Male midlife development

Clinical experience and several long-term studies have shown that fundamental changes in attitude and behavior continue to occur throughout adult life. An understanding of development during middle age helps put into perspective the mystifying and unusual behavior shown by a minority of middle-aged adults. Levinson delineates alternating phases of structure-building periods (six to eight years) with transitional upheavals of four to five years' duration. The latter includes one in the early 40s and again in the 50s. Vaillant emphasizes a career consolidation stage between Erikson's young adulthood (intimacy) and the generativity stage of the 50s. This consolidation stage corresponds in many ways to Levinson's transitional stage of the 40s. Vaillant also makes the point that maturity in midlife is reflected by the changes in the use of more mature adaptive mechanisms (corresponding somewhat to Hamburg's coping behavior) as the adult moves toward the 60s. Development tasks during middle age include adjusting to bodily changes; achieving career goals; readjusting to the marital dyad, adult children, and aging parents; and planning for security in old age.