental change may occur

Merriam and Clark• To be able to love and to work are

the two goals of successful adult development

• Found 3 patterns unrelated to age or gender

• Divergent (when one is good, other is not)

• Steady/Fluctuating (one steady, other fluctuates)

• Parallel (love and work happiness coincide)

Transitions Theorists

Bridges (1980)Sugarman (1986)

William Bridges• Life marked by a series of transitions

• Each individual has a characteristic way of dealing with transitions which will be repeated throughout life

• Three recurring events

• Endings first• Neutral zone• New beginning

Sugarman• Change experience follows a characteristic pattern

• Immobilization – sense of being overwhelmed

• Reaction – sharp mood swings from elation to despair

• Denial - minimizing the impact

• Letting go of the past

• Testing – exploring new options

• Searching for meaning – a conscious effort to learn from the experience

• Integration – feeling at home with the change