Existential Adult Development

          

          "Every moment of one's existence, one is growing into more or 

           retreating into less."
                                                                  -Norman Mailer

One of my goals with this blog has been to find some perspective on this zany thing called adulthood. I've tried to explore the issue from multiple angles. The biographical. The mythological. And, of course, the psychological. In respect to this latter angle, I've actually been working to develop my very own psychological model of adult development. A lofty goal? No doubt. Arrogant? Possibly, but now that the first draft is up and running, I can't really take that much credit. I've essentially taken a bunch of ideas from other, much smarter, people and put them together in a way that works for me. This first version is a little rough around the edges, but I think it gets the main ideas across. So all of you developing adults out there, be sure to take a look. And for anyone interested in a more in-depth understanding of the model, here are some of my underlying motivations and assumptions...

• I've created this model based on my feeling that a lot of the old guides we have for adulthood aren't particularly applicable to many of the challenges we face in the modern world. A number of new developments - increased cross-cultural contact, the information age, an increased rate of societal change, and an overabundance of choices and options - are leaving many of us adults, I think, with a need for some basic guidance.
• The model is based on the premise that adult psychological development involves both continuity (one's ability to capitalize on strengths and interests across the lifespan) AND change (one's ability to learn, adapt, and grow across the lifespan). This is the basis of a field of study known as Life-Span Developmental Psychology.
• The model assumes that adult development occurs in response to the four big existential concerns of adult human life: Death, Isolation, Meaninglessness, and Freedom. In basing my model on these four concerns, I've tried to capture  pretty much everything the modern adult needs to flourish in the modern world. Our ability to 1) form healthy relationships with a wide spectrum of people, 2) develop a realistic and effective sense of responsibility, 3) find purpose and meaning, and 4) cope with change, loss, pain, and death all develop out of our responses to 1) isolation, 2) freedom, 3) meaninglessness, and 4) death, respectively.
• The four areas of adult development are all interconnected. We can't address our freedom (i.e. take control of our lives) without addressing meaninglessness (developing a sense of direction). And we can't address meaninglessness without addressing isolation (developing confidence in ourselves as individuals). And we can't really work on anything else if we walk around full of death anxiety.
• Adult psychological development is more open-ended and boundary-less than childhood development. There are no stages in adult development. Developing adults do not engage with the four existential concerns in any particular order, but rather, in times of convenience, interest, and need. We may work through a crisis of life's meaninglessness at the age of 40 only to have to do more work in this area at the age of 70. We may find the need to focus on freedom when we begin college and then again when we first become parents. We may take steps both forwards and backwards, left and right.  And there is no one right way to a healthy adulthood.
• And yet there are, I think, some very basic patterns of both function and dysfunction that can be helpful to keep in mind. This is where my model comes into play. For each of the four areas of adult development, I've created a hypothetical spectrum of developmental states. At the polar ends of each spectrum lie the most unhealthy development. The middle of the spectrum, meanwhile, represents an ideal, healthy situation. 
• Lastly, my intention in creating this model has not been to suggest that the goal of adulthood is to attain some sort of ideal state of perfect functioning. It has simply been to create a basic road map through the challenges of adulthood. My hope is to reduce, just a little bit, the chaos and relativity of adulthood in the modern world.

Okay. Well, that's about it for how. Here's the link again. The model is now a permanent page on my blog that can always be reached by a link at the top of the page. Enjoy!


Coming up next, I'll be sharing my New Year's resolution...