The definition of midlife is literally a point at the middle of a person’s life. ‘The concept of ‘crisis’, in mid-life and at other times, implies a rapid or substantial change in personality, which is dislocating with respect to one’s sense of identity (Freund & Ritter, 2009, p. 583). Thus, the best definition of midlife crisis is a sense of crisis situation that one experiences around middle age driven by a sense of diminishing youth and the loss that accompanies this. The question really arises about the validity and existence of the Midlife Crisis. The essay will delve into whether or not midlife crisis affects us at a certain point in our lives by first examining a theoretical work and then critically evaluating the empirical viewpoint ultimately concluding that Midlife Crisis does not exist to the extent believed or does not exist at all.
As per Lemme, the earliest mentions of Life Stages commences from Freud, Jung and Erikson. Both Erikson and Jung, identified the ages of 40 and 55 as a time of transition for most people. (Lemme, 2006, p. 48) Much later, it was Levinson, who structured the Life Stages to the age of 45 and 60. Within these, he identified the ages of 40 - 45 as the era of middle adulthood and 45 -60 as later adulthood. (Lemme, 2006, p. 58). It was Levinson who probably gave impetus to the probable existence of the Midlife Crisis, although his work doesn’t explicitly mention the topic. On the subject of whether Midlife Crisis exists, Lemme prefers to term this phase as midlife transition or a correction rather than a Crisis. (p. 72). In essence, Lemme accepts that a certain transition phase does exist at Midlife, but does not term this phase as a Crisis. With this theoretical background, this essay proceeds to examine some empirical works on the subject.
As per Margie Lachman, there exists a largely dichotomous view of the Midlife as a Life Stage since popular perception indicates midlife to be one of crisis, while other viewpoints also indicate mid-life as the peak of one’s life since it is a stage wherein an individual becomes a supporting system for multiple people within the family and the Society. (Lachman, 2004, p. 313). Accordingly, it follows that the period of Midlife Crisis is individual dependant, but is characterized by a sense of achievement and the attainment of goals. A study conducted by David Karp (1988) strongly supported the beliefs put forth by Lachman, while additionally reinforcing the approximate commencement of the Midlife occurs between the ages of 50 to 60, but is not necessarily characterized by a Crisis Situation. (Karp, 1988, p. 728). Karp also mentions that most of his respondents felt elated to be at that particular time of their life and not everything was as if in a crisis situation. (p.737). Similarly, Teshale and others (2015), postulated that as popularly held, Midlife is a period in time when one can compensate for one’s deficits to ensure a happier and more stable future life. (Teshale et.al, 2015, p. 25). In essence, Teshale et.al, have portrayed midlife as a critical juncture in one’s life given the all-important point at which the period lies.
If one now takes a critical view, Freund and Ritter (2009) define Midlife Crisis and set out marking a critical view of the same. In this case, they support the fact that both theoretical and empirical evidence do not point to the existence of a strong Mid Life Crisis phenomena. (Freund & Ritter, p. 585). This is primarily because goals are dynamic and relatively abstract and, as such, the assessment of goals becomes difficult. (Freund & Ritter, 2009, p. 586).Also, it is difficult as one gets older to set similar goals and work towards attaining those goals. (Freund & Ritter, 2009, p. 587).The fact that both these points rally extensively against traditional beliefs on Midlife Crisis, indicate that the concept is almost non-existent.
Likewise, empirical evidence gathered by Susan Heidrich and Carol Ryff point to three main theoretical aspects: Social Integration, Social Comparisons and Self-Discrepancy. (p. 328). Heidrich and Ryff postulated that these three self-evaluative processes mediated the relationship between physical and mental health in case of older women (50 years+). The outcome of this empirical study clearly indicated that elderly women efficiently managed to report high levels of psychological well-being, despite common old age problems such as various mental and physical health issues. (p. 333). In essence, this implies that the existence of MidLife Crisis ranges from weak to non-existent. The view has been supported by Hanna Drimalla in her article, where she says that too much is being about the midlife crisis phenomena. She says that midlife, in itself, is a nebulous concept since while midlife is associated with certain irreversible changes, it does not lead to a crisis situation as is commonly believed by most people.(Drimalla, 2015).
If one considers a study outside the US, Minakshi Tikoo (1996) conducted a study in India with both middle aged men and women as respondents to broaden the scope of the study. The most important outcome of this study was that it could not find effects of age, visible gender differences in perception, clearly indicating that the concept of midlife crisis did not even exist in India or in the Indian psyche. (Tikoo, 1996, p. 887). This potential gap existing in most pro-Midlife Crisis studies should be reviewed since it ideally means that these studies have committed some grave error to reach an erroneous conclusion.
In conclusion, one can understand that while the theoretical view on the matter does not support the existence of midlife crisis much, empirical view supports the stand strongly. Most studies on the subject have yielded weak to strong contrary results and have only gone to show that the phenomena is not as widely existent as formerly believed. In some countries outside the US, due to cultural or other reasons the concept of Midlife Crisis does not even exist amongst individuals.
Reference
Drimalla, H. (2015). Science Debunks Midlife Myths. Scientific American.Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-debunksmidlifemyths/
Freund, A & Ritter, J. (2009). Midlife Crisis: A Debate. Gerontology, 55, 582 – 591. Retrieved from http://www.karger.com/ger
Heidrich, S. &Ryff, D.C. (1993). Physical and Mental Health in Later Life: The Self-System as Mediator. Psychology and Aging Journal 8.3, 327 – 338. Retrieved from psycnet.apa.org/journals/pag/8/3/327.pdf
Karp, A. D. (1988). A Decade of Reminders: Changing Age Consciousness Between Fifty and Sixty Years Old. The Gerontologist Journal28.6, 727 – 738. Retrieved from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/28/6/727.full.pdf+html
Lachman, M.E. (2004). Development in Midlife.Annual Review of Psychology. 55, 305 – 331. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14744218
Lemme, B.H. (2006). Development in Adulthood. Boston, MA: Pearson Publishing.
Teshale, S. et.al. (2015). Midlife as a pivotal period in the life course: Balancing growth and decline at the crossroads of youth and old age. International Journal of Behavioral Development 39.1, 20 -31. Retrieved from https://uic.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/midlife-as-a-pivotal-period-in-the-life- course-balancing-growth-a
Tikoo, M. (1996).An Exploratory Study of Differences in Developmental Concerns of Middle- Aged Men and Women in India.Psychological Reports Journal. 78, 883 – 887.
