The structuring of identity among midlife women as a function of their degree of involvement in employment

Abstract

The place of employment and the diversity of its relations to other roles within the life structure of midlife women were investigated. Three groups were compared: Group I (n = 44) had a continuous low level of involvement in employment from their early 20s to their early 40s; Group II (n = 20) changed from low to high involvement; and Group III (n = 32) maintained a continuous high level of involvement. Retrospective reports regarding subjects' commitment to a number of different roles and feelings during their early 30s and early 40s constituted the data. Findings indicated that: (1) women in Group I had a positive, confident view of their involvement in the traditional roles of mother, wife, and volunteer; (2) women in Group II, initially quite similar to those in Group I, restructured their role commitments by substituting involvement in employment for more traditional pursuits; and (3) women in Group III successfully integrated involvement in the multiple roles of worker, mother, wife, and volunteer. Implications for a more dynamic view of identity, which takes into account significant reorganization of the life structure after adolescence and variability among diverse groups of women, are discussed.

Generativity in multiple roles

“…Midlife researchers have echoed Waterman in their calls for greater recognition of the importance of understanding adult development in the context of multiple roles (Archer, 1992;Hornstein, 1986;Josselson, 1987;Juhasz, 1989). Kroger and Haslett (1991), for example, have provided empirical evidence of significant intraindividual variability across identity domains over the life course.…”

The Bloom Is on the Rose

“…In midlife, one recognizes (though perhaps not consciously) that what is missing now may always be missing, as the future ceases to be felt as without end (Jaques, 1965). The illnesses or deaths of friends, relatives, and public figures underscore this.…”

“…Life's lessons have brought perspective, confidence, and competence. Midlife brings many women the time, energy, and resources to add new "experiential worlds" (Hornstein, 1986) of paid or volunteer work; artistic, spiritu-al, or political activity; family and friendships; or leisure endeavors to their life structure.…”

“…Kindled by a deepening awareness of the inevitability of one's own personal ending (Gould, 1978;Jaques, 1965), midlife also brings a reorganizing of priorities. For some, these shifts reflect an expanded concern with generativity-creating and offering a legacy or contribution that expresses the wish to give something back that will last longer than one's self and will provide something of value to those who come after (Erikson, 1950).…”

Self-Assessment and Change in One's Profession: Notes on the Phenomenology of Aging Among Mid-Life Women

“…Recent analyses of mid-life women have begun to focus on work role, which is typically included in analyses of men (Hornstein 1986;Adelmann 1989;Crohan, Antonucci and Adelmann 1989). This research note suggests that we can widen understanding of the part played by the occupation or profession in the sense of self in a mid-life woman through analysis of the work role.…”