Reflections in the Middle Stories of Midlife
Reflections in the Middle Stories of Midlife
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Issue Date
2012
Authors
Coleman, John P.
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Abstract
Much of what we know about midlife today comes from research in adult developmental models that date back to the 1950s. During that time, life was shorter, and midlife was just a turning point between youth and old age. After ten years of research into adult development, Levinson published The Seasons of a Man's Life in 1978. The interviews for that research were completed in 1970. He then published The Seasons of a Woman's Life in 1996, with those interviews being completed in 1982. These theories were based on "stage theories." Although his research on midlife was considered groundbreaking, it no longer reflected what was being lived by middle-aged adults. With these discrepancies in mind, I created a documentary video on midlife changes titled “Reflections in the Middle-Stories of Midlife” (2012). A group of 21 middle-aged men and women were interviewed in California, Colorado, and Montana to learn about their experience of midlife. As the filming progressed, it became clear that not only were the lives of these people dramatically different from what Levinson's research had concluded, but there was a strong desire to tell their stories and share their experiences so others would know that they were not alone in what they were going through. The video aims to give a new developmental perspective on adulthood for men and women, focusing on midlife, from age 40 to 65. With the aging of the Baby Boom generation, there is a growing interest and desire to explore and redefine what aging is about and place that experience in a context relevant to the twenty-first century.
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Keywords
“Midlife”,“Baby Boomers”,“Baby Boomer Cohort","Middle Age","Life-Span","Human Development”,“Adult Development”,“Health”,“Spirituality”,"Friends","Retirement","Ageing", Menopause"