Part VII: Adulthood

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We now begin the seventh part of this text. These three chapters cover 40 years (ages 25 to 65), years when bodies mature, minds master new material, and people work productively.

Adulthood spans such a long period because no particular year is a logical divider. Adults of all ages marry; raise children; care for aging parents; are hired and fired; grow richer or poorer; experience births, deaths, weddings, divorces, illness, and recovery. Thus, adulthood is punctuated by many events, joyful and sorrowful, which may occur at any time during those 40 years.

These events are not programmed by age, but they are not random: Adults build on their past development and create their own ecological niche. They choose people, activities, communities, and habits. For the most part, these are good years, when each person’s goals become more attainable as people make decisions about their lives.

Culture and context are always crucial. Indeed, the very concept that people choose their niche is assumed in North America but not in places where families, finances, and past history shape almost every aspect of life. Divorce, for instance, is a chosen sequel for more than one-third of the marriages in the United States and several other nations, but until recently divorce was not legal in three nations (Chile, Malta, and the Philippines). Some experiences once thought to be part of adulthood—midlife crisis, sandwich generation, and empty nest among them—are unusual for today’s middle-aged adults, no matter where they live. These three chapters describe what is universal, what is usual, and what is not.