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

Question 1

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

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is one advantage that many middle-aged Canadians have in dealing with life-stage challenges?

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.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to the text,which statement best describes the current midlife generation?

A)It is one of the longest stages in life.
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.

Question 5

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

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

Question 6

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 7

According to the text,what is middle adulthood characterized as?

A)the time since birth
B)the time after birth
C)the time left to live
D)the time to live

Question 8

Which statement best describes younger people's transition to independent living in the past few decades?

A)It is occurring earlier.
B)It occurs more rapidly.
C)It is occurring later.
D)It has stopped occurring.

Question 9

Why is emerging adulthood considered a social phenomenon?

A)It occurs universally.
B)It involves physical changes.
C)It has been a historical stage of life.
D)It only occurs in developed countries.

Question 10

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 are many stressors.
D)Women are seen as deteriorating physically.

Question 11

Which of the following has been seen as the most important form of generativity?

A)having children
B)producing works of art
C)career and public life
D)financial success

Question 12

Which term describes the focus on one's legacy,such as having children and passing on something of value to younger generations?

A)midlife crisis
B)life goals
C)self-reflection
D)generativity

Question 13

According to the text,why do Indigenous youth struggle to participate in the labour force?

A)They have too many responsibilities at home.
B)They do not have good role models.
C)They have been discriminated against.
D)There are not enough jobs for youth.

Question 14

Which term refers to the many changes that occur during the middle years of the family life cycle?

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

Question 15

What did Erik Erikson believe to be 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 16

According to the text,which group experiences the highest unemployment rates?

A)Canadian youth
B)immigrant youth
C)African Canadian youth
D)boomerang kids

Question 17

Which of the following is a characteristic of the midlife years?

A)They are transitional.
B)They are short.
C)They are the same for everyone.
D)They include no child rearing.

Question 18

James Marcia suggests that identity develops on which of the following two dimensions?

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

Question 19

What ages does emerging adulthood roughly span?

A)16 to 18
B)18 to 25
C)25 to 29
D)29 to 35

Question 20

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 together in unhappy marriages.
D)Most parents are unhappy with the revolving door.

Question 21

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 22

What is a benefit to an adult child living at home with his or her parents?

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 to give financial assistance to the parents

Question 23

Which term refers to children who return to their parents' home after moving out?

A)failed birds
B)students
C)sandwich generation
D)boomerang kids

Question 24

Hugo and Anna are midlife parents.Their adult daughter Adele is married with her own child.According to the text,what readjustment of the family system will occur?

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

Question 25

According to the text,what is the most important resource for meeting the challenges of midlife transitions?

A)friends
B)family
C)co-workers
D)therapists

Question 26

According to the text,what is NOT a feature of adulthood?

A)identity exploration
B)age of possibilities
C)career goals
D)age of instability

Question 27

Which term refers to the depression and sense of uselessness some women experience when the last child leaves home?

A)detachment disorder
B)mid-life crisis
C)generativity crisis
D)empty nest syndrome

Question 28

Which term refers to the socially approved schedule for events to occur at certain times of life?

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

Question 29

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 30

What does the term "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 31

What does the term "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 lone parents who live with their own parents and also care for their children

Question 32

According to Erik Erikson,what is the major task for young people moving into adulthood?

A)developing a sense of identity
B)finding a job
C)getting married
D)moving away from parents

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT 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 34

Sonja is in the stage of emerging adulthood.According to the text,what is she most likely focused on?

A)liberation and experimentation
B)death and dying
C)identity exploration
D)caretaking and parenting

Question 35

Around what age do many Canadians become grandparents?

A)40
B)50
C)60
D)70

Question 36

According to the text,what is risky adolescent behaviour a result of?

A)persuasion
B)depression
C)group culture
D)fear

Question 37

In the past,which of the following marked a transition into adulthood for women?

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

Question 38

Which term refers to a life event that can produce a change in the family system?

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

Question 39

As men's and women's social roles become more similar,what is likely to happen?

A)Women will start to worry about generativity.
B)Generativity will become less important for both men and women.
C)Men will experience routes to generativity more closely resembling women's.
D)Women will experience routes to generativity more closely resembling men's.

Question 40

When parents and adult children live together,the situation is ambiguous.Many parents feel the need to maintain control over their own homes,while many adult children may have which of the following feelings?

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 41

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
Enter the appropriate word(s)to complete the statement.

Question 42

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

Question 43

What are helicopter parents?

A)parents who hover around their children
B)parents who are dismissive of their children
C)parents who commit to their children
D)parents who allow their children freedom to explore

Question 44

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 45

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

Question 46

Children who return to their parents' home after moving out are called __________________.

Question 47

Jon is entering third year university and has decided to change his major from chemistry to fine arts.According to James Marcia,what is Jon experiencing?

A)diffusion
B)moratorium
C)foreclosure
D)achievement

Question 48

Which of the following is the most basic need of adolescents?

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 49

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

Question 50

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

Question 51

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 52

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

Question 53

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

Question 54

Josh has bought new and 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 is this scenario an example of?

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

Question 55

By the end of adolescence,teens are more concerned with which of the following than with conforming to peers?

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

Which parenting style is most likely to result in children with identity diffusion?

A)permissive
B)neglectful
C)authoritarian
D)authoritative

Question 58

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 59

What period of life is often considered "sturm und drang"?

A)middle years
B)adolescence
C)emerging adulthood
D)during the 1800s

Question 60

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