Monday, January 4, 2010

Chapter 12: Midlife

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  1. Personality

    Bigfive: showcases research suggesting that openess to experience predicts staying cognitively sharp and promotes well being..(I elaborate on this finding at several points in the chapter.)

    generativity and happiness:

    * makes a clear distinction between hedonic and eudiamonic happiness, and makes the point that eudiamonic happiness (having a sense of life meaning) predicts living a fulfilling life.

    * highlights a longitudinal study suggesting that becoming a father--and feeling fulfilled in that role-- predicts being generative in the wider world decades later.

    TOTALLY REWRITTEN SECTION: Do we become more mature with age? Explores

    * Exciting new research suggesting that, yes, life stress in moderation may promote mental health (and well being)

    * A compelling carefully constructed study spanning a decade using experiencing sampling
    data suggesting we do get happier (the ratio of + to - emotions rises) and more "in control" emotionally with age.

    * another study suggesting prosocial values in college predict midlife fulfillment.

    finally, makes the point that the wider society is HIGHLY influential in predicting happiness--as overall well being is highest when people live in nations with stable governments, that commit to taking care of their citizens, that is,
    nations where income inequalities are relatively low (all this comes from cross national data on happiness)!

    INTELLIGENCE

    * showcases a remarkable new study suggesting that wisdom (measured by the ability to reason post formally about interpersonal conflicts) does increase in the 60s ..Yea!

    * describes other research suggesting that it's
    interpersonal challenges that may help keep us cognitively sharp with age.

    Grandparenthood: Outlines an
    an evolutionary perspective on menopause: Grandmas evolved to offer an extra layer of caregivers--without childrearing obligations--to promote species survival.

    Parentcare: Elaborates on the forces that make this role stressful (and especially not stressful) and vigorously dispels the sterotype that in collectivist societies such as Japan people feel much better about caring for their elderly parents.

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