Causes Of Later-Life Crisis

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Life crisis is a usual phenomenon in one’s life as individuals experience unavoidable and unexpected changes and challenges throughout one’s development. Daniel Levinson proposed that evolving physiological, psychological, and role-oriented life changes affect major life transitions Agronin (2014). Levinson et. al. (1978) stated that late adulthood is a time when “a man can no longer occupy the center stage of his world … a man receives less recognition and has less authority and power. His generation is no longer the dominant one” (as cited in Agronin, 2014). He added that the late adulthood stage is a traumatic one because of the crises being experienced by individuals such as death of love ones, less recognition and authority and illness …show more content…

BBC News (2013) discussed the occurrence of late-life crisis among a third of people aged 60 and over wherein the most common trigger was bereavement which was followed by personal illness or injury. It can be supported by the report of Hope (2013) who stated that later-life crisis is being experienced by a third of people in their 60s wherein the meaning of their life is being questioned. Dr. Oliver Robinson, the one who led the research on later-life crisis, revealed that two or more stressful life events happened in crisis episodes which can lead to consciousness of frailty and death and reappraisal of goals. These articles gave strength to the existence of later-life crisis in human development which can affect one’s psychological …show more content…

The study was about the crises in four areas of life such as life events and relationships, self and identity, motivation and goals and cognition and affect among 21 adults ages 60 to 69 using interview and explained findings in relation to adult development theories in later-life which included a common holistic process to later-life crisis episodes such as multiple loss-inducing stressful life events, a struggle with ego integrity, increased mortality awareness and the re-scaling of goals, activities and roles in ways that pertain to re-engagement, continuity or disengagement. This study suggested further researches exploring later-life crisis, being an understudied one, and to facilitate not only a qualitative but also a quantitative method in gathering necessary