Changes In Late Adulthood

As people approach the end of life, changes occur and special challenges arise. Growing older means confronting many psychological, emotional, and social issues that come with entering the last phase of life. In late adulthood emotions and stability vary widely. Theorist Erik Erikson (1902-1994) devised a framework for development based on psychosocial stages, and he defined the last stage of life as a tension between integrity and despair. Individuals either come to accept their lives as having meaning and integrity, or they contemplate their life as unproductive and unfulfilling - feeling despair. In reality, developmental researchers believe that most individuals fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
Emotional maturity is very