A Life Span Developmental Perspective on Psychosocial Development in Midlife

Research in life span development suggests that middle adulthood is a time of stability, discovery, and psychosocial growth. This review applies the life span developmental perspective to advance counselors’ understanding of psychosocial development during middle adulthood, specifically, midlife adults’ sense of self, perceptions of aging, developmental tasks, and contexts.     

The Psychosocial Development of Children and Adolescents in the People's Republic of China: An Eriksonian Approach

This exploratory study of Eriksonian psychosocial development in school-aged children in the People's Republic of China tested the feasibility of Erikson's model with 360 students from 6 primary and high schools. The 16 Content Analysis Scales of Psychosocial Maturity were applied to the transcribed verbalizations from an open-ended interview and the scale scores were analyzed with two factors, school grade and gender. The grade-related results indicated that the development of psychosocial maturity among these school students showed some consistency with Erikson's model in terms of stage-relevant experience. However, resolution of industry versus inferiority was the main focus of all the research participants. Identity versus identity diffusion was emerging among high school students. A high level of trust existed for all school grades, but grade 1 consistently scored higher than other grades for all aspects of psychosocial maturity. No significant gender difference was found for any stage experience. The implications for the findings and the limitations of the methodology have been discussed.     

The Life Story Schema

Current work on autobiographical memory does not take the term autobiographical seriously enough. Doing so requires taking not just single events, but the whole life and its coherence, into account: Only memories that are linked to self through their emotional or motivational significance over one's life are truly autobiographical. We introduce a new construct, the life story schema, a skeletal mental representation of life's major components and links. The life story schema provides 5 conceptual extensions to current models of autobiographical memory. The conclusion that results from these extensions is that the life story schema serves to bind autobiographical memory and the self over time. Research needed to substantiate our claims and further questions generated by the life story schema construct are discussed.     

Impact of Culture and Context on Psychosocial Adaptation: The Cultural and Contextual Guide Process

The growing diversity of the American population requires of counselors an increased understanding of inter- and intracultural factors. All clients have culture, and contextualized cultural variables can and do affect an individual's ability to adapt to his or her environment. Adaptation difficulties typically produce concerns that further affect the individual's functioning. Counselors need to incorporate contextualized cultural factors into their conceptualization of the individual's concerns and the treatment process. Use of the Cultural and Contextual Guide Process to facilitate inclusion of contextualized culture in the counseling process is discussed and a case study is used to exemplify the process.     

The Story of Life History: Origins of the Life History Method in Sociology

For some time psychologists have been employing life history methods in their work. Perhaps the key publication in this regard is Erik Erikson 's (1975)book Life History and the Historical Moment. In fact, life history methods were pioneered by anthropologists and taken up with considerable enthusiasm by sociologists. A central location for the pioneering of life history methods by sociologists was the Chicago School in the 1930s.A range of innovative life history studies were generated here as part of the wide-ranging studies of the urban environment undertaken by the sociology school. In this article, we look at some of the possibilities of life history work, but are particularly concerned with analyzing the dilemmas that led to a decline in life history methods. The last section examines the rehabilitation of life history methods and puts forward a number of arguments as to why life history methods are particularly suitable for what Harvey (1989) called the "condition of post-modernity."     

The Role of Defense in the Life Story

In modern societies, adults typically provide their lives with some sense of unity and purpose by constructing self-defining life stories that serve as their identities. Such stories are told to others and to an internalized audience or listener who serves as an ultimate judge and interpreter of the narrative. Defense mechanisms specify narrative strategies that persons use to shape how their lives are told to others and to their internalized audiences. Life events and experiences are incorporated into a life story to the extent that the internalized audience can make sense of the telling. Defenses function to make some stories more tellable than they might otherwise be and to keep other potentially storied accounts from ever reaching the status of being told.     

Psychosocial Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability: A Primer for Counselors

In this article, the authors discuss 3 broad domains of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability. These include the dynamics (basic concepts, psychosocial responses, and coping strategies) typically associated with the process of adaptation to disabling conditions, assessment of adaptation as evidenced by 6 commonly used measures, and intervention strategies applied to facilitating coping with and adaptation to chronic illness and disability.     

Psychosocial Adaptation of Childhood Cancer Survivors and their Siblings

To best use resources in helping childhood cancer survivors, ascertaining the psychosocial adaptation deficit of the survivor is necessary. Psychosocial adaptation comprises a subjective, self-reflective indicator and objective indicators in terms of education, employment, and other achievements. While deficit is possible due to the trauma caused by cancer and its treatment, research evidence for the deficit is required to ascertain its existence. This study represents such a research endeavor based on a survey of 137 childhood cancer survivors and 101 cancer-free siblings of the survivors in Hong Kong, China. Results reveal weak and inconsistent differences in psychosocial adaptation between the survivor and his or her sibling. The effects of cancer treatment and service involvement on psychosocial adaptation were generally sporadic. Age presented the most pervasive influence on psychosocial adaptation. The results imply a justification for current practices in sustaining the psychosocial adaptation of childhood cancer survivors.     

Psychosocial Dimensions of Student Athletes: Implications for Developmental Studies

This article takes as its point of departure the enrollment in U.S. colleges of many highly skilled athletes who are severely lacking academically, and argues that remedial success could be maximized if practitioners in developmental studies programs better understand the unique psychosocial dimensions of the student athlete.     

大学生生命认知和生命价值取向的发展特点

在生命教育的社会背景下,以上海四所高校的一年级和三年级的812名在校本科生为研究对象,运用造句和模拟遗书等投射方式,并结合小组访谈等形式,旨在测查大学生对生命过程与死亡现象的认知特征,及对生命意义的价值取向,以此探究当代大学生的生命认知和生命价值取向的发展特点。结果发现：（1）当代大学生对生命的认知以表达态度为主,具有积极向上、珍爱生命的特点;而在对死亡的认知上,则主要采用本质认知的方式进行表述,以中性、概括、简洁为主要特点;（2）总体来看,女生比男生对生命过程和死亡现象的认知更为积极,体悟更深;（3）在生命价值取向方面,当大学生更多地表现出关顾他人的价值取向,并伴有强烈的家庭责任意识。     

Wisdom and Psychosocial Functioning in Later Life

We investigated the connection between wisdom‐related performance, personality, and generativity to further the understanding of how they are interrelated. Our sample consisted of 163 men and women 68–77 years of age, mostly White, and predominantly middle class. Wisdom was assessed with the performance‐based Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, with the remaining measures being mostly self‐report. As hypothesized, on the zero‐order level, wisdom‐related performance (WRP) was positively associated with (a) growth, a personality component indexed by Openness to Experience, psychological mindedness, and a sense of well‐being derived from growth, purpose in life, and autonomy; (b) adjustment, a personality component associated with life satisfaction, high levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, low Neuroticism, a sense of well‐being derived from positive relations with others, self‐acceptance, and environmental mastery; and (c) a generative concern for the welfare of others. Latent path analysis indicated that the bivariate associations between adjustment and wisdom and between generativity and wisdom were mediated by growth. Wise individuals are characterized by their ability to balance different personal strengths and interests, an integration that occurs, however, within the context of a dominant personality style marked by the pursuit of maturity through personal growth.     

A Personality Measure of Erikson's Life Stages: The Inventory of Psychosocial Balance

The development and initial validation of the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance (LPB), designed to assess all eight Eriksonian psychosocial stages, is described. A pool of 208 items that survived a clinical analysis was administered to 528 subjects and then factor analyzed. The resulting eight factors parallel the eight stages and account for 72.34% of the total variance. Subsequent administrations of the IPB to various samples indicate adequate internal consistency and high test-retest reliability; significant correlations with the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) Social Maturity Index; consistent Q-sort portraits of high-scoring and low-scoring women; negligible correlations with test taking response styles, intelligence, and measures of psychopathology; and moderate developmental trends.     

Developmental Origins of Environmental Ethics: The Life Experiences of Activists

Twenty-nine environmental activists (mean age, 49.8) responded in writing to questions on influences that gave rise to environmental ethics in their own lives. Answers represented all phases of the lifespan. Through a qualitative analysis, six principle themes emerged: (a) deep environmental concern and an affiliation with nature often began in early childhood; (b) a combination of intellectual or academic and direct experiences with nature contributed to the development of environmental ethics; (c) familial and extra familial models were influential; (d) for some, environmental ethics was tied to spiritual, cultural, or religious feeling; (e) the development of environmental ethics was linked with identity and generativity issues; and ( f ) historical events interacted with individual development in the formation of an environmental ethics. These themes are discussed in terms of continuities and discontinuities in lifespan development, the role of the family and of history, and the relation between reason and emotion in the development of an environmental ethics.     

Life Stories and the Psychosocial Construction of Careers

ABSTRACT This paper describes and interprets the narratives that middle-aged businessmen tell about their careers It draws a symbolic connection between these men's careers and the longings and frustrations of their childhood, revealed in part by the characters that populate these men's stories But the connection is also revealed by something more abstract the formal shape of their stories' plot These plots, which emphasize relentless forward movement, are shaped by career culture, which demands constant advancement But advancement is also a psychodynamic symbol It expresses men's aggressive self-aggrandizement, while denying their desire for affection and their vulnerability to rejection The result of this alliance between psychodynamic motives and social practices is that men pursue one type of recognition–that of aggressive achievement–while they systematically disavow their longing for more personal attachment