Contemporary Adulthood [antikvár]

"Youth, large, lusty, loving— youth, full of grace, force, fascination, Do you know that Old Age may come after you with equal grace, force, and fascination?" WALT WHITMAN Preface Three short years ago, the first edition of Contemporary Adulthood was pubhshed. When we first began to gather research and collect our thoughts in preparation for this writing endeavor, we realized that the field of adult psychology was still in the midst of establishing itself as a fully-recognized division of developmental psychology. Adult psychology has long been overshadowed by other subfields of the lifecycle, namely child and adolescent psychology. Today, however, the study of the aging processes has become an extremely active area of research. All indications are that in the 1980s we will see a flurry of unprecedented research activity toward the study of growing old, not to mention an unparalleled interest by the general public in the aging process. This interest by the general public is mostly due to the fact that people are living longer than ever before and, as a result, the aged population is increasing significantly. Interest and curiosity about aging has already manifested itself in a number of different ways, including a proliferation of articles, journals, books, and other publications, in addition to a diverse assortment of seminars, workshops, and college courses. Contemporary Adulthood, Second Edition, provides students with an informative and pragmatic account of the four stages of adulthood—young adulthood, the middle years, the retirement years, and death and dying, jonathan Swift once wrote that every person desires to live a good long life, but no one wants to be old. Without question, as we grow older we gain new perspectives on our lives and the world in which we live. The aging process, however, need not be a negative experience. Emphasizing all of the experiences of growing old is the focal point of Contemporary Adulthood. As authors, we would like to help readers understand the aging process and offer practical suggestions related to the developmental tasks that will be required of them during their adulthood years. The publication of a second edition of any textbook usually means that the first edition has succeeded in conveying relevant information and research in addition to satisfying the needs of student and professor alike. The second edition, however, in order to justify itself must build on former success by reporting recent, significant contributions to the field and updating data, while maintaining the strengths of the first edition. This being our aim, nearly 200 pages have been added to this edition. Such an enlargement reflects our attempt to incorporate the abundance of new research available, specifically in the areas of personality and social growth, family changes, physical and mental maturity, and vocational de-