The concept of “age” can be considered from different aspects: from the point of view of the chronology of events, biological processes of the body, social formation and psychological development.
Age covers the entire life course. It begins from birth and ends with physiological death. Age shows the period of time from birth to a specific event in a person's life.
Birth, growing up, development, old age - all these are periods of a person’s life, of which the entire earthly path consists. Having been born, a person began his first stage, and then, over time, he will go through all of them sequentially.
Classification of age periods from a biological point of view
There is no single classification; at different times it was compiled differently. The delimitation of periods is associated with a certain age, when significant changes occur in the human body.
The age periods of a person’s life are the periods between key “points”.
Passport or chronological age may not coincide with biological age. It is by the latter that one can judge a person’s capabilities: how he will do his job, what loads his body can withstand. Biological age can either lag behind the passport age or be ahead of it.
Let's consider the classification of life periods, which is based on the concept of age based on physiological changes in the body:
Age periods
| age | period | ||
| 0-4 weeks | newborn | ||
| 4 weeks - 1 year | chest | ||
| 1-3 years | early childhood | ||
| 3-7 years | preschool | ||
| 7-10/12 years | junior school | ||
| girls: 10-17/18 years old | teenage | ||
| boys: 12-17/18 years old | |||
| young men | 17-21 years old | youthful | |
| girls | 16-20 years old | ||
| men | 21-35 years old | adulthood, 1st period | |
| women | 20-35 years | ||
| men | 35-60 years | mature age, 2nd period | |
| women | 35-55 years | ||
| 55/60-75 years | elderly age | ||
| 75-90 | old age | ||
| 90 years or more | centenarians | ||
Psychological characteristics of an senile person
Old age is the final period of life. In the life cycle system, it plays a special role and is inevitably accompanied by changes in the physical and psychological state of a person. Determining the chronological boundary of the onset of old age is quite difficult, because the range of individual differences in the appearance of symptoms of aging is simply enormous.
If we consider the biological phenomenon of aging, it consists in an increase in the vulnerability of the body and an increase in the likelihood of death. Social criteria for the transition to old age are usually associated with the loss of significant roles in society, retirement, a decrease in status and a narrowing of the outside world. The psychological criteria for this process have not yet been clearly formulated. To determine the qualitative differences in the psyche of older people, it is necessary to track the features of mental evolution that occurs against the background of deteriorating psychophysiology in conditions of involutional transformation of the nervous system.
The idea of old age as a “sunset”, difficult and inert time of life has always spread in society. Social expectations and mass stereotypes are reflected in numerous proverbs and sayings of the Russian people, including the well-known ones: “it’s time for soap”, “the sand is falling”, “there was a horse, but it was ridden.” Indeed, no one will deny that in the vast majority of cases, old age is accompanied by losses in the financial, individual and social spheres. It often leads to a state of dependence, which is often perceived by a person as painful and humiliating. However, we should not forget about the positive aspects of late adulthood, in particular, the generalization of knowledge, experience and personal potential, which help solve the problem of adapting to age-related changes and new demands of life. Moreover, only in old age can one appreciate the integrity of such a phenomenon as life, deeply understand its meaning and essence.
Scientists' views on the age periods of human life
Depending on the era and country, scientists and philosophers proposed different criteria for grading the main stages of life.
For example:
- Chinese scientists divided human life into 7 phases. “Desirable,” for example, was the age from 60 to 70 years. This is a period of development of human spirituality and wisdom.
- The ancient Greek scientist Pythagoras identified the stages of human life with the seasons. Each lasted 20 years.
- The ideas of Hippocrates became fundamental for the further determination of periods of life. He identified 10, each 7 years long, starting from birth.
Periods of life according to Pythagoras
The ancient philosopher Pythagoras, considering the stages of human existence, identified them with the seasons. He identified four of them:
- Spring is the beginning and development of life, from birth to 20 years.
- Summer – youth, from 20 to 40 years.
- Autumn is the prime time, from 40 to 60 years.
- Winter – fading, from 60 to 80 years.
The periods of human life according to Pythagoras had a duration of exactly 20 years. Pythagoras believed that everything on Earth is measured by numbers, which he treated not only as mathematical symbols, but also endowed them with a certain magical meaning. Numbers also allowed him to determine the characteristics of the cosmic order.
Pythagoras also applied the concept of “quaternary” to age periods, because he compared them with eternal, unchanging natural phenomena, for example, the elements.
The periods of human life (according to Pythagoras) and their benefits are based on the idea of eternal recurrence. Life is eternal, like seasons changing each other, and man is a part of nature, lives and develops according to its laws.
Features of old age
The uncertainty of social expectations in relation to an old person in the family that exists in society today, as well as the negative nature of the “cultural standard” of old age, do not allow us to consider the life of an average elderly person as a full-fledged development situation.
With retirement, all people inevitably face an important, difficult and completely independent choice in deciding the question “How to be old?” At the same time, a person’s attitude towards his own aging always comes to the fore, because turning the social situation of life into a situation of development is his individual task.
A necessary moment of mental development in late adulthood can be considered preparation for retirement. At the same time, it is considered as developing readiness for a change in public and social position and is as important as professional self-determination or career guidance in youth.
The solution to the universal human problem of “experiencing old age” should not be viewed narrowly as a choice of aging strategy, because this is not a one-time action, but a process extended over years, which is associated with overcoming more than one personal crisis.
On the threshold of late adulthood, a person must decide for himself the question: should he maintain old social connections or create new ones? It is also worth deciding: should you move on to a life within the circle of family interests or a purely individual one? It is this choice that will be decisive for one or another adaptation strategy: preserving oneself as an individual or as a person.
Accordingly, the leading activity in late adulthood can be directed by a person both at preserving his own personality (maintaining or developing social connections), and at individualization, isolation and “survival” as an individual against the backdrop of the slow decline of psychophysiological functions. Both variants of aging are subject to the laws of adaptation, but they provide a completely different quality of life, and sometimes even predetermine its duration.
The adaptation strategy, which is called a “closed loop,” consists of reducing interest and claims to the world around us. It manifests itself in a decrease in emotional control and egocentrism, in the desire to hide from others, in a feeling of inferiority and irritability, which are replaced over time by indifference to society. This model is called “passive aging”, since it is accompanied by an almost complete loss of social interest.
Alternative adaptation involves not only maintaining, but also developing diverse public relations. Often the leading activity in this case is the structuring and transfer of one’s life experience. Options for continuing socially significant activities include continuing professional activity, teaching and mentoring, writing memoirs, raising grandchildren, or community service. The process of preserving oneself as an individual presupposes the possibility of feasible work and a feeling of “involvement in life.” Such a person, as a rule, has diverse interests and tries to be useful to close people.
The concept of “seasons” according to Pythagoras
Identifying the age intervals of a person’s life with the seasons, Pythagoras focused on the fact that:
- Spring is the time of beginning, the birth of life. The child develops, absorbing new knowledge with pleasure. He is interested in everything around him, but everything is still happening in the form of a game. The child is blossoming.
- Summer is the period of growing up. A person blossoms, he is attracted by everything new, still unknown. Continuing to blossom, a person does not lose his childish fun.
- Autumn - a person has become an adult, balanced, the former gaiety has given way to confidence and leisurelyness.
- Winter is a period of reflection and summing up. The man has gone most of the way and is now considering the results of his life.
The main periods of people's earthly journey
Considering the existence of an individual, we can distinguish the main periods of a person’s life:
- youth;
- mature age;
- old age.
At each stage, a person acquires something new, revises his values, and changes his social status in society.
The basis of existence is made up of periods of human life. The characteristics of each of them are associated with growing up, changes in the environment, and state of mind.
Features of the main stages of personality existence
The periods of a person’s life have their own characteristics: each stage complements the previous one, bringing with it something new, something that has not yet happened in life.
Youth is characterized by maximalism: the dawn of mental and creative abilities occurs, the basic physiological processes of growing up are completed, appearance and well-being improve. At this age, a system of life values is established, time begins to be valued, self-control increases, and others are re-evaluated. A person decides on the direction of his life.
Having reached the threshold of maturity, a person has already reached certain heights. In the professional sphere, he occupies a stable position. This period coincides with the strengthening and maximum development of social status, decisions are made thoughtfully, a person does not avoid responsibility, appreciates the present day, can forgive himself and others for the mistakes he has made, and really evaluates himself and others. This is the age of achievement, conquering peaks and obtaining maximum opportunities for your development.
Old age is more associated with losses than with gains. A person ends his working life, his social environment changes, and inevitable physiological changes appear. However, a person can still engage in self-development, in most cases this happens more on a spiritual level, on the development of the inner world.
Detailed description of Erikson's stages of development
Infancy - may there always be a mother, may there always be me
Entering the first stage - infancy - a tiny person begins to get acquainted with the world around him. The world becomes the mother (or the person replacing her).
A person's first decision in life:
- How does he see the world around him: friendly, hostile?
- Can the world be trusted?
With active personality development, the child takes a position of trust.
Determined by the following characteristics:
- Is it easy to feed the baby?
- Is he sleeping soundly?
- Do the intestines and other internal organs function normally?
A child with a positive attitude towards the world is not particularly worried and does not get angry if his mother disappears from sight, because he knows that she will return, that his mother will do everything to make him satisfied and happy.
The love and tenderness of a mother determines the child’s ability to believe and hope. The little person absorbs the image of his mother and introjects with her - unconsciously identifies, perceives all his mother’s experiences, feelings, attitude towards sounds, colors - to manifestations of the world around him, as his own.
Lack of response to the child's needs, support, inconsistent attitude towards child care can cause the development of a pessimistic attitude towards the world, up to a refusal to live according to its fundamental laws of active activity and communication with the external environment as an exchange of information.
Early childhood - you're getting married soon, but you can't get dressed!
With the sharp growth of the child's skills, the first declarations of independence arise. He learns to sit, crawl, walk, eat on his own, and take care of himself without help. Sometimes his claims to independence are too harsh and dangerous, and the parents’ task is to protect him from the potential dangers of the world around him, and from possible harm to others, gently guiding the inquisitive fidget.
This will allow the little person to develop independence skills. The child learns the meaning of a neat appearance, learns to understand why his mother gets angry when he gets dirty, why he needs to wash his face and brush his teeth. At this stage, the foundation of volitional behavior is laid, which at the next stage will develop into determination, but for now the child will learn to control his own behavior.
Excessive guardianship of the child, distrust in his ability to provide himself with minimal comfort, and at the same time, lack of support and the assignment of impossible tasks make the child dependent on others, instill a sense of shame for himself and doubt in his right to independence.
Childhood: I’m already quite big - I can cook soup for dolls
The child’s world grows, and brothers and sisters appear next to their parents. The child begins to wonder how far he can go from home, how independently he can make decisions. He begins to explain the world in his own way, to separate his opinion from the opinions of others. Due to a lack of knowledge, he comes up with his own explanations for the things around him, and the parents’ task is not to ridicule these child’s attempts to order the world around him.
Awakening curiosity pushes the child to ask unexpected questions, and parents can encourage this desire, answer them, and provide as much information and knowledge as possible. The “I want” that was formed at the previous stage is already developing into “I can.” With progressive development, the child shows entrepreneurial spirit and tests himself for his ability to act “like an adult.”
At this stage, parents need to understand that their child is becoming an independent, separate person. Now you need to not only love him, but respect his desires, desires to understand more of what is still incomprehensible, test yourself for your ability to make decisions and evaluate incoming information. The child needs the approval of his parents, a consistent line of support for his independence.
Often punishing a child, limiting activity, refusing to support and answer paradoxical questions, you can develop passivity in the child, uncertainty about his uniqueness and ability to bring something of his own into this world.
School age - first grade
A child goes to school, and now a huge number of people suddenly appear in his world, different, understandable and not very clear. The child has already realized whether he can spend some time without his parents and without their help. At the next stage, he tries to understand whether he can become completely independent, what are his chances of realizing all his “I want”, and how large are the horizons of his “I can”.
The child looks for role models and enters into a relationship of competition for good grades. The first ambitions to determine their place in the world appear. With positive development, the child hones his ability to acquire knowledge and skills, and draws his own conclusions about good and bad role models.
Without strong leadership, proper attention to developing the child’s ability to learn, without support and the formation of the concept of worthy models of behavior, self-doubt and disbelief in his ability to separate from his parents and survive in the big world grows in the child.
Adolescence and youth: a difficult age
At the previous stage, the child actively absorbed information about concepts such as “good” and “bad” and made his own conclusions. At the new stage, he moves on to practice and determines what place he wants to take in life, and becomes a teenager.
Actively searching for the question “Who do I want to be, who am I?” subjects the strength of the hitherto absolutely authoritative image of parents to a serious test. A teenager decides whether he wants to be like mom or dad? If the image of his parents does not at all coincide with his existing ambitions, he can rebel greatly, even to the point of completely denying everything he has learned so far.
At this age, a person is especially susceptible to the influence of religious movements and subcultures in which he is looking for a role model and a model of authoritative behavior. Peers become the main habitat, and the desire to win people's recognition can push them to desperate actions.
In the presence of a positive example from parents, their ability to convey their picture of the world, present unambiguous sexual and social models of behavior, and give adequate feedback, the teenager finds his own self, socializes and determines the purpose of his existence.
Without proper and clear feedback, without a firm conviction of what is expected of a teenager, in the absence of their own authority in the eyes of the child, parents may notice lethargy and anxiety in his behavior, an unwillingness to take responsibility for his actions. It is no longer possible to find a common language with a teenager; he reacts hostilely to any contact, confuses roles and behavior patterns.
In the worst case, he runs away from home, disappointed in his parents, family and himself. And most importantly, the correctness of the world he knew. In search of the truth about the environment, a teenager may begin to try everything that was forbidden to him, to lead a marginal lifestyle, since the main question is “Who am I?” (even to the point of impaired gender identification) he cannot decide because of the destroyed picture of the world that he had until now.
Maturity: welcome to the world of adults!
Having survived the rebellion of the previous stage, having made up his mind, a person who has already matured physically begins to be interested in the people around him. If in adolescence a child sought to stand out from his environment, then at this stage he has a desire to join the community: in communication with other people there is warmth and empathy. With others, a person receives approval, value, love. His attempts to assert himself made sense. At this stage, the strength of self-identification found at the previous stage is tested.
When receiving good feedback and understanding from friends and relatives, a person understands that he is loved. For the first time, he feels the desire to devote himself to serving his loved ones. He has grown up, does not require selfless care, he is an adult who can take care and make others happy.
If the image of I did not pass the test and received negative feedback, if a person did not have sufficient access to communication with loved ones and friends, then the person decides to isolate himself from the world and feels lonely, experiences the feeling of “the whole world is against me,” becomes a renegade, escapes into imaginary worlds.
Middle age: what is the use of this cat?
When a person goes through the stage of socialization and sorts out his relationship with the environment, he has the question “Can I do something useful for the world?” All attention is focused on work, hobbies, creativity. A person is trying to decide whether he can bring something to future generations? The person moves to a higher level. Until now, he had been thinking about his life and the life of his neighbor. Now it's time to think about history and heritage.
A person needs the results of his work, awareness of his own usefulness, and involvement in something large-scale. Many go into politics and engage in social activities. The accumulated life experience allows us to offer interesting solutions and ideas to the world. Positive results encourage a creative approach to professional activities and raising children. A person feels satisfied with life.
This stage occupies the longest period in a person’s life. Problems in the previous two - growing up, self-identification and unity with the environment - become a stumbling block for the realization of one’s own ambitions in middle age, and become the cause of crisis states.
A person with a “midlife crisis” is desperately trying to win back his life, have time to announce himself to the world, and find his place. If there is a relationship, then it undergoes a serious test. The stronger a person’s internal conflict, the greater the threat hangs over everything that has been at least built so far: work, family, friends.
If a person was unable to overcome internal panic, could not find a use for himself, destroyed everything he had built, but did not create anything new, then he feels devastation, and may feel the meaninglessness of life and the desire to end it as something unnecessary.
But the good news is that he has almost twice as much time to catch up on everything he lost in the first 25 years.
Old age: this is all that will remain after me
With the transition to the last stage, a person, wise by experience, acquires the ability to draw conclusions about himself:
- Was his life path worthy?
- Was he able to achieve everything he wanted?
- How satisfied is he with himself and what remains after him?
If a person cannot answer positively to the questions that arise in his head, then he still has a feeling of unfinished business. He turns into a grumpy grandfather (or a grumpy grandmother). Unfinished tasks and unfulfilled goals give rise to self-dissatisfaction and disappointment in life.
Critical points
The most important periods of human life are associated with changes in the body. They can also be called critical: hormonal levels change, which causes changes in mood, irritability and nervousness.
Psychologist E. Erickson identifies 8 crisis periods in a person’s life:
- Teenage years.
- A person’s entry into adulthood is the thirtieth birthday.
- Transition to the fourth decade.
- Fortieth birthday.
- Midlife - 45 years.
- Fiftieth anniversary.
- Fifty-fifth anniversary.
- Fifty-sixth birthday.
Confidently overcoming “critical points”
Overcoming each of the presented periods, a person moves to a new stage of development, while overcoming the difficulties that arose along the way, and strives to conquer new heights of his life.
During adolescence, a child breaks away from his parents and tries to independently find his own direction in life.
In the third decade, a person reconsiders his principles and changes his views on the environment.
Approaching their thirties, people try to gain a foothold in life, climb the career ladder, and begin to think more rationally.
In the middle of life, a person begins to wonder whether he is living correctly. There is a desire to do something that will leave a memory of him. Frustration and fear for your life appear.
At the age of 50, a slowdown in physiological processes affects health; age-related changes occur. However, the person has already correctly set his life priorities, his nervous system works stably.
At 55 years old wisdom appears and a person enjoys life.
At 56 years old, a person thinks more about the spiritual side of his life and develops his inner world.
Doctors say that if you are prepared and know about the critical periods of life, then overcoming them will happen calmly and painlessly.
Adolescence (from 12 to 18 years old)
The formation and outline of a rough life plan begins. The teenager asks himself: “Will I be able to? Will I have time to realize what I really want?”
The so-called “youthful maximalism” comes first. Actions are idealized, often there is an idol. This is the second period after preschool when a person turns more to peers than to family, mentors or teachers. Finding yourself takes up most of your time.
