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2.Thepsychologyofhumandevelopmentinlateadulthood
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mentinthelabourmarketandeconomiccrisis,additionaltrainingisaforcedele-
mentofeverydaylife,inwhichhusbandandwifehavemoretimeforoneanother.
Asaconsequence,midlifeisoftendescribedaslessstressfulbutmuchlesshappy
thantheyouth.
Muchcanbewrittenonthechangesandonwhatismaintainedafter50.The
mostimportantcharacteristicsofpsycho-socialfunctioningofthemiddle-aged
arepresentedbeneath.
Familyties.Thisisaverygoodperiodforhusbandandwife,becausethey
canspendmoretimewithoneanotherthanwhentheirchildrenwerestill
athome(Veroff,Douvan,Kulka,1981).Theperiodafterchildrenbecome
independentandleavefamilyhomeiscalledthepostparentalperiodorthe
emptynestperiod(Worach-Kardas,1988).Thefamilytiescanbeconsi-
deredintwodirections:upwardselderlyparents,anddownwardsgrow-
ingupchildrenandtheiroffspring.Eachlinkinthegenerationchainhas
itsparticularfunctiontobefulfilledinparticulartime(Hagestad,1990).
Forpeopleinmidlifeitisconnectedwithsupportgivenintwodirections
andmaintainingtheemotionalbounds.Thisiswhypeopleaged45–65
arecalled"thegenerationinbetween”,givingmoresupportthanreceiv-
ingit(Gallagher,1994).Averyimportantissueforpeopleinmidlifeis
socialsupportdefinedinvariousways.Itcanbeunderstoodashelpavail-
ableindifficultandstressfulsituationsorasakindofexchangeorsocial
interactioninwhichemotional,informationalormaterialsupportisbe-
ingreceived,evaluatedandusedasameanstoovercomedifficulties(Sęk,
1993).AsimilaropinionpresentsHouse(ascitedin:Titkow,1993),who
describessocialsupportasanexchangeofemotions,goods,servicesand
information.Moreover,essentialforsocialsupportisso-calledsocialnet-
work,whichconsistsofanindividual’sconnectionswithobjects,important
personsorsocialgroups(Popiołek,1996;Ratajczak,1992;Titkow,1993).
Averyinterestingresearchshowingthesupportandalsohowaperson
influencesothersandisinfluencedbythemwasconductedonthree-gene-
rationfamiliesbyGunhildyandHagestad(1984).Anattemptatinflu-
encinggrown-upchildrenwasmadeintheperiodwhentheyweretaking
overrolesofworking,studying,earningmoneyandenjoyingtheirown
lives.Effortstoimposeone’sownwillonothersappearedtobenotonly
characteristicforthemiddlegenerationbutalsoforyoungergenerations
children,andfortheolderoneparents.Advice,especiallygivenby
children,wasrespectedandtaken,whichisaveryimportantconclusion
consideringtheirbroaderknowledgeandacquaintancewiththelabour
market.Anopinioncanbeventuredthatinthepromotionofdiverseforms
ofemploymentyoungergenerationsplaymuchbiggerrolethanmedia.
Talkingabouttheresearchitisworthmentioningsomepatternsofbe-
haviourinheritedwithinfamilies,suchassubjectsoffamilydiscussions.
Someareunimportantrecurrentthemesconcerninge.g.money,othersre-