Phenomenological Structuring of the Adult Lifespan as a Function of Age and Sex

Abstract

The hypothesis that increasing differentiation in the phenomenological structure of the lifespan can be expected to occur during adolescence and early adulthood, stabilization during adulthood and a process of de-differentiation in the later part of life, was tested on eighty Israeli participants, age sixteen to seventy-eight. They were asked to divide the course of life into periods, starting at age eleven, and to mark the range of each period. As hypothesized the younger people perceived the lifespan as more differentiated (divided into more periods) whereas older people perceived it in a less differentiated way. There was consensus among the different age groups in their perception of the different stages of development. The earlier stages were viewed as more differentiated whereas the later periods were viewed in a more global way. In addition, women tended to perceive the lifespan as somewhat more differentiated than men; they also tended to perceive the pace of life as more rapid.

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