A Lifetime of Events: Age and Gender Variations in the Life Story

Abstract

This study adopted a structural perspective in the examination of life events in the context of an individual's life story. Ten men and ten women at each of three age groups (young, middle-aged, and older adulthood) identified, on a time line, personally significant life events from their past and anticipated future. Results indicated that women identified a greater number of life events and reported a younger age corresponding to their first event than did men; this was especially true for older women. Older participants, in general, identified fewer future events than did younger participants and reported an older age for their last event; the corresponding range of time covered from the first to the last event was also longer. Event type also varied by age and gender. Recency played a central role in the allocation of life events, although late adolescence and early adulthood were especially dense event periods for all groups. Discussion focuses on the roles of gender, age, and the life course in the ways in which events are configured in the life story.