Section 1:3 Environment
41
The Environment in the
Adult Years
A person’s job is a very important
environmental influence during the adult years.
It influences many aspects of the person’s life
and identity. Just like young children, adults
identify themselves by what they are able to do. A
person’s job has a title that identifies the worker.
If a person works at something that he or she
feels is important and worthwhile, it increases
personal feelings of worth. Doing a job well gives
workers a sense of satisfaction.
Many young adults take a spouse and follow
the path of marriage and parenting as they create
a new generation. They pass their heritage—their
family guidelines and beliefs—on to their
children. Children become a new influence in the
adult’s environment. Experiences in parenting
and later in grandparenting can also influence an
adult’s identity. All these family experiences can
lead to a full and satisfying life, 1-16.
Responding with
Resiliency
Many factors impact how you developed
into who you are today. As you study the effects
of heredity and environment, you may ask,
What are some ways that violence in
your environment could affect growth and
development? Do you think movies or
video games could stimulate a fight-or-
flight response?
Use What You Learn
1-16
For these grandparents, sharing activities with their
grandchild provides feelings of fulfillment.
“What can I do about them now?” Scientists are
constantly learning new things about the brain
and the human body’s amazing ability to respond
with resiliency. That means the body adjusts
to setbacks and makes changes to survive and
reach its maximum growth and development. For
instance, individuals who suffer an injury to a
part of the brain respond by using other parts of
the brain not specialized for that role. The brain
compensates for its loss as much as possible.
Certain aspects of development may
have been hindered by your heredity or your
environment. The key question is this: In what