Crisis or Non-Crisis

 In terms of midlife crisis or noncrisis, there exist many debates in the research field and clinical practices. According to Freund and Ritter (2009), the strict definition of midlife crisis refers to “normative, bound to a specific phase in the life span, and structurally different from other crises”. The main assumption of the strict conception is that development is a lifelong process and there is no primacy of one developmental phase over another (Freund & Ritter, 2009). It is also in line with the assumption that development can best be understood as the interplay of personal goals and external structures, such as opportunity structures and social norms. Based on such assumptions, the crisis will be shown and linked to a specific time in the life span (Freund & Ritter, 2009).

Secondly, a moderate definition of midlife crisis predicts the transition from old to new goals is a challenging period (Freund & Ritter, 2009). The most distinct characteristic of the moderate definition from the strict one is that the challenges of middle adulthood result in a crisis only for vulnerable people rather than all middle-aged people. More and more evidences do not support the strict definition with the existence of a normative midlife crisis: Vaillant (1977) suggests that traumatic crisis at midlife is rare. In Shek’s (1996) study, the results also reveals that although midlife crisis levels are different in the various age groups, there is no clear rise or peak in concerns in any particular age group. Thirdly, the notion of middle adulthood as a time of challenges to life management is at the core of a lenient concept of the midlife crisis (Freund & Ritter, 2009). By giving up normativity, this conceptualization no longer posits a general theory of adult development. Levinson (1986) describes the midlife crisis as a midlife transition in a tumultuous time—a period of major upheaval and self-evaluation, not unlike adolescence. Indeed, midlife transition generally only reaches a crisis point when an individual feels unable to cope with the natural changes, lacks an adequate support system or has existing psychological conditions that might be exacerbated by change (McAulay, 2006).

References
Freund, A. M., & Ritter, J. O. (2009). Midlife Crisis: A Debate. Gerontology, 55, 582-591. doi:10.1159/000227322
Levinson, D. J. (1986). A conception of adult development. American Psychologist, 41, 3-13.
McAulay, J. (2006). Midlife without the crisis. Today's Chiropractic Lifestyle, 35, 44-47.
Shek, D. L. (1996). Midlife crisis in Chinese men and women. Journal of Psychology, 130, 109-119.
Vaillant, G. E. (1977). Adaptation to life. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.