George Vaillant and Middle Adulthood, Essay Example

Georgia Vaillant’s research on aging includes some generalizations about human behavior that maximize the chances that a person will have a successful middle adulthood.  According to his longitudinal study, there are six basic factors that influence a middle-aged person’s potential to survive to the age of 80.  The six variables are: having a good, stable, affectionate relationship or marriage; having successful adaptive or coping mechanisms; not being a heavy smoker; not being a substance abuser; getting enough exercise; and not being overweight.  According to Vaillant, people who follow these standards are much more likely to sustain both physical and emotional good health.  These are people who are happy with their lives and also feel good.

Vaillant does not believe that having a terrible childhood will automatically predict having a negative middle adulthood.  He believes that the successful aspects of a childhood are better indicators for middle adulthood then the unsuccessful experiences.  In addition, when older people continue connections with young people, their middle adulthood can be enhanced as long as within those relationships, the middle-aged  adult is treated as an adult with much to offer the younger party.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of subjects studied by Vaillant were males so that generalizations based on gender are difficult.  However, it is a well known fact that women tend to live longer than men, so that one might draw the conclusion that females are more likely to have lives that contain the six variables named by Vaillant as those that will increase the chances of surviving to an old age.

Other research  has focused on a number of topics regarding middle adulthood, and has often presented this stage of life as one full of new beginnings.  Often, people experience major changes in their marriages and may decide to divorce, resulting in forming new social relationships, new careers, and with children grown up and out of the house, may offer the chance for self-knowledge and independence for the first time ever.  Becoming grandparents may be another part of middle adulthood that is a new and exciting aspect of middle-age.  There may also be the death and other losses of friends and relatives during middle adulthood, which exposes one to a whole new set of emotional challenges.