1. Adult Development
Theories
Class 5
ADLT 671, Theory and Practice of Adult
Learning

2. Personal Development Theorists
O Age / Stage
O Development proceeds according to a series of
stages adults pass through as they age
O Life Events
O Development coincides with major life events such
as marriage, death of spouse, etc
O Transitions
O Development marked by periods of transition from
one stage to another

3. Age – Stage Theorists
Levinson (1978, 1996)
Gilligan (1982)
Havighurst (1981)
Maslow (1968)
Gould (1978)
Erikson (1959)

4. Daniel Levinson
O Life cycle composed of 4 developmental periods
O Childhood – Adolescence (birth – age 20)
O Early Adulthood (ages 17-45)
O Middle Adulthood (ages 40 – 65)
O Late Adulthood (ages 60 – onward)
O Each transition takes 3-6 years to complete
O Concept of individuation – changing relationship
between self and the world
O Conceived of the midlife crisis

5. Carol Gilligan
O Feminist perspective on age-stage theories
O Highly critical of Levinson’s concept of “the
dream”
O Male identity build upon contrast and
separateness to primary care-giver
O Female identity based on perceptions of
sameness and attachment to primary caregiver

6. Gilligan, con’t
O Women’s moral judgment proceeds through three levels
O Focus on self (Level 1)
O Caring for others equated with good (Level 2)
O Caring for others and responsibility for individual
needs (Level 3)
O Two transitions
O Movement from selfishness to responsibility
O Movement from goodness to truth

7. Havighurst
Chickering and Havighurst
O Concept of the “teachable moment” when
the learning opportunity coincides with the
life task at hand
O Identified developmental tasks specific to
white, middle-class North Americans

8. Abraham Maslow
O Highest level of development is reaching
self-actualization
O Accepting of themselves and others
O Problem-centered not self-centered
O Have spontaneity
O Have had mystical or spiritual experiences
O Resist conformity to culture
O Need for privacy
O Deep relationships with a few special others
O Express creativity

9. Roger Gould
O Development is a process of
confronting layer upon layer of
childhood pain
O Development involves separation from
childhood assumptions

10. Erik Erikson
O Development occurs as demands of society
provoke struggle or crisis within the
person
O Eight psycho-social stages: five in
childhood based on Freudian concepts
O Adult stages
O Intimacy
O Generativity
O Integrity

11. Life Events Theorists
Neugarten (1976)
Baltes et al. (1980)
Riegel (1976)
Merriam and Clark (1991)

12. Neugarten
O Adult development defined by time factors
O Social time
O Development situations are not experienced
as crises if they occur “on time” as socially
appropriate
O Crises come from “off time” life events when
experience differs from expectations
O Historical time – creates age appropriate
norms
O Chronological age – increases ability to
interpret experience in more refined ways

13. Baltes et al.
O Normative age-graded developmental
influences
O Physical maturity, commencement of education,
death of parents
O Normative, historically-determined events
O Economic depressions, wars, etc
O Non-normative influences of great impact
O Experiences unique to the individual such as
contracting rare disease, winning the lottery, etc

14. Riegel
O Individual is a changing person in a changing
world
O Human development moves along 4 dimensions
O Inner-biological (maturation, health)
O Individual-psychological (self-concept, self-esteem)
O Cultural-social (rules, regulations, social rituals)
O Outer physical (natural world events)
O When any 2 dimensions are in conflict,
developmental change may occur

15. Merriam and Clark
O To be able to love and to work are the two
goals of successful adult development
O Found 3 patterns unrelated to age or
gender
O Divergent (when one is good, other is not)
O Steady/Fluctuating (one steady, other
fluctuates)
O Parallel (love and work happiness coincide)

16. Transitions Theorists
Bridges (1980)
Sugarman (1986)

17. William Bridges
O Life marked by a series of transitions
O Each individual has a characteristic way
of dealing with transitions which will be
repeated throughout life
O Three recurring events
O Endings first
O Neutral zone
O New beginning

18. Sugarman
O Change experience follows a characteristic
pattern
O Immobilization – sense of being overwhelmed
O Reaction – sharp mood swings from elation to despair
O Denial - minimizing the impact
O Letting go of the past
O Testing – exploring new options
O Searching for meaning – a conscious effort to learn
from the experience
O Integration – feeling at home with the change