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Midlife Crisis in Chinese Men and Women

Article in The Journal of Psychology Interdisciplinary and Applied · February 1996

DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1996.9914993 · Source: PubMed

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Shek, D.T.L. (1996). Midlife crisis in Chinese men and women. Journal of Psychology, ABSTRACT

130(1), 109-119.

A total of 1,501 married adults aged between 30 to 60 responded to the 15-item

Chinese Midlife Crisis Scale. An examination of the levels of concerns in six midlife age

MIDLIFE CRISIS IN CHINESE MEN AND WOMEN groups revealed that, although some respondents were dissatisfied with their own work and

personal achievement, a majority did not respond in the crisis direction, hence the findings

Daniel T.L. Shek do not lend strong support to the existence of a normative midlife crisis. The findings also

Department of Social Work revealed that, although midlife crisis levels were different in the various age groups, there

The Chinese University of Hong Kong was no clear rise or peak in concerns in any particular age group. Further analyses based on

different dimensions of midlife crisis showed that women displayed higher levels of overall

midlife concerns and problems and fear of aging than men.

This work was financially supported by the Research Grants Council of the University and

Polytechnic Grants Committee (CUHK9/91). Address all correspondence to Daniel T.L.

Shek, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong

Kong.

Running Head: Midlife crisis in Chinese people

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MIDLIFE CRISIS IN CHINESE MEN AND WOMEN In their discussion of the nature of midlife transition, Cytrybaum et al. (1980)

suggested that there is a need to differentiate between developmental processes and outcomes

A review of the Western literature shows that relatively few attempts have been in midlife development. While triggers (such as shift in time orientation and illness of

conducted to study the nature of middle adulthood (midlife). As commented by Hunter and parents) and developmental tasks (such as reorientation to work and reassessment of primary

Sundel (1989), systematic research began only about 15 years ago. Nevertheless, in spite of relationships) are central to the developmental processes, midlife-related symptoms (such as

the lack of scientific data, cultural myths and stereotypes are numerous. In particular, the alcoholism and mental disorders) should be seen as outcomes of midlife transition.

portrayal of people in middle adulthood have a "midlife crisis" often appears in the press and With specific reference to the developmental processes involved in midlife transition

media (Chew, 1976; Conway, 1980; Nichols, 1986). (Farrell & Rosenberg, 1981; Hunter & Sundel, 1989; McCrae & Costa, 1984), several

The term "midlife crisis" was originally coined by Jaques (1965) who, on the basis of components have been proposed to be intrinsic to the conceptualization and assessment of

his study of the personal experiences of artists, concluded that midlife people encountered a midlife crisis: a) worries about the future; b) inability to enjoy leisure time; c) a feeling that

period of crisis which was triggered by the realization of their own mortality and change in health is deteriorating; d) a negative evaluation of the parent-child relation; e) a negative

time frame from "time since birth" to "time left to live". The idea of midlife crisis or midlife evaluation of the marital relation; f) a negative evaluation of the work life; g) existential

transition was subsequently proposed in several models on adult development (Gould, 1978; confusion, such as confused life meaning, lack of time to achieve and lack of achievement;

Levinson, 1978; Sheehy, 1976, 1981). In these models, it is suggested that a midlife person and h) stress arising from taking care aged relatives.

would be increasingly aware of mortality and the time left, and in response to such an Probably because of the existence of different definitions of the term, empirical

awareness, he or she would evaluate his or her life, particularly with respect to one's family, support for the notion of midlife crisis is equivocal. On one hand, there is evidence that

work and existence. people experience midlife crisis: Levinson (1978) found that 80% of middle-aged subjects

Although the concept of midlife crisis appears to be elegant, it is beset with had such a crisis; Ciernia (1985) reported that 70% of male midlife people expressed that

conceptual difficulties and there are wide variations in the conception of the nature of midlife they had a crisis; Tamir (1989) suggested that midlife transition was characterized by

crisis (e.g., Cytrybaum et al., 1980; Sutherland, 1989; Whitbourne, 1986). Operationally, "deep-seated self-doubts or confusion" (p.161) which was quite prevailing.

different indicators have been used to measure the concept of midlife crisis. In the Midlife In contrast, there are data not supporting the notion of midlife crisis. Although it was

Crisis Scale used by McCrae and Costa (1984), items covering "sense of meaninglessness, proposed that people would re-examine their lives around midlife, Vaillant (1977) suggested

dissatisfaction with job and family, inner turmoil and confusion, and sense of impending that traumatic crisis amongst non-clinical midlife people was rare. McCrae and Costa (1984)

physical decline and death" (p.103-104) were employed. In the Midlife Crisis Scale devised used the Midlife Crisis Scale to study midlife crisis in male men and concluded that there

by Farrell and Rosenberg (1981), similar items on the evaluation of marriage, children and was no evidence of a peak of distress or midlife characteristics. Based on the responses of

work as well as existential confusion were included. 500 men to a similar Midlife Crisis Scale, Farrell and Rosenberg (1981) found no significant

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differences in midlife crisis levels amongst subjects in different age groups. Epidemiological whether midlife crisis also exists in Chinese people and whether the related phenomena are

studies also do not show a piling up of psychiatric disorders and maladjustment in midlife similar to the Western culture. It can be conjectured that Chinese people's emphasis on

years (Ciernia, 1985; Hunter & Sundel, 1989; Pearlin, 1975). In a review of the evidence on familism, interpersonal harmony, and fatalism might make the occurrence of midlife crisis

midlife crisis, Chiriboga (1989) concluded that "only 2 percent to 5 percent of middle agers" less prominent in Chinese societies. Furthermore, empirical investigation of the nature of

(p.117) had serious midlife problems. midlife adjustment in the Chinese context is important because the Chinese in mainland

There are wide variations in the methods used to assess midlife crisis. While China and Hong Kong constitute roughly one-fifth of the world's population, which suggests

interviews were mainly used by Levinson (1978) and Vaillant (1977), Gould (1978) and that the generalizability of the related theoretical accounts and hypotheses can be tested.

Sheehy (1981) used questionnaires. Amongst those studies in which questionnaires or In contrast to the lack of empirical evidence on the notion of "midlife crisis", there

psychological scales were used, there are three associated problems. First, information on the are prevailing cultural stereotypes concerning midlife in the Chinese culture. Some negative

psychometric properties of the instruments have seldom been reported (e.g., Farrell & Chinese cultural beliefs about midlife include: "ren dao zhong nien wan shih ai" (when a

Rosenberg, 1981; McCrae & Costa, 1984). Second, an examination of the tools used in some person reaches the midlife years, everything is sad); "ren dao zhong nien wan shih you"

of the studies suggests that such tools might be problematic. An analysis of the items in the (when a person reaches the midlife years, everything is worrying). In view of such cultural

Midlife Crisis Scale (Farrell & Rosenberg, 1981) showed that there is a strange mixture of beliefs, it would be interesting to examine the validity of such cultural stereotypes. In a

general attitudinal statements (e.g., item 2: "many men I know are undergoing what you pioneer study of midlife crisis in Chinese people, Shek, Lam, Tsoi, and Lam (1993)

would call a change in life or a middle-age identity crisis") and statements which have developed the Chinese Midlife Crisis Scale (C-MCS). Shek (1994) reported data supporting

personal relevance (e.g., item 4: "I am still finding new challenges and interest in my work"). the reliability and concurrent validity of the C-MCS and proposed that three dimensions

In fact, a visual inspection of the items suggests that the items included may lack construct (Self-Related Midlife Problems, Other-Related Midlife Problems and Fear of Aging) are

validity. Finally, among those studies in which a midlife crisis scale was used, the concept of intrinsic to the scale.

crisis has been generally regarded as a unidimensional concept. However, it is legitimate to The present study has several purposes. First, it reports empirical evidence on the

ask whether there are different dimensions underlying the concept of midlife crisis (i.e., responses of Chinese midlife people to the Chinese Midlife Crisis Scale and the related

multi-dimensional concept) or it is a unidimensional construct. responses would then be used as the basis to evaluate the existence of a "normative" midlife

A review of the literature also shows that existing studies have been conducted in crisis in Chinese people. If midlife crisis is a normative developmental experience, it would

Western societies and no effort has to date been made to examine this problem in the Chinese be expected that a majority of the respondents in one or more of the midlife age groups

culture. Among the 3,548 bibliographic citations pertinent to Chinese patterns of behavior by would respond to the C-MCS Scale in the crisis direction. Secondly, with reference to some

Ho, Spinks, and Yeung (1989), there is only one citation related to the subject "middle aged" of the proposals that there is a definite period of midlife adjustment or crisis (e.g., Levinson,

and no reported study on "midlife crisis". From a cross-cultural perspective, it is useful to ask 1978), age differences in midlife crisis have been examined. Finally, since few studies have

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been conducted to examine gender differences in midlife crisis (Hunter & Sundel, 1989; METHOD

Reinke, Holmes, & Harris, 1985), the paper examines gender differences in midlife crisis in

Chinese people. INSTRUMENTS

This study is part of a general study of the adjustment and mental health of Chinese The Chinese Midlife Crisis Scale (Shek, 1994) was used to assess midlife crisis (see

married adults. Because data on the mental health and other areas of adjustment of the Appendix). The distribution of the C-MCS items with reference to different areas of midlife

participants have been discussed elsewhere (Shek, 1994; Shek, in press), the present paper crisis is as follows: worries about aging (item 4 and item 8); inability to enjoy leisure time

focuses primarily on midlife crisis in Chinese married adults. (item 1); a feeling that health is deteriorating (item 15); a negative evaluation of the

parent-child relation (item 2, 6 and 14); a negative evaluation of the marital relation (item 13);

a negative evaluation of the work life (items 7, 9 and 11); existential confusion, such as

confused life meaning (item 12), lack of time to achieve (item 10) and lack of achievement

(item 5); and stress arising from taking care the aged relatives (item 3). Shek (1994) found

that three factors, Self-Related Midlife Problems (items 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 15),

Other-Related Midlife Problems (items 2, 3, 6, 12, 13 and 14), and Fear of Aging (items 4

and 8), were intrinsic to the C-MCS.

As indicated, the data reported were from a study that was designed to investigate the

psychological well-being and adjustment of married adults in Hong Kong. Therefore, the

participants were also requested to respond to other scales that assess different aspects of

mental health and adjustment. These include the Chinese versions of the General Health

Questionnaire, Purpose in Life Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Scale, Demands from

Children Scale and Parent-Child Relational Quality Scale. Shek (in press) showed that the

above tools possessed acceptable psychometric properties.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURES

The participants were 1,501 married adults aged between 30 to 60 years. They were

selected from the public housing estates in Hong Kong by the multiple-stage cluster

sampling method (Moser & Kalton, 1980). Since the sample was drawn from public housing

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estates, their socioeconomic backgrounds were largely middle and lower-middle class. Each RESULTS

participant was interviewed by a trained interviewer and a structured interview schedule

containing the assessment tools was used to elicit the responses from the subject. The whole Consistent with some of the previous practices (Reinke, Holmes, & Harris, 1985), the

interview process took roughly one hour to complete. respondents were classified into six groups as follows: Group 1 (age 30 to age 34.9, n=157),

With reference to some of the existing frameworks on human development (e.g., Group 2 (age 35 to age 39.9, n=300), Group 3 (age 40 to age 44.9, n=345), Group 4 (age 45

Havighurst, 1972; Hurlock, 1980), the participants could be treated as persons in early to age 49.9, n=296), Group 5 (age 50 to age 54.9, n=210) and Group 6 (age 55 to age 60,

adulthood (commonly regarded as the period between 20 to 40 years of age) and middle n=193).

adulthood (the period between 40 to 60). However, if we adopt the idea of other researchers Liberal as well as conservative criteria were used to examine the levels of the crisis in

who have asserted that middle adulthood begins at the twenties (Erikson, 1963) or thirties these groups. According to the liberal criterion, responses indicating agreement to the

(Gould, 1978; Sheehy, 1976), the participants may be regarded as midlife participants in the negatively-worded items ("Slightly Agree", "Moderately Agree" and "Strongly Agree") and

broadest sense of the term. responses indicating disagreement to the positively-worded items ("Slightly Disagree",

"Moderately Disagree" and "Strongly Disagree") were regarded as responses in the crisis

direction. Concerning the conservative criterion, only the "Moderately Agree" and "Strongly

Agree" responses to the negatively-worded items and the "Moderately Disagree" and

"Strongly Disagree" responses to the positively-worded items were regarded as responses in

the crisis direction. Using both criteria, the total percentage of crisis responses for each

C-MCS item was computed for all age groups.

The above analysis generally show two phenomena. First, while slightly more than

half of the respondents in the various age groups indicated that they had problems in the

areas of work (items 9 and 11), personal achievement (items 5 and 10) and health (item 15) if

the liberal criterion is used, there is no item (except item 15 in Group 6) to which more than

half of the respondents in the various age groups responded in the crisis direction if the

conservative criterion is adopted. Secondly, the data did not appear to show that midlife

crisis concerns clustered at any particular age. One-way ANOVAs (with age as the

independent variable and the total C-MCS and its subscale scores as dependent variables)

were further performed to examine whether there were differences in crisis levels amongst

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the age groups. The results showed that while there were significant differences amongst the carried out. The MANOVA results were significant for the above-mentioned groups of

six age groups on the Self-Related Midlife Problems subscale and total midlife crisis scores, combined dependent variables (Group 1: F(15/698)=5.03, p < .0001 for random subsample 1

the data do not show any clear rise or peak in midlife crisis level in any particular age group. and F(15/694)=14.3, p < .0001 for random subsample 2; Group 2: F(3/710)=11.24, p < .0001

Further details of the percentage data based on the conservative and liberal criteria and the for random subsample 1 and F(3/706)=6.20, p < .0001 for random subsample 2). These

ANOVA data are available upon request. analyses consistently show that women displayed a higher level of midlife concerns as

A series of t-tests was initially performed to evaluate gender differences on the compared to men.

various measures of midlife crisis. The results generally showed that females displayed more

midlife crisis problems. The results are summarized in Table 1. The effect sizes involved

were also calculated according to the procedures described in Smith and Glass (1977).

-------------------------------

Insert Table 1 about here

--------------------------------

Since the employment of a series of t-test might increase the chance of committing

Type 1 error, further analyses using multivariate analysis of variance (Norusis, 1990) was

carried out for the following groups of dependent variables: a) 15 item scores of the C-MCS;

and b) three subscale scores of the C-MCS. With the use of Wilk's criterion, significant

multivariate effects of gender were found for all groups of combined dependent variables,

F(15/1408)=6.68, p < .0001; F(3/1420)=16.97, p < .0001 respectively. The findings

generally reveal a significant association between gender and the various categories of

midlife crisis measures and they showed that women appeared to display a higher level of

midlife concerns. Since the omnibus multivariate F's were significant, univariate F statistics

were further included as aids to interpret the significant MANOVA results and to clarify the

relationship between the independent variable and individual dependent variables. The

univariate ANOVA results were consistent with the original t-test analyses.

The stability of the MANOVA results was further tested by splitting the total sample

into two random subsamples (subsample 1 and subsample 2) and identical procedures were

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DISCUSSION that age 40 to age 45 is the period during which intensive midlife crisis occurs. Of course, in

view of the cross-sectional nature of the research design, the associated data should be

If midlife crisis is a normative developmental phenomenon which occurs at some interpreted with caution. In addition, since the present analysis centres around chronological

time within the midlife period, it is reasonable to expect that a majority of midlife age without reference to the different stages of the family life cycle, its limitation should be

participants in at least one of the age groups should respond to the C-MCS items in the realized. For the problem of gender differences, two aspects of the data require attention. The

"crisis" direction. However, the present data do not appear to support this expectation. If the first aspect is that while married females in general displayed more midlife crisis-related

conservative criterion was used, there was no item to which more than half of the participants concerns than males, females were found to be more satisfied with their work (item 7). This

in any age group responded in the crisis direction (except item 15 in Group 6). Even if the phenomenon might be due to the possibility that, since Chinese married women tend to place

liberal criterion was adopted, only slightly more than half of the participants displayed more emphasis on their marriages than work, they may set a lower expectation in their work.

work-related problems (items 9 and 11) and frustration about personal achievement (items 5 As a result, it may be easier for married women to derive more satisfaction from their work

and 10). The analyses of variance data further show that although there are significant than married men. The second aspect is that, while gender differences in midlife crisis

differences amongst different age groups in the midlife period, there is no sign indicating that concerns are not related to Self-Related Midlife Problems, significant gender differences on

the level of midlife crisis is highest in a particular age group. Taken as a whole, the data do Other-Related Midlife Problems, Fear of Aging and overall midlife crisis were observed.

not seem to support the proposal that midlife crisis is a normative developmental This finding suggests that different dimensions of midlife crisis must be taken into account

phenomenon. They also do not give strong support to the popular Chinese sayings of "ren when gender differences in midlife crisis are assessed.

dao zhong nien wan shih ai" (when a person reaches the midlife years, everything is sad) and The data on the significant gender differences in midlife concerns are consistent with

"ren dao zhong nien wan shih you" (when a person reaches the midlife years, everything is the general finding that married females tend to have a poorer psychological well-being, such

worrying). as depression and psychiatric morbidity, than males (e.g., Bernard, 1972; Gove, Hughes, &

The above findings are consistent with some of the previous data in the literature. In Style, 1983). The observation that women had more problems with their children and were

an attempt to compare different midlife groups with pre- and post-midlife groups according more inclined to choose to be single suggests that midlife married women, as compared to

to different definitions of midlife, McCrae and Costa (1984) found "no evidence at all of a midlife married men, may not be so satisfied with their family life. This finding is consistent

peaking of midlife concerns at any age in our range" and concluded that "at any given time, with Bernard's (1972) claim that married women tend to derive less advantages from their

only a small percentage of men are in a crisis, and they are not likely to cluster at any marital lives.

particular age" (p.104). Similarly, Farrell and Rosenberg (1981) showed no significant In evaluating gender differences involved in midlife concerns, it should be realized

differences amongst men in different midlife periods in terms of their midlife crisis scores. that the associated effect sizes were in the "low" range (Cohen, 1988). Nevertheless, in view

On the other hand, the present findings do not seem to support Levinson's (1978) proposal of the paucity of research data on midlife development in females, the data in the present

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study can be regarded as stimulating. REFERENCES

1. Bernard, J. (1972). The future of marriage. New York: Bantam Books.

2. Chew, P. (1976). The inner world of the middle-aged man. New York: McMillan.

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Hunter & M. Sundel (Eds.), Midlife myths, issues, findings, and practice implications
(pp.116-194). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

4. Ciernia, J.R. (1985). Myths about male midlife crises. Psychological Reports, 56,
1003-1007.

5. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.).
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6. Conway, S. (1980). You and your husband's midlife crisis. New York: New American
Library.

7. Cytrybaum, S., Blum, L., Patrick, R., Stein, J., Wadner, D., & Wilk, C. (1980). Midlife
development: A personality and social systems perspective. In L. Poon (Ed.), Aging in
the 1980s (pp.463-474). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

8. Erikson, E. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.

9. Farrell, M.P., & Rosenberg, S. (1981). Men at midlife. Boston: Auburn House.

10. Gould, R. (1978). Transformations. New York: Simon & Schuster.

11. Gove, W.R., Hughes, M., & Style, C.B. (1983). Does marriage have positive effects on
the individual? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 122-131.

12. Havighurst, R.J. (1972). Developmental tasks and education. New York: McKay.

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13. Ho, D.Y.F., Spinks, J.A., & Yeung, C.S.H. (Eds.) (1989). Chinese patterns of behavior:
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implications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
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APPENDIX TABLE 1
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Items of the Chinese Midlife Crisis Scale Mean differences between male and female participants on the various measures of midlife
crisis

MALE FEMALE
Item 1: I know how to use leisure time
Variable Mean S.D. Mean S.D. t-value Effect Size
Item 2: I am increasingly aware that it is difficult for me to interact with my children
Item 1 2.24 1.17 2.16 1.23 1.32 ns -
Item 3: I encounter great stress in taking care of my aged relatives Item 2 2.61 1.55 2.98 1.66 -4.46 *** .22
Item 3 2.97 1.80 2.96 1.89 0.09 ns -
Item 4: I do not worry that I will have financial difficulty when I get old Item 4 3.17 1.74 3.40 1.79 -2.53 * .13
Item 5 3.46 1.78 3.35 1.77 1.26 ns -
Item 5: I am disappointed that given my age, I still have not had much achievement Item 6 1.90 0.96 2.04 1.01 -2.85 ** .14
Item 7 2.91 1.48 2.60 1.43 4.18 *** .22
Item 6: I am satisfied with my children Item 8 2.97 1.71 3.20 1.76 -2.51 * .13
Item 9 3.58 1.78 3.73 1.72 -1.63 ns -
Item 7: I am satisfied with my present work Item 10 3.45 1.72 3.48 1.75 -0.41 ns -
Item 11 3.76 1.96 3.71 1.89 0.49 ns -
Item 8: I do not worry about my life in old age Item 12 2.50 1.61 2.70 1.73 -2.33 * .12
Item 13 1.81 1.42 2.30 1.78 -5.87 *** .28
Item 9: I am increasingly aware that my work is boring and monotonous Item 14 1.86 1.41 2.28 1.71 -5.23 *** .25
Item 15 3.91 1.63 3.98 1.63 -0.80 ns -
Item 10: I feel that I do not have enough time to complete those things which I desire to complete
Subscale 1 23.33 6.45 23.00 6.35 0.99 ns -
Item 11: If I can live again, I will choose my present job Subscale 2 13.62 4.89 15.24 5.88 -5.71 *** .28
Subscale 3 6.14 3.10 6.60 3.23 -2.81 ** .14
Item 12: I am increasingly uncertain why I exist Total 43.16 10.88 44.85 11.78 -2.80 ** .14

Item 13: If I can live again, I will choose to be single

Item 14: If I can live again, I will still choose to have children Subscale 1: Self-Related Midlife Problems scores. Subscale 2: Other-Related Midlife
Problems scores. Subscale 3: Fear of Aging scores. Total: total C-MCS scores (Shek, 1994).
Item 15: My health is gradually deteriorating

Note: Items 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 are negatively-worded *** p < .001
Items 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 14 are positively-worded ** p < .01
* p < .05
ns non-significant

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