Deck 7: The Middle Years and the Not-So-Empty Nest

Question 1

Hugo and Anna are midlife parents. Their adult daughter Adele is married with her own child. According to the text,what is likely to be an important task for this family?

A) redrawing family boundaries and redefining individual roles
B) preventing a midlife crisis by developing new hobbies and interests
C) directing extra financial resources towards retirement
D) renegotiating the marital system as a dyad

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to the text,which of the following BEST describes the current midlife generation?

A) It consists of the baby boomers.
B) It is smaller than in previous decades.
C) It spends more time in child rearing than in previous decades.
D) It is very homogenous.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In midlife,a man evaluates his dream of what he wants to accomplish in life.According to the text,if he has achieved it,what does he need to do?

A) give up and retire
B) find someone to mentor
C) find another goal
D) move into management

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to the text,what is one characteristic of the midlife group?

A) their diversity
B) their unusual similarity
C) their rapid physical decline
D) their child rearing

Question 5

According to the text,what general statement can we make about the middle years of life?

A) Almost all men are concentrating on career achievement.
B) The main interest of most middle-age women is children and grandchildren.
C) There are enormous differences among middle-aged people.
D) Middle-aged individuals are more alike than different.

Question 6

According to the text,which is NOT a typical concern for midlife adults?

A) one's contributions to the world
B) identity and personal meaning
C) personal income and assets
D) mortality

Question 7

What is a life event that can produce a change in the family system?

A) a transformation
B) a midlife crisis
C) a transition
D) a stressor

Question 8

Younger baby boomers are focused on ________,while older boomers are concerned with ________.

A) interpersonal tensions, the welfare of others
B) career aspirations, retirement
C) self-reflection, building relationships
D) generativity, self-despair

Question 9

What is the term for the many changes that occur during the middle years of the family life cycle?

A) crisis prone
B) morphogenetic
C) provisional
D) transitional

Question 10

According to the text,middle-aged Canadians have an advantage when dealing with life-stage challenges.What is it?

A) They are well supported by a long-term peer group.
B) They have adult children who are largely self-sufficient.
C) They have high levels of practical knowledge.
D) They have learned to let go of the things they cannot change.

Question 11

What did Erik Erikson believe is the key issue in middle age?

A) the development of intimacy and relationship maintenance
B) introspection regarding future goals
C) passing something of value on to younger generations
D) dealing with the competing demands of work and family

Question 12

According to the text,how do today's parents compare to parents in the past?

A) Today's parents devote more time to active child rearing.
B) Today's parents devote less time to active child rearing.
C) Today's parents make parenting a smaller priority than work.
D) Today's parents make work a smaller priority than parenting.

Question 13

Sonja and Eli are in the second half of middle age.According to the text,what are they most likely focused on?

A) liberation and experimentation
B) death and dying
C) self-evaluation and transition
D) caretaking and parenting

Question 14

Josh has bought new,more fashionable clothes; started working out at the gym; bought a new sports car; separated from his wife; and found a glamorous young girlfriend.According to the text,what are these are signs of?

A) a generativity shift
B) marital boredom
C) a midlife crisis
D) midlife schizophrenia

Question 15

Midlife has been divided into two age periods.What are they?

A) 30 to 50 and 50 to 65
B) mid 30s to mid 40s and mid 40s to mid 60s
C) early 40s to late 50s and late 50s to early 70s
D) 45 to 55 and 55 to 65

Question 16

According to the text,what does "midlife crisis" refer to?

A) a life event that can produce change in the extended family system
B) the depression some women experience when the last child leaves home
C) a period of extreme strain as a person evaluates his or her life in middle age
D) the stress experienced by middle-aged adults who face the disability of their parents

Question 17

According to Erik Erikson,what is the chief developmental task of midlife?

A) intimacy
B) life review
C) generativity
D) creativity

Question 18

According to the text,what do Canadian middle-aged individuals report are the most negative changes at this life stage?

A) children moving out of the home
B) the death of a loved one
C) job changes or retirement
D) marital transitions

Question 19

When did the idea of middle age originate?

A) in the Victorian period
B) fairly recently
C) in medieval times
D) during the 1800s.

Question 20

According to the text,what is meant by "the midlife years are transitional"? ,

A) Men experience a midlife crisis.
B) There is an increase in marital pleasure.
C) There is a shift in family relationships.
D) Women are seen as deteriorating physically.

Question 21

Which years does emerging adulthood roughly span?

A) 17 to 25
B) 18 to 35
C) 16 to 24
D) 18 to 25

Question 22

According to the text,why can having adult children living at home or returning home be stressful for parents?

A) Old parent-child roles may be inappropriate.
B) Children take over too many of the parents' responsibilities.
C) It tends to keep parents' unhappy marriages together.
D) Most parents are unhappy with the revolving door.

Question 23

According to the text,which of the following is UNLIKELY to be a reason for greater interest in sex at midlife?

A) After menopause, there is no need to fear pregnancy.
B) Now that children are gone, there are fewer interruptions.
C) Sex has become a habit that is hard to give up.
D) Men's slowed response time allows a more relaxed approach.

Question 24

What does the "revolving door" refer to?

A) the rat race many middle-aged people are trapped in
B) the fact that elderly parents move in with their children
C) the return home of a child who earlier moved out
D) the need to provide daycare for grandchildren

Question 25

When parents and adult children live together,the situation is ambiguous.Many parents feel the need to maintain control over their own homes.According to the text,how do many adult children feel?

A) They want their parents to make decisions for them.
B) They wish to control their own lives.
C) They expect to make most household decisions.
D) They want to control their parents' lives.

Question 26

In 2006,what fraction of unattached young adults 20 to 24 years of age live at home with their parents?

A) one-tenth
B) almost one-half
C) about one-quarter
D) almost two-thirds

Question 27

According to the text,what is adolescents' most basic need?

A) firm boundaries
B) acceptance within the peer group
C) a belief that their parents support them
D) freedom to explore drugs and alcohol

Question 28

Which of the following is probably NOT a reason for the not-so-empty nest?

A) Young people are getting married later.
B) More young people are in postsecondary education
C) There has been an increase in unmarried cohabitation.
D) It is difficult to find a well-paying job.

Question 29

In the past,what marked a transition into adulthood?

A) getting married
B) graduating from high school
C) having a baby
D) getting a "real" job

Question 30

According to the text,what are middle-aged parents with teens at home more likely to be?

A) anxious
B) depressed
C) frustrated
D) stressed

Question 31

Researchers are now suggesting that there is a stage after adolescence.What is it called?

A) young adulthood
B) late adolescence
C) emerging adulthood.
D) pseudo-adolescence

Question 32

According to the text,how do men and women tend to shift roles in midlife?

A) toward greater androgyny
B) toward greater femininity
C) toward greater masculinity
D) toward greater synchrony

Question 33

According to the text,when do middle-aged parents experience marital conflict and distress?

A) when they have many pets in the home
B) when they have no children in the home
C) when they have young children in the home
D) when they have adolescents in the home

Question 34

According to the text,if a marriage survives the midlife transition,how does it compare to the child-rearing years?

A) It is often less satisfying.
B) It is often busier.
C) It is often more deadening.
D) It is often happier.

Question 35

According to the text,by the end of adolescence,what are most teens more concerned with than conforming to peers?

A) romantic relationships
B) making choices about higher education
C) deciding career goals
D) maintaining relationships with parents

Question 36

James Marcia suggests that identity develops on two dimensions.What are they?

A) expansion and moratorium
B) trust and mistrust
C) exploration and commitment
D) foreclosure and role confusion

Question 37

According to the text,what do the benefits of having adult children live at home NOT include?

A) shared housework and living costs
B) the opportunity for the adult child to complete an education
C) the opportunity to resolve earlier relationship conflicts
D) the chance for the adult child to find a good job

Question 38

Compared to young people of the same age in the past,what do emerging adults today have more of?

A) freedom and choices
B) responsibilities and stressors
C) money and status
D) friends and romantic partners

Question 39

According to the text,what do emerging adults value more than relationships with peers?

A) relationships with romantic partners
B) plans for higher education
C) career goals
D) relationships with parents

Question 40

According to the text,participation in organized after-school activities benefits adolescents,EXCEPT when one of the following occurs.Which one?

A) Parents put too much pressure on competition.
B) Participation in these is more than 20 hours a week.
C) They spend less time on homework as a result.
D) They are participating without their peer group.

Question 41

The ____________________ refers to the depression and sense of uselessness some women experience when the last child leaves home.

Question 42

Researchers are now suggesting that there is a stage after adolescence that they call __________________________.

Question 43

In what ways do men and women evaluate their work at midlife?

Question 44

Erik Erikson states that the key issue in middle age is _______________________.

Question 45

The main task in adolescence is for a teen to develop his or her ______________________.

Question 46

Explain what is meant by "midlife crisis."

Question 47

When Janice became a grandmother at the age of 29,why did she feel it was too early?

A) She was using the social time clock.
B) She was ready for an empty nest.
C) She was not prepared for the revolving door.
D) She did not hear the ticking of the biological clock.

Question 48

When young people repeatedly move in and out of their parents' home,the situation is described as a ___________________.

Question 49

What does the "sandwich generation" refer to?

A) dual-earner couples who are so busy with their careers they do not have time to cook
B) young adults who are employed in low-paying jobs with few prospects for promotion
C) middle-aged adults whose children are dependent and whose parents have increasing disability
D) young single parents who live with their own parents and also care for their children

Question 50

What is the socially approved schedule for events to occur at certain times of life?

A) the social time clock
B) a social straitjacket
C) the ticking biological clock
D) a social script

Question 51

Midlife adults tend to reflect and evaluate their lives in three domains.Briefly describe these.

Question 52

According to the text,what is the major theme of the middle years?

A) the challenge of making these years fulfilling for both spouses
B) the transition to grandparent and in-law status
C) the transition in roles and relationships
D) the failure of young adults to achieve independence

Question 53

According to James Marcia,when an adolescent explores his or her identity and makes no commitment,he or she is in __________________.

Question 54

Joy is 33.Her 16-year-old daughter has just had a baby.How is Joy likely to find grandmotherhood?

A) stressful because she does not enjoy the baby at all
B) stressful because it is off time and she is too young
C) a pleasure because she has looked forward to being a grandmother
D) a pleasure because she and her daughter had planned the child

Question 55

One characteristic common to the middle years is the ____________________ by the individual of his or her life course and family relationships.

Question 56

A(n)____________________ is a life event that can produce change in the family system.

Question 57

The ____________________ is the socially approved schedule for certain life events.

Question 58

Middle-aged adults who experience the stress of continuing dependency of their children and increasing disability of their parents are called the ____________________.

Question 59

According to the text,why do most midlife children return home?

A) loneliness
B) employment loss
C) death of a spouse
D) to assist aging parents

Question 60

Indicate the developmental tasks that face young adults.

Question 61

Compare men's and women's transitions at midlife.

Question 62

Explain why researchers feel the need for a new age category: emerging adulthood.What characteristics define this new age group?

Question 63

Name three problems that may result from the revolving door.

Question 64

Explain why middle-aged individuals are sometimes called "the sandwich generation."

Question 65

Discuss changes that may occur in the marital relationship at midlife.

Question 66

Explain why age is often more important for women than for men.

Question 67

Describe the factors influencing marital happiness at midlife.

Question 68

Explain why more young adults are living with their parents now than formerly and describe the stresses this trend creates in parent-child relationships.

Question 69

What changes may occur in the marital relationship at midlife?

Question 70

Define "empty nest" and explain why it is often more important for women than for men.

Question 71

Describe four major changes that occur in adolescence and young adulthood and discuss their impact on relationships between middle-aged parents and their children.