Women on the River of Life by Helson Ravenna M.; Mitchell Valory;

Author:Helson, Ravenna M.; Mitchell, Valory;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of California Press

CHANGING GOALS AND VALUES IN MIDLIFE

Two developmental theorists, Gutmann (1987) and Jung (1969), both believed that the second half of life bring shifts in values and goals. In younger years, they each felt, people are primarily concerned with fulfilling the basic functions of society through work and family (what we have called the social clock projects). Traditionally, women are expected to focus on care for their families, suppressing what have been called the masculine aspects of their personalities. In the second half of life, however, these theorists have suggested that the purpose of life shifts from the achievement of societal (collective) goals to a striving for personal wholeness through the cultivation of qualities that were neglected in young adulthood. If they are correct, we can expect to see changes in gender-related goals and values, and also an increase in individual (contrasted with collective) values.

To test this, at age 52, Harker and Solomon (1996) looked at the Mills women’s answers to four open-ended questions: (1) What were your goals for yourself in your twenties and thirties? (2) What are your goals for yourself now? If your goals have changed, why? (3) What do you feel were the values you lived by in your twenties and thirties? (4) What values do you think you will live by from here on? If your values have changed, why?

To be able to see trends, they rated each pair of responses—questions 1 and 3, and questions 2 and 4—on three dimensions. First, they rated them on the extent to which they expressed traditional feminine values and goals. A response that was rated high would be: “I remember thinking that being a good wife and mother were paramount in my scheme of things.” A response rated low did not mention these concerns. Second, they rated them on the extent to which they expressed traditionally masculine values and goals. A woman rated high said, “I was one of the few . . . to graduate from college with a firm notion of career, with or without marriage. . . . I had always wanted to be [in my] profession. . . . I loved it and have never wavered from a goal of trying to do well in it.” Finally, they rated the values and goals for individuality, which they defined as an emphasis on personal growth or individual interests, vs. collective goals or what was expected by society. For example, a woman rated high wrote, “I was searching for meaning in life. . . . I wanted self-fulfillment, to make it on my own, and to be appreciated and respected.”

In young adulthood, 50 percent of the women expressed traditional feminine goals, as compared with 25 percent in mature middle age, when they had added goals that included masculine as well as feminine pursuits. They now found traditionally masculine and feminine concerns to be of equal importance to them. Only 16 percent of the women espoused individualistic values in young adulthood; that increased to 60 percent in mature middle age, adding self-care and self-interest to the more collective values of family and work that they had emphasized in younger years.

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