Mid-life crisis

has an affair

career change

Truth

or

Myth?

Mid-life Crisis

Created by Vivian Eng

Elliott Jacques

↓ productivity

abrupt shift in style

RADICAL change

worries about mortality

-- Elliott Jacques

middle adulthood

-- Elliott Jacques

"Symptoms"

discontent

irritability

86%

believe there's such a thing as midlife crisis


Lachman, Lewkowicz, Marcus, Peng (1994)

a widespread phenomenon

most people in their 40s/50s go through this

has to do with facing impending mortality

Wethington (2000):
difficult transition occurring at about the age of 40

26%

experienced a mid-life crisis


10%

adult males experienced a mid-life crisis (Brim, 1992)

Evidence for a midlife crisis in great apes consistent with the U-shape in human well-being

Weiss, King, Inoue-Murayama, Matsuzawa & Oswald (2012)

> 500 apes

Rate: Ape happiness

Ratings on

  • Overall mood
  • Pleasure in socializing
  • Pleasure in getting rewards
  • How much caretakers would like to be that ape for a day

Mid-life crisis

(if any)

Biological basis

Caveats

Mid-life crisis

(more research is needed...)

Dr. Alex Weiss


Mid-life crisis

NOT universal

NOT prevalent

References

50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior
Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein (2010)

Death and the Mid-Life Crisis
Elliott Jacques (1965)

Images of Midlife Development Among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults
Lachman, Lewkowicz, Marcus & Peng (1994)

Expecting Stress: Americans and the "Midlife Crisis"
Elaine Wethington (2000)

Evidence for a midlife crisis in great apes consistent with the U-shape in human well-being
Weiss, King, Inoue-Murayama, Matsuzawa, & Oswald (2012) (link)