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Is THERE ADULT DEVELOPMENT DISTINCTIVE to WOMEN?

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Is THERE ADULT DEVELOPMENT DISTINCTIVE to WOMEN? CHAPTER 12 Is THERE ADULT DEVELOPMENT DISTINCTIVE TO WOMEN? RAVENNA HELSON, JENNIFER PALS, AND MARJORIE SOLOMON INSTITUTE OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Adult development usually refers to positive personality change after late adoles­ cence, such as increased competence, perspective, maturity, and understanding (Vaillant, 1977; White, 1966). It may be conceptualized as taking place in the process of meeting the psychosocial needs of identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity (Erikson, 1963), or through developmental tasks such as rearing children or assum­ ing responsibilities in work (Havighurst, 1948). It can refer to the actualization of one's individual potential (Btihler, 1971; Jung, 1931/1960). Some would take adult development to be evidenced in the sequence of events that make a life story, or perhaps in the differentiation and coherence of one's life story (McAdams, 1993). Though attention tends to be focused on change in the positive direction, change may also be retrogressive (Baltes, 1987). Gains in self-control, for example, may be made at the cost of a loss in spontaneity. There is disagreement about whether features of adult development can be demonstrated in most people or in some people in some circumstances, or whether patterns of variation are so great and depend on so many factors as to render the construct of adult development of doubtful scientific use. The disagreement depends in part on diverse conceptualizations of what development consists of, on the way personality and personality change are to be measured, and on difficulties inherent in making comparisons across cultures or historical periods (Helson, 1993a; Helson & COPYRIGHT © 1997 BY ACADEMIC PRESS. HANDBOOK OF PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY 291 ALL RIGHTS OF REPRODUCTION IN ANY FORM RESERVED. 292 HELSON, PALS, AND SOLOMON Stewart, 1994). Whether there is adult development is a version of the question of the meaning of life and the extent to which we can control our destinies. People are interested in such questions, but they are not easy to answer. To ask whether there is adult development distinctive to women involves all of the above issues along with considerations of what is special about women. Gender differences seem very small in some contexts and very large in others (J. H. Block, 1976; Eagley, 1995; Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974), and policies to either minimize or maximize these differences have perplexing consequences (Hare- Mustin & Marecek, 1990). For example, emphasizing differences between men and women is often said to justify and perpetuate inequalities. However, minimizing gender differences may support the failure of society to take into account women's special needs, such as those associated with childbirth. Research designs present numerous dilemmas and agendas. If one compares women with men, one neglects aspects of development unique to women or of special interest to women. If one studies women alone, one leaves unclear the extent of difference between men and women. If one studies middle class white women, results cannot safely be attributed to women in general (Yoder & Kahn, 1993). Research agendas are not neutral. If one emphasizes biological differences, there is the implication of universality and enduringness. If one emphasizes how social institutions subjugate women, there is the implication that any picture one gets of women's adult development is incom­ plete or distorted. If one shows how sex differences are construed differently from one cultural group, society, or period of history to another, it would appear that women's adult development must be studied in context. The purpose of this chapter is not to conclude that there is or is not a pattern of adult development distinctive among women, but to explore this very large question. Whether there are general features in the way women change over the course of adulthood cannot be decided on the basis of any single investigation. Although cross-sectional studies (in which individuals of different ages are studied at the same time) may sometimes be useful, what appears to be an age difference in such studies may actually be attributable to differences in cohort experience. (A cohort consists of people born about the same time who experience the same historical events at the same stage of life.) One needs longitudinal studies (that is, studies of the same individuals followed over time), conducted in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. Not only is no one study sufficient to show whether there is adult development distinctive to women, but also it seems likely that no one point of view is sufficient. Theoretical perspectives are Uke searchlights that clarify certain areas but throw others into obscurity. Therefore, we will discuss several theoretical approaches and use them all. The organization of this chapter is as follows: first we state several assumptions about the question of women's adult development. Then we consider four theoreti­ cal approaches to it, present two hypotheses or guiding ideas, and, after a brief review of social history affecting women since the 1920s, we evaluate evidence for the hypotheses in studies of American women born at various periods of the century. CHAPTER 12 DISTINCHVE TO WOMEN 293 I. SOME ORGANIZING ASSUMPTIONS Knowing how different people are, and the great variety of conditions under which they Uve, is it reasonable to expect that their adult development could show impor­ tant common features? Tooby and Cosmides (1990) make the case that human nature, which they define as a species-typical collection of complex psychological adaptations, is the same across races, ethnic groups, and classes (because of the evolutionary genetics of sexual recombination), but that males and females do constitute different "morphs." They beUeve that a complex coordination between the physiological and psychological systems of males and females has evolved to support sexual reproduction (see also Buss, 1989). Our assumption in this chapter is that biological differences as socially inter­ preted and elaborated and as experienced by individuals produce lives with content that is substantially different for men and women. There are universal differences in the early socialization of male and female offspring (Chodorow, 1978). In most cultures there is a gender-based division of labor. Women have almost always occupied a subordinate position in society: they have been directed by men, pos­ sessed less income or property, and held fewer positions of high status. Women's sexual attractiveness to men and their childbearing function have always played key roles in the social construction of women's lives. A second assumption is that the lives of men and women are more different in some cultures and in some periods of history than in others, and that they are never entirely different. In the United States in the 1950s, many men went to work in the city while their wives maintained their suburban homes. Today both men and women do paid work. Even when gender differences are pronounced, however, men and women share experiences that give an important shape to adult develop­ ment: both women and men see their children mature and their parents die. A third assumption is that there are not only main themes but also main variations in women's life stories (Lott, 1987). For example, there are usually women who follow the pattern expected of them in their society along with others whose attitudes and values are more like those of men. There are women who emphasize mothering, those who emphasize the role of intimate companion, and those who emphasize work and career. Other variations may be related to culture, class, cohort, or psychological pattern. In sum, it is reasonable to look for general features in women's adult develop­ ment as long as one realizes the complexity of the search. n. SOME IDEAS AND THEORIES ABOUT WOMEN'S ADULT DEVELOPMENT Ideas about women's adult development may be grouped for the purposes of this chapter into four categories: functionalist, relational, conflict, and normative. Each 294 HELSON, PALS, AND SOLOMON category includes a mixture of theories and what are more properly considered as interpretive frameworks or perspectives. A. Functionalist Perspectives Functionalists interpret personality differences between men and women at different stages of life as manifesting and as having the function of supporting the biological or social system out of which they are said to have arisen. For example, Buss (1989) showed that across many cultures young women valued ambition and industrious- ness in a mate more than young men did, whereas young men valued physical attractiveness in a mate more than young women did. He interpreted these differ­ ences in terms of evolutionary selection pressures which led to different reproductive strategies in males and females. Similar gender differences might be given an alternative functionalist interpre­ tation in terms of the division of labor in society between instrumental and affective tasks (Parsons & Bales, 1955). Perhaps it is found that young women are more interested in finding a marital partner than young men, who are more interested in vocational goals; or perhaps young women are less planful and more adaptable than young men. These differences may be construed as serving the function of preparing for adult roles: for example, not having plans of their own, women can adapt more easily to the husband's way of life. Erikson (1963,1968) characterizes the developmental task of adolescence and the transition into adulthood as the formation of identity, with the resulting capacity to give fidelity to work, values, and other people. His treatment of differences between males and females in the development of identity is functionaUst in that it assumes the importance of biology in determining gender roles. In discussing the development of identity in young men, or in a general way, he emphasizes vocational choice. For a young woman, he says, identity formation involves the recognition of her **inner space" (reproductive capacity) and its integration into other aspects of her self.
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