Although the boundaries of middle age span about age 40 to the early sixties, many older adults describe themselves as middle aged. Personality, specifically neuroticism, predicts whether midlife adults have an upbeat or gloomy view of the future.

Research on the Big Five traits shows scores on neuroticism and the other core dimensions of personality predict a variety of life outcomes. In particular, conscientiousness sets us up to age healthier and be successful in work and love. Because genetic and environmental forces converge to promote consistency, our core personality probably doesn’t change much as we age. Still, people grow in conscientiousness and other positive Big Five traits as they assume adult roles. People also are more resilient, less self-critical, and seem more altruistic at older ages. Dan McAdams’s research exploring Erikson’s generativity shows that our priorities shift to “other-centered concerns” during later midlife. Generativity, while not related to hedonic happiness, defines eudaimonic happiness—living a meaningful, fulfilling adult life.

In their autobiographies, highly generative adults produce a commitment script and describe redemption sequences—negative events that turned out for the best. They also more often describe defining life events involving caring family members or teachers. The fact that African Americans may often be highly generative suggests that adversity—in moderation and handled productively—may produce emotional growth. Growing emotionally (and being highly generative) is most apt to occur when people are economically secure and live in “generative nations.”

Early studies using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) found that people reach their intellectual peak in their twenties—although scores on the timed performance scale tests declined more rapidly than did scores on the verbal scale. The Seattle Longitudinal Study—which controlled for the biases of this research—showed the same change pattern, but it also indicated that we reach our intellectual peak in midlife.

Fluid intelligence, the capacity to master unfamiliar cognitive challenges quickly, is at its height early in adulthood, and then it declines. Crystallized intelligence, our knowledge base, rises until well into middle age. In professions that heavily depend on crystallized knowledge—versus fast information processing—people do well into their sixties. Creativity reaches its peak in midlife, although our basic talents predict our real-world performance (at any age) best.

Staying healthy, indexed by having a low allostatic load, and seeking out stimulating interpersonal activities (and jobs) can prevent age-related cognitive decline. Terminal drop, a significant loss in IQ, can indicate that a person is near death. Using selective optimization with compensation helps people successfully cope with age-related losses and live more successfully at any life stage.

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Postformal thinkers are sensitive to diverse perspectives, interested in exploring questions, and attuned to their inner feelings in making life decisions. The specific aspect of wise thinking, involving realistically reasoning about social conflicts in particular, may rise during later life.

Grandmotherhood may have evolved to help our species survive. In our society, grandparents act as family watchdogs, stepping in when the younger family members need help. Gender, physical proximity, the grandchildren’s ages, and especially people’s relationship with the parent generation, determine people’s involvement in this joyous but constrained life role. Because women tend to be closer to their own mothers, paternal grandmothers are at risk of being less involved with the grandchildren than they want. At its extreme, people may be cut off from seeing the grandchildren after a divorce, or due to having alienated the parents. The opposite problem, being forced to be too involved, at its extreme occurs with caregiving grandparents, especially people needing to take full legal custody of a child.

Parent care is another family role that some middle-aged daughters may assume. While often stressful, a variety of forces affect how women feel when caring for a disabled parent, and this life role can sometimes promote emotional growth. Another midlife concern involves declining sexuality. For males, erectile capacity steadily declines. Although women show few (or no) physical sexual changes, menopause has the side effect of making intercourse more painful. The main reason, however, that older women may give up sex is social: being without a partner, not being viewed as sexual human beings. First-person accounts of old-age sexuality belie the standard gloom-and-doom decline message, suggesting that lovemaking can become more gratifying in later life.