Layout 1

Marriage and Family Life: The Middle and LateYears

example)(Olsonetal.,1983).Midlife

identityissuesalsohavebeencorrelatedwith

lowerlevelsofmaritalsatisfaction.

InlookingatFigure8.2,itisimportantto

keepinmindthatwhilemidlifecanrepresent

theperiodoflowestmaritalsatisfaction,it

doesnotrepresentdissatisfactionwiththe

maritalrelationshipoverall.Duringthe

middleyears,whenthelevelofsatisfactionis

lower,theextentofthecouple’scommitment

totherelationshipisofparamount

importance.Thequestioncanbecomeone

ofwhetherornottocontinuethemarriage.

Ifcouplescancometotherealizationthat

eventuallythestressesofraisingchildrenand

balancingwork/activityroutineswill

diminish,theywouldtryhardertostaythe

course.Dissolvingthemarriageatthispoint

doeslittletoreducelife’sstresses!

Whilethedropinsatisfactionlookssteep

onthegraph,itisimportanttounderstandit

actuallyisamodest,gradualchange.Ifthe

entirefamilylifespanweretobedisplayed,

theU-shapedcurvewouldappearmuch

shallower,resemblingmoreofadipinthe

roadthanapothole(R.Miller,2001).

Midlife: Crisis or Transition?

We cannot look at marriage in the

middle years without looking contextually

at the life transitions which take place

simultaneously.While there is nothing

magical about turning 40,it does signal a

time of introspection and reevaluation of

life during the 40 something years.The

leading edge of baby boomers,who were

born afterWorldWar II and into the early

1950s,seemedtolivetheAmericandream

—growing up in new homes,in new

suburban neighborhoods,going off to

college in record numbers,landing high-

paying jobs,and buying homes at

relatively low prices and low interest rates.

Is That All There Is?Ironically,while

they seemed to enjoy the best of what

America had to offer,they still ended up at

middle age,asking,“Is this all there is?”A

cartoon inThe New Yorkerillustrated this

time period.In the cartoon,a couple sits

at the breakfast table.The egg timer pings,

the toaster pops,and the coffeepot perks.

The husband turns to his wife and says,“Is

this it,Alice? Is this the greatAmerican

dream?”(Martin,1973).

During the middle years, when the level of satisfaction

is lower, the extent of the couple’s commitment to the

relationship is of paramount importance.

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