Middle Adulthood
Middle adulthood is the developmental period that start at
approximately 40 years of age and extend to about 65 years.
It is a declining period in physical skills and expanding responsibility
It is a period that individual become more conscious of the young-old
polarity and the shrinking amount of time left in life.
A period when individuals seek to transmit something meaningful to the
up coming generation.
It is a period when individual reach and maintain satisfaction in their
careers.
Middle adulthood involves balancing work and relationship
responsibilities in the midst of the physical and psychological changes
associated with aging (Lachman, 2004).
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood
Physical changes at this stage is a gradual process and differ in rate
from individual to the other.
Genetic make up and life style is one of the determinant whether
chronic disease will showcase and when it will show.
A significant physical change in middle adulthood is individual
physical appearance.
1. The wrinkle of the skin and sagging of the body because of the loss
of fat and collagen in underlying tissues (Giacomoni & Rein, 2004).
2. Pigmentation deposit in the skin produce aging
spots, mostly in positions that is exposed to sunlight,
which may include the areas of the hands and face.
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood
3. Individual hair grow thinner and grayer because of
lower replacement rate and a decline in melanin
production.
4. Also people grow ridges, thicker and more brittle
fingernails and toenails.
At this stage people do a lot to make themselves look
younger such as dying of hairs, purchasing wigs,
undergoing cosmetic surgery, taking heavy doses of
vitamins, enrolling in weight reduction program and
exercise.
5. Body wrinkles and gray hair may symbolize strength and maturity in
men but women see it unattractive.
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood
6. In middle adulthood, people lose height while many people gain about 10%
weight adding to 10% gained during adolescent period.
For those who become overweight weighing about 30% or more overweight, will
have 40% probability of dying in middle adulthood.
Obesity increases the probability of individual to suffer other ailments such as
hypertension and digestive disorders, among other diseases.
The size of height lose is about half inch in a decade starting from 40 years
(Memmler et al., 1995).
7. Age related loss of muscle mass and strength called Sarcopenia begin at
middle adulthood.
Approximately, 1-2% muscle loss appear each year past the age of 50 (Marcell,
2003).
8. Loss of strength is indicated to appear in the back and legs but exercise can
reduce this sarcopenia.
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood
9. The ability to focus and maintain an image on retina which is
known as accommodation decline between 40-59 years of age.
In middle adulthood, retina becomes less sensitive to low
illumination.
The blood supply in the eyes reduces which may account for
increase in the eyes blind spot.
Many people have to wear glasses with bifocal lenses such as
Biconcave or Biconvex.
10. From age 40, the sensitivity to hear high pitches also decline,
however, this is more among men than women.
This may be because of men exposure to noise in occupation such as
mining, automobile, and other careers with high intensity of noise.
Mental Development in Middle Adulthood
Intelligence is influenced by genetics, culture, social background,
personal choices, and age.
The specific intelligence differences seen in adulthood include fluid
intelligence and crystallized intelligence.
Fluid intelligence is related to the ability to quickly and abstractly
learn new ways of solving problems and performing activities, and the
world we have acquired so far.
This is because middle aged always apply realistic thinking, easy to
make choice.
Mental Development in Middle Adulthood
Older adults have higher levels of intelligence, which is reflected in
their semantic knowledge, vocabulary, and language and that is why
adults generally do better than younger people on historical,
geographical, and even crossword puzzles where this information is
useful (Salthouse, 2004).
Crystallized intelligence refers to fixed and definite knowledge
acquired in long life experience.
It is pronounced, increasing with age because of relativistic thinking,
whereas with age, fluid intelligence tends to decline (Salthouse, 2004).
Mental Development in Middle Adulthood
This superior knowledge, combined with a slower and more thorough
processing style, gives older adults the benefits of the fluid intelligence
of their youth, along with a more important understanding of how the
world around them works.
It gives a 'wisdom' advantage to the brain (Scheibe, Kunzmann, &
Baltes, 2009).
But in middle age, the speed of calculating and perceiving numbers
slows down.
Flow and Tacit knowledge
Flow is a mental state of being fully present and fully engaged in a
task (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
In a state of flow, the individual is able to block out external
distractions and the mind is completely open to production and get
intellectual satisfaction.
Also, in a state of flow, individuals do not care about external
rewards.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) used his flow theory to study how some
people achieve high levels of creativity, believing that the state of
flow is a key factor in creativity (Kaufman & Gregoire, 2016).
Flow and Tacit knowledge
People describe flow as the pinnacle of enjoyment (Nakamura &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2002).
The more they experience it, the more they decide their life is
satisfying.
The qualities that allow flow are fully developed in middle age.
Tacit knowledge is practical or hands-on knowledge acquired
through experience rather than being explicitly taught and increases
with age (Hedlund, Antonakis & Sternberg, 2002).
Tacit knowledge can be viewed as 'know-how' or 'professional
instinct'.
Flow and Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is called implicit because it cannot be codified or
written down.
It is not academic knowledge, but the ability to apply skills and solve
problems in a practical way.
Tacit knowledge is understood in the workplace and used by workers
such as professional investigators, carpenters, cooks and
hairdressers, etc.
