The Dream and the Midlife Crisis

Levinson categorized stages of development in adult life, similar to the stages identified by Piaget that describe children’s development (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). According to Piaget, the Formal Operational Stage begins around age 12 and continues into adulthood; the theorist did not further categorize adult development (Saleem, Hasan & Fayyaz, 2017). Building on the concept of stages of development, Levinson postulated that adults also go through stages of development, transitioning into early adulthood before officially entering the adult world, then transitioning again around age 30 to a settling down phase (Ojo, 2015).

The midlife transition, which adults pass through before entering middle adulthood in their 40s, often causes the most reflection and reevaluation and often results in the most dramatic life changes (Ojo, 2015).

Levinson contended that adults are motivated by dreams of the future, but as they reach midlife, typically between the ages of 35 and 45, the reality that their perfect dreams will not come true cause them to reevaluate priorities, decisions, and goals, and to reset their life plans (Minola, Criaco & Obschonka, 2016).

The dream was a perfect vision of what they wanted their life to become, and because of its perfection is nearly unattainable; however, the typical adult does not discover this until the middle life transition (Ojo, 2015). Until that time, the dream is silently hoped for even if highly unlikely (Ojo, 2015).

This thought restructuring is often called a midlife crisis, as reforming realistic dreams typically requires considerable reflection, letting go of plans that motivated and drove major life decisions and work, and accepting that all of one’s life plans will not be realized (Minola et al.

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, 2016). This often causes midlife adults to make radical changes to their lives, such as leaving jobs to start their own businesses, leaving families to begin relationships with other partners, or trying new hobbies or activities significantly different from those they previously enjoyed (Minola et al., 2016). As Ojo (2015) explains, since adults passing through this transition can often no longer be motivated by the same dreams that drove their early adulthood, they must often embark on a period of experimentation to discover new and obtainable dreams. Those who cannot engage in this process may become frustrated and depressed (Ojo, 2015).

References

1. Lally, M. & Valentine-French, S. (2017). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective. Open Education Resource. Retrieved from http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf
2. Minola, T., Criaco, G., & Obschonka, M. (2016). Age, culture, and self-employment motivation. Small Business Economics, 46(2), 187-213. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11187-015-9685-6
3. Ojo, A. A. (2015). Analysis of changes in perceived personality dispositions across adult age groups. Ife Psychologia, 23(2), 53-63. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1726693988
4. Saleem, G., Hasan, S. S., & Fayyaz, W. (2017). Relationship of epistemological development with wisdom, age, gender and education. Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15(1), 27-35. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2077520696