Stages Of Life Interview

Stages Of Life Interview 

Introduction

Human development is considered a sub-section of psychology that deals with understanding individuals, their development and growth, and the changes they experience throughout their lives. It is essential because it aids people to understand themselves and their relationships. Every stage of human development usually brings its own set of difficulties. Therefore, people transitioning through the stages must face and resolve these obstacles before going next. The stages of development can generally be categorized into; “childhood, adolescence, early young adulthood, late young adulthood, early middle adulthood, late middle adulthood, early-late adulthood, and late-late adulthood” (Chung, 2018). This paper entails an interview of two persons from varying developmental life stages. The two individuals answer the questions regarding their life stages, consisting of their challenges due to their ages and how societal expectations have shaped their lives.

The Interviews

 Two interviews were carried out. They were carried out face to face (in person). The interviewees chosen for this assignment are from separate human developmental life stages. This offers a great opportunity to compare and contrast the differences and difficulties each stage of life brings. Additionally, the prevalent associations between the two interviewee’s stages of life can be made. The two adults chosen for this task are my husband and my Aunt.

Interview one

 Sex: Male

Age: Thirty-one

Stage of life: Early Adulthood/ Emerging (twenty years to forty years) Status/marital: Married/Husband

Status of employment: Army- full time

What major goals have you accomplished so far in life?

 As an army officer, being happily married is one of the greatest goals that I have accomplished in life. I joined the army at the age of seventeen with the consent of my parents. Spending fourteen years as an army officer is a dream for most people. However, for me, it is one of my greatest achievements. More specifically, being an army officer and having a successful marriage for four years tops all of the goals that I have accomplished. In addition, being an army officer is a full-time job that enables me to put food on the table for my family and care for their needs. Therefore, I am lucky to have achieved most of my goals at this age; being an army officer, having a full-time job, having a happy marriage, owning a home, and caring for my family’s needs is a big accomplishment.

What goals do you still hope to accomplish in life?

 I hope to further my education beyond the degree. I have a dream/ goal of one day being one of the Department of Homeland Security officers, ensuring that America is safe against international and domestic terrorism. I would also want three more children, two boys and a girl. As a father, I would like to be a role model to the children based on the achievements that I have made and those that I am yet to conquer.

What are some of the challenges associated with your current life?

 Juggling between my career and spending time with my family is a major challenge in my current life. My profession demands a lot of time and missions, both domestically and internationally. This denies me spending quality time with my beautiful young wife. The pay for the job is great, but it is still not enough to safeguard financial freedom for my family. The job’s missions are sometimes stressful, and it’s a risk because one doesn’t know when they will be able to see their family while on a mission.

How do you feel that societal expectations have shaped your life right now?

Society has conditioned us to believe that one must marry and have children once one has a successful career. Additionally, society expects soldiers as young as I to match since they spend little time with their family, thus the high divorce rates amongst army officers. Societal expectation has similarly shaped my life. Once I had a successful career, I married my beautiful wife. We haven’t been blessed with a child yet, but it is a work in progress. At times I feel that societal expectation of a man has to be the provider and thus must have a successful career as early as possible, which results in most of us skipping certain stages of life where the majority often figure out their identities. Although, for instance, I enrolled in the army at seventeen, I did have the luxury of experiencing life as ordinary young Americans do while in college or university.

Analysis of Responses from the Interviewee

 From the responses, it is vivid that the interviewee goes through similar challenges usually experienced during early Adulthood. He talks about his career and marriage in the context of lacking enough time to spend with his family. According to Hochberg et al. (2020), during emerging Adulthood, one is more concerned with being intimate and finding intimate love; thus, long-term relationships are formed.

Additionally, the interviewee is concerned about whether the career choice affects his marriage. It is during this stage that a person engages in the exploration of their identity. With early army life, it is evident that the interviewee didn’t have the opportunity to explore his identity; thus, the discovery of professional identity can be challenging. Therefore, the interviewee seems to develop typically based on his current life stage.

Interview Two

 Sex: Female Age: Sixty-two Status: Divorced

Stage of life: Middle Adulthood (forty to sixty-five)

Status of employment: Retired

What major goals have you accomplished so far in life?

 I am a successful retired army officer. Successfully guarding my nation is my major achievement. Besides that, I am a mother of two. Even though I am divorced, raising the children as an army officer is a goal I have accomplished. Additionally, being financially stable is also an achievement.

What goals do you still hope to accomplish in life?

 Guiding my two children to prosperity in life and spending time with my grandchildren are the goals I hope to accomplish.

What are some of the challenges associated with your current life?

 Raising my two children is one of the biggest challenges. Being raised in a divorced marriage demands that every parent plays a role in increasing the number of kids. I am worried about my children and want them to have the best education. As such, I took a mortgage to ensure they had a better life. The challenge of raising these children is huge since one must master current technologies like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For instance, my youngest child was bullied on Instagram, and I didn’t know how the application worked. Additionally, I also have to take care of my ageing parents. The responsibility of raising my children and taking care of my parents is a major challenge.

The other challenge entails the state of my physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. I must say my physical health has plummeted over time. As a result of spending my whole career as an army officer, my psychological state is different from an ordinary mother. In addition, I was diagnosed with diabetes six years ago. It is also one of the major challenges linked to my current situation.

How do you feel that societal expectations have shaped your life right now?

 Society expects us at this age to have a successful marriage. Unfortunately, this is not the case in my situation. I have been divorced for ten years. However, society positively shaped my life since I am raising two awesome children.

Analysis of Responses from the Interviewee

 The responses show that the second interviewee is “stuck in the Sandwich Generation.” “Sandwich Generation” entails balancing their children’s and ageing parents’ dual caregiving responsibilities (Suh,2016). This can be stressful for a person since they have to spend most of their time caring for both the parents and the children. Although the interviewee is stressed due to her age and chronic illness, a huge chunk of the focus appears to be due to the responsibility of caring for her children as a single parent and her parents; hence, the interviewee can be said to develop typically.

Conclusively, it is implicitly clear that associations exist between the two developmental stages of human life. A person in the early adulthood stage often experiences struggle when it comes to finding their identity due to self-exploration; the first interviewee has proved this. A person in the middle Adulthood stage is often stuck in the “Sandwich Generation,” as depicted by the second interviewee having to take care of her children and her parents. Individuals with stable, normal life development are more likely to resolve their difficulties as they pass between stages.

References

Chung, D. (2018). The Eight Stages of Psychosocial Protective Development: Developmental Psychology. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2018.86024

Hochberg, Z., & Konner, M. (2020). Emerging Adulthood, a Pre-Adult Life-History Stage. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffendo.2019.00918

Suh, J. (2016). Measuring the “Sandwich”: Care for Children and Adults in the American Time Use Survey 2003–2012. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10834-016-9483-6

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Interview two individuals that are in different stages of Adulthood. You may choose from the following steps: Emerging/Early Adulthood (20-40), Middle  Adulthood (40-65), and Late Adulthood (65+).

Interview Requirements:  Interviews can be conducted via phone, video conferencing, email, or in person. You can select your questions to be included in the interview. However, the following core questions must be addressed:

• Basic Demographic Information (age, gender, marital status, employment status)
• What major goals has the person accomplished so far in life?
• What are some of the challenges associated with their current stage of life?
• How does the person feel societal expectations shape their life right now?

 Requirements:

• Identify the stage of life that your selected person fits into (Early, Middle, and Late Adulthood)
• What are some of the associations common to each interviewee’s stage of life? For example, are they emerging adult starting their first  full-time job at the age in which a mid-life crisis might occur, or are they stuck in the “Sandwich Generation?” If so, does your interviewee fit into these common associations? Why or why not?
• Does it seem any prejudicial or stereotypical behaviour is experienced in this person’s stage of life (e.g., based upon their age/gender/sexuality)?
• Do you believe that this person is developing typically or atypically based on what you know about their current stage of life?
• Apply three specific theories from the course readings that apply to both individuals interviewed.