Life Structures of Early Adulthood

Daniel Levinson’s concept of life structure represents different approach to adult development. A life structure includes all the roles an individual occupies, all of his or her relationships, and the conflicts and balance that exists among them.

“Like Erikson, Levinson asserted that an underlying order exists in the life course. But where Erikson suggested that happiness depends on one’s ability to negotiate these stages successfully, Levinson simply viewed the seasons as common difficulties associated with a certain age, the tasks of ones period are not better or more advanced than those of another, except in the general sense that each period builds upon the work of earlier ones and represents a later phase in the cycle(.)” Levinson theorized that each period present adult with new developmental tasks and conflicts. Levinson believed that individuals respond psychologically to these tasks and conflicts by creating new life structures. Consequently, adults cycle through periods of stability. As adults enter a period in which new life structure is required, there is a period of adjustment, which Levinson called the novice phase, and in the mid era phase, adults become more competent at meeting the new challenge through reassessment an reorganization of the life structure they create through the novice phase. Stability returns in the culmination phase, when adults have succeeded in creating a life structure that allows them to manage the demands of the new development challenges with more confidence and less distress. For example, marriage requires a new life structure. Even if the newlyweds have known each other for a very long time or have been living together, they have no known each other in the role of husband and wife. Also...

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...tion and your lifestyle that includes your health, pleasure, family and development. I believe that your work life balance is something that will always we changing on a baily basis, and the right balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow, The right balance for you will be different when you are single, compared to when you are married with children. Another way your work life balance will vary is when you start a new career versus when you are near retirement.

Works Cited

Allen, S. (n.d.). Leadership Review - A Publication of the Claremont McKenna College Kravis Leadership Institute. Leadership Review - A Publication of the Claremont McKenna College Kravis Leadership Institute. Retrieved March 23, 2014.

Arnett, Jeffrey. "Emerging Adulthood ." A theory of Development from late teens through the twenties . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.