Psychological Maturation of the Human Body

Just as the human body develops and evolves with age, an individual develops psychologically with time. In result there is psychological adjustment in their lives. Cognition continuously changes over a person’s lifespan, reaching its peak around age 35 and then slowly decreasing throughout later adulthood. Developmental psychologists consider early adulthood to be the age 20 to age 40 and middle adulthood is around age 40 to 65. In early adulthood individuals deal with intimacy and isolation issues. Often they make it through these by finding love.

As individuals continue to develop into middle adulthood, there is a higher concentration on family relationships, wisdom, isolation, and finding emotional stability. As they develop they also experience differences in their perceptions of roles as they reevaluate sexuality and socializing. People typically will value wisdom more and become emotionally deprived. Ultimately, they may become mental rigidity.

As individuals move into early adulthood they develop the problem of intimacy versus isolation. They generate a feeling of intimacy and create resistances towards all feelings of isolation.

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In this instance, intimacy is referring to developing close relationships with others including marriage relationship. The individual is focused on gaining the ability to share intimacy, looking to create relationships, and finding love. Long‐term relationships are developed, and typically marriage and children follow. As individuals move into marriage they mold into a common way of seeing things with their partner in addition to developing their own identity. However, during this time they are also faced with a perceived isolation and large career decisions.

Choices regarding marriage and family are usually made in this stage of life.

According to recent studies, divorce is more likely with people who marry during adolescence, those whose parents were separated, and those who are apart in age, intellect, personality, or physical appeal. Divorce is also occurs more often in those without children. Alternatives to marriage as have become more common. Such as life partners and living together. In 2007, the Census Bureau estimated that 4.13 million unwed couples lived together in the United States.

Career choice is also a big factor in early adulthood. Individuals work choice affects socioeconomic status, friend groups, political values, residence location, childcare, job stress, and several other aspects of life. Although income is important in both job choice and longevity, so are achievement, recognition, satisfaction, security, and challenge.

Due to the fact that humans spend so many years in adulthood, adults experience many cognitive changes during this period. Research suggests that adult development is continuous and could even be more significant that the development of infancy and early childhood (Fischer, Yan, & Stewart, 2003).

For most people, adults reach their physical height in their around 25 and then there body starts to get older and show that. However, our brain functioning remains steady throughout early and middle adulthood. Studies have discovered those who are more mentally and physically active in there younger years see the benefits as they grow older. This activity will help those individuals to decline at a slower rate.

Around the age of 35, most adults will experience their mental height in cognition. During the stage of early adulthood individuals typically begin to practice “relativist thinking”. This term is used to describe a practice through which individuals become aware of other views and seeks to understand these other stances. They start to see situations from many sides and understand that a problem can have a multitude of answers. As they continue cultivate specialized skills in their education or career they continue to improve their problem-solving skills and their capability of creativity.

Moving into middle adulthood, individuals often see a shift of concentrate on two forms of intelligence, crystallized and fluid. Crystallized intelligence is based on the knowledge that a person accumulated in their lifetime through experiences. It is the skills and knowledge collected throughout a lifetime. This form of intelligence continues as we age. Interestingly, studies have shown that people can maintain test scores of intelligence and even improve them with age (Ryff, 2009). The second form of intelligence, fluid intelligence, is reliant on fundamental information processing skills. Before middle adulthood, most individuals will experience a decline in this type of intelligence. After early adulthood cognitive processing speed gets slower and slower. Simultaneously, the ability to multitask also slows down. On the other hand, the ability to utilize critical thinking usually increase with age. These are the skills needed to address issues at hand and discover how to accomplish a goal.

Healthy relationships with a lie partner during adult years are proven to be a factor of overall positive mental and physical health (Ryff, 2009). Having children also contributes to individual well-being. Although bring up kids can be very demanding, studies show that parents are happier then their childless peers later on in life. Parents overall welfare is positively affected by their adult children. In addition, having a healthy partnership contributes to their overall welfare (Ryff, 2009).

Lacking these significant relationships commonly lead to feelings of isolation. Individuals are usually forming meaningful relationships in young adulthood. Adults are likely to experience loneliness when they fail to form significant relationships with loved ones.

During each stage of adulthood individuals face similar challenges. They are commonly known as “quarter-life crises” and ” mid-life crises.” Between the ages of 25 and 30 people may experience a “quarter-life crises.” This crisis often stems from the difficulties of moving into a self-sufficient lifestyle of an adult and newfound everyday duties. This may occur as well after having their first child or if an individual completes university and struggles to find employment that they desire. During this period, adults often analyze their life choices, wonder if they chose wisely, and worry about their future.

In middle adulthood, a critical challenge is to cultivate a genuine care for the state of the future and work on giving back to the world. Erikson would describe the key issue during this period as being a problem in generativity vs. self‐absorption. The primary prompts of a mid-life crisis often are troubles in the work place, dysfunctional married life, kids getting older and moving on to college, or their own parents passing away. In middle adulthood individuals are starting to think about what impact they have made in their life. Generativity includes discovering a loved career and helping the progress of other. Stagnation is a common feeling of individuals who do not fulfill generativity.