DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

“Leaving Jimmy’s mum probably precipitated a degree of navel-gazing and
internalising.” (p.9)
Vern reflected that his pre-crisis self was based on role-playing:
“I think there is quite a lot of role-playing for a lot of people, certainly for me, you act
up to a particular expectation. There is no doubt in my mind anyway that I was thrust
into a role which I wasn’t necessarily psychologically suited to.” (p.10)
The key developmental change is away from living behind a façade and away from
playing a role, toward being more expressive:
“The point is now I am always who I am, I don’t play games any more, I don’t play a
role. I am quite comfortable with someone going – he’s a tosser. Well OK, take it or
leave it. In common with many, almost everybody, is you are worried about what
people think about you.” (p.10)
“I just stopped myself being what I didn’t want to be. I think I was actively
dismantling the façade rather than trying out different personalities. I think I knew
who I was, and it was a case of just trying to be that, rather than trying to find who I
was.” (p.11)
The crisis acted developmentally as a catalyst toward a life that is closer to what he
terms his “natural personality” (p.2).
Resolution in Remarrying
Vern finds a new partner who is more suited to him, several years after the
crisis, and finds himself in a new, rewarding relationship. He later marries this new
girl, whom he loves. Leon also finds a new relationship with a woman whom he feels
more connected to than he did with his previous wife. Both individuals resolve their
crises, not in permanent equilibrium, but in a more balanced state than they lived in
prior to crisis. Vern describes now having a better relationship with his son than he
had during his first marriage, and Leon also described a positive relationship with his
son since the crisis.
6.5 Male Cluster: Career Crisis (N=2)
This final cluster is composed of two respondents, Dan and Jack, both of
whom had crises that arose from being fired from their jobs. Dan is 34 when the
crisis emerges, works in making corporate films, is married with a baby, and Jack is
26, single, and working as an accountant.
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