Challenges Confronting Mid-Life Women - Research Paper Example

? Challenges Confronting Mid-Life Women There are different stages in life for both men and women. The age of the Mid-Life woman as a rule starts when she reaches the age of 29 and goes on until 55 years. It is a standard principle that the instant women turn up at the middle life stage they get to that point in which their competence, strength, physical condition and beauty begin to fade. Midlife is considered a period of turbulence and change. The midlife woman sees as an opportunity to transform herself so that she can deal with the challenges of second adulthood. Extensive research has been undertaken to study the midlife woman and all relevant issues and concerns. This paper seeks to analyze this specific stage and relate it with the age groups, role groups, relationship to age, career and family commitments in conjunction with the personality development of what they call the fairer sex. Introduction Women go through various stages in their lives - from infancy to childhood and maturity. Each period is characterized by enthusiasm and expectation. The age of the Mid-Life woman normally begins at age 29 and lasts until she reaches 55 years. It is a popular belief that the moment women arrive at the middle life stage they reach that point wherein their efficiency, power, physical condition and beauty begin to diminish. While midlife is described as a period of crisis and readjustment, the midlife woman sees this period more of an opportunity to reinvent herself so that she can cope with the challenges of second adulthood. According to Kirchheimer (2011), research studies reveal that when people get to the so-called middle age and beyond, they are inclined to become more concerned about their responsibilities and the people in their lives but at the same time, they become less open to meeting new people. Additional inputs from the research showed that mid-life women tend to become less neurotic or fearful and extroverted. The rates of neurosis showed a declining trend with age in women but this did not happen among the males. Both sexes showed degeneration in their levels of openness but split on sociability while women became less gregarious with age. Both sexes were found to be more organized and disciplined at work when they were still in their 20s. The personality changes slowed down but did not totally stop when they reached age 30. The traits of warmth, generosity and helpfulness were also evident for both men and women during this period but diminished when they reached their forties with the women reaching a much higher overall level. However, before going further into the discourse about the relationship between the two middle life women age groups and the four role groups made up of the homemaker, married/career, single/career and re-entry student with regards to personality dimensions, it is of the essence to consider the five categories that represent the extensive areas of personality (Mcrae and Costa, 1997, pp. 52, 509-516.). These categories are as follows: Extraversion which includes excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness; Agreeableness consisting of attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviors; Conscientiousness comprised of common features like levels of thoughtfulness with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors; Neuroticism which is made up of emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness; and, Openness which is characterised by imagination and insight and engaging in a broad range of interests. Mid-life Women and Personality Development This treatise discusses the personality development of women in mid-life and its relationship to age, career and family commitments and seeks to elucidate all pertinent theories, issues and concerns such as the concept of generativity. Likewise, it is also imperative to take into account the two mid-life age groups of women which is from 29 to 39 years and 40 -55 years as well as the four role groups – homemaker, married/career, single/career and re-entry student vis-a-vis the personality dimensions like self-esteem, loss of control, achievement and affiliation needs, indices of psychological adjustment to personality in relation to age, family-life stage and role, career and marital status (Erdwins and Mellinger, 2011}. Much has been written regarding middle age and personality but there is limited erudition about the nature of personality change within this stage in the life of women. Instead, research was more centered on the subject of the so-called midlife crisis. According to Helson, Soto and Cate, there was very little assumption about the process of personality development or change within the period, despite the fact that various researchers have found evidence of it, perhaps especially among women (2006). Furthermore, the subject of personality change in mid-life must be considered together with the acknowledgment that many middle-aged women are confronted with circumstances of transformation during this period and that they differ from each other in those situations. Women have dissimilar ways during their middle ages and their behaviours change as well such that a career woman in her early forties has different interests compared with that of a homebody whose responsibility is confined to taking care of her children. The social role of women is aptly described as having changed significantly in scope since the seventies in terms of normal societal or communal expectations for marriage, family and career. There are established Personality Development themes like that of Erickson that have great relevance in mid-life women. According to Erikson, a particular emphasis on creating a personal identity is based on knowledge of one's self and how one fits into the greater societal context is associated with adolescence and early adulthood. He viewed women's identities as necessarily temporary until they made an intimate life commitment. Women were destined to be predominantly nurturing and accommodating. Midlife is also a time to focus on Intimacy and Generativity. Erikson viewed intimacy as the developmental stage when young adults, having adequately resolved their identity issues, are eager and willing to fuse this identity with that of others (1950, p. 263), in both friendship and love relationships (1959/1980, p. 101). Likewise, according to Erikson (1950), midlife is the time when it is most likely that men and women concern themselves with creating a legacy that outlives them. He defined this focus as generativity or “the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation”. As such, generativity is not only will be an important theme in the middle age but also will increase from early to late midlife. Specifically, women with family projects will express more generativity than identity, whereas women with only career projects will express more identity than generativity. Furthermore, women with both projects will be more balanced in their expression of these two themes. Thus, it is safe to make the assumption that women's expressions of generativity will increase on the average, while expressions of identity and intimacy will remain relatively stable or decrease over the same period. Women in Mid-Life Women at midlife remain a peculiarly indistinguishable group. Despite the progress they have made in living lives of meaning and power, youth still reigns supreme, as most popular television shows and magazine covers attest. A new book published by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) gives special attention to women in the age range of 40 and 60. It underscores the positive aspects and challenges of all aspects of midlife women’s lives, from family relationships to work, health, psychological well-being, developmental issues, identity, menopause and sexuality. It was described by Hunter, Ski, Sundel and Martin that “Midlife women are far from a homogeneous group. The reality of women’s lives is variation, a phenomenon that has increased due to the historical trend of greater fluidity in life events. This diversity can be seen in all of life’s major arenas, including childbearing, parenting and work.”  Women at midlife experience their age in many ways, depending on their experiences and backgrounds. If a woman has a chronic, serious health problem, for instance, she may feel older than someone who is healthy. Likewise, a woman who is poor and lacks social support may feel tired and old compared to one who has enjoyed relative wealth and connection. The adage “you are only as old as you feel” distinguishes accurately between chronological age and feeling older (2002). The following themes have emerged for women in this particular age group. Midlife is a time when many women come into their own, feeling grounded, independent and satisfied with what they have. Because midlife women are so diverse, significant in-group differences exist. While many midlife women are doing well, certain groups fare worse than others. The so-called “empty nest syndrome,” which describes the depression that apparently takes place when one’s children leave home, is far from unavoidable. More often than not, the positive developments of this period of life overshadow the negative incidents. Studies show that women in their early fifties often feel satisfaction that they have successfully raised their children. There is a new sense of freedom and well-being, and a desire to utilize dormant talents and abilities. Work is a psychological comfort for most midlife women. Midlife women who are employed report better health, lower anxiety, less depression and greater subjective well-being than women who stay at home, studies find. That being the case, the work history of women is often erratic because of parenting and caretaking duties. Many women leave work for periods of time, work part-time or take low-paying jobs. Midlife Crisis in Women How is mid-life crisis defined? It is characterized by a time of intense psychological turmoil that usually happens between the ages of 38 and 55, and often results in dramatic life changes. It can last from 2 to 12 years; the defining symptom is a sense that the values that have guided you for many years no longer hold meaning. The next stage is identifying old parts of yourself that you've suppressed. Those needs and desires can become very important at midlife. They start to take on great power, and it is easy to do damage to your existing relationships and career (Better, 2009). While this was more predominant among men, it became prevalent in women as well because the two primary indicators of midlife crisis which are education and money are now easily achieved by both sexes. The perceived downside of a midlife crisis is the period of self-centered or irresponsible behavior such as risks in career and personal relationships. However, despite this, it can still be an opportunity to convert that thoughtless behavior into more productive activities like spiritual and social pursuits. Many women finished their midlife crises before they even began menopause although it often happens that midlife crisis and menopause. Some women believe that hormonal changes stimulated the regeneration of their creativity. For others menopause only deepened their despair. To increase the odds of making crisis a success, there should be awareness leading to midlife as a major transition. Women must bear in mind that they have thirty or more years to live after they reach the age of fifty. The odds of having a successful midlife crisis can be raised by putting together the lost parts of one’s life. It was stated in the Bloomberg Business Week that while women obtained greater power in the place of work, they also became less pleased with their lives as they became older. The story featured in that issue about a highly successful marketing executive from the USA who had an equally renowned husband and two healthy children was a typical success story. She was in her prime years, 38 years of age and had all the material things that one can ever ask for. However, she contracted a chronic disease and became in that state of being one of the most miserable and unhealthiest women (Conlin, 2011). This is a characteristic case of midlife crisis for women wherein life was impossible and intolerable, and the affected woman had no idea why. Nevertheless it made sense since statistics from recent studies on happiness explained that as women grew older, they had the tendency to become more sick and sad. This decline in happiness occurs whether women are married, have kids, divorced, work ceaselessly or live a life of leisure. It happens to any race, the rich, impoverished, beautiful, normal, tall and short women. “Over the last 50 years, women have secured greater opportunity, greater achievement, greater influence, and more money. But over the same time period, they have become less happy, more anxious, more stressed, and, in ever-increasing numbers, they are medicating themselves for it. Better education and job opportunities and freedoms have decreased life happiness for women." says management thinker and author Marcus Buckingham.  Women as Homemakers Are women contented to become mere homemakers? A study made by W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven Nock of the University of Virginia showed that there was no difference in marital happiness between homemakers and working women. Over the past 15 years, many studies have tried to unearth the relationship between women's employment and earnings and their marital happiness. These research papers revealed that employed women are as contented and perhaps happier in their marriages as non-employed women and having an income generally improves a woman's marital happiness. One of Wilcox and Nock's strongest findings is that the care that husbands give to their wives is an important factor in women's happiness. It was also disclosed that women who were homemakers at and then went on to work regularly reported a decline in psychological anguish. In contrast, women who were employed on a full time basis and then dropped out to stay home reported an increase in distress. Women who bore children but stayed at work showed no increase in distress while women who had kids and stopped working were found to have experienced more anxieties in life. Single Career Women Many women choose to be single and devote their time, energy and efforts to their respective careers. Among the reasons for midlife women to enter this challenging stage are the growing urbanization, industrialization, inflation and recession aside from the fact that they have to make the best out of their education and talents. Career has developed into a top priority for women who are single. With their new found independence and the position, they are empowered to make crucial decisions. Majority of women in middle life who make it to the top of the career ladder in what are regarded as male-dominated fields are single, divorced or limited in child-bearing capacity. On the whole, women without offspring achieve more in their career than those with kids. Single women engage in extensive career exploration and questioning before they settle down in their thirties and attain success when they reach the age of forty. Personality and gender influence vocational success and work activities influence personality. Older workers are said to be as productive as younger ones but more satisfied possibly because they use selective optimization to cope with aging (Sigelman and Rider, 2006). There are advantages of being single and having a career in mid-life that is why women stay single longer today. One is for financial reasons. Money is often listed as one of the top relationship complaints, so with no one to control spending or someone who dictates on them, many women discover that they are single and happy and financially independent. Another is sense of self. Many women find themselves consumed with their partners, their children, or aging parents. They often get lost in the process of caring for others and lose the time to know who they really are. One of the big benefits of being single over 40 years is having the opportunity to know what their purpose in life is. The third is freedom because being single means that they are free to live life the way they like. They are free to work as many hours as you like and see friends whenever you want. Single career women are more likely to get out in the world and experience new people and situations. Re-entry student A very old but appropriate study about re-entry students was undertaken by Zatlin, Storandt, and Botwinick. It investigated the hypothesis that mature women returning to college possess unique attributes of personality and have unique occupational values and interests. Late-college women from age 35 to 50 were compared by multi-variation analyses with each of three control groups of women differing with respect to their ages, timing of educational experience, or extent of educational experience. These mature college women were found to be similar to women their age who had received their college education at the normal time, or who had never gone to college. However, they were less motivated by altruism and philanthropy, less in agreement with the feminist movement, and were more dominant than young women currently in college (1973). Many mature women who returned to college to continue their educations were found to be willing to take on the burden, or perhaps joy, of competition with younger and often better qualified duties. In the face of such obstacles, it would seem that many of these women possess unique attributes, perhaps bound up with the self-concepts, values, and interests that make up personality. The present study constitutes an attempt to examine these attributes. It describes personality characteristics and occupational interests of older women who are continuing their education in comparison to three other groups of women differing in age, time of the educational experience, or exposure to college. Conclusion Life is a series of seasons and transitions between seasons can be worrisome. There are slight distractions in life which are easily resolved. However, if these problems persist, a crisis takes place. Midlife is a phase in life which has been fittingly described as a period of potential crisis. Midlife sets in somewhere between the end of the 30s and the late 40s. It is distinct from the premenopausal years that happen later. When women stop bearing children and an enigmatic lonesomeness overcomes her as though she has no real self identity coupled with gradually fading beauty and energy, she sinks into dejection. This feeling of worthlessness is made worse if there is marital dissatisfaction. The 20th century saw revolutionary changes taking place in every facet of life - education, employment, breakdown of the joint family system, migration to the impersonal atmosphere of cities, changing sex roles, women's liberation movements, youth culture, and rapid advances in science and technology. These have resulted in lack of confidence among women. As she tries to keep pace with changing times, stress tends to overcome her. It is against this background that Midlife Crisis assumes significance. Whether single, married or widowed, more than half of women go through this phase. However, crisis in midlife is just part of the whole gamut of the topic of midlife women and all the factors that were discussed in this essay. The important thing is that roles, behavior, causes and effects were all given due consideration and it has contributed to giving light to some of the more complicate aspects of this sensitive stage in the life or women. Midlife is typically a time of great transition - Whether a woman is confronted with a tough situation like being fired from work, acting as a caregiver to aging parents, or merely deciding whether they want a midlife career change, having relationship issues or are just facing the loss of their youth. References Better, N. (2009). Midlife Crisis: How Women Cope. More Magazine. Bradford, W. and Nock, S. (2006), What’s Love Got To Do With It? Equality, Equity, Commitment and Women’s Marital Quality. University Of Virginia Conlin, M. (2011), Career Women at Midlife: Sadder and Sicker. Special Report, Bloomberg Business Week. 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Thomson Wadworth, Canada. pp. 315 and 320. Zatlin, C., Storandt, M. and Botwinick, J. (1973). Personality and Values of Women Continuing their Education after Thirty-Five Years of Age. Journal of Gerontology. Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 216 -224. Read More