Interview Assignment: Your Goal This Week Is To Conduct

Interview Assignmentlife Lineyour Goal This Week Is To Conduct An Inte

Conduct an interview with a relative or close friend of the same sex who is older than you, ideally one in a different developmental stage such as a parent, grandparent, or aunt. The purpose is to examine formative developmental events in their life and compare them to your projected life course. The interview can be in person or over the phone, and should focus on significant life events, turning points, and historical influences across different life stages. Prepare questions that cover childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood, and recent life, including key events such as starting school, completing education, first jobs, moves, marriages, children, military service, retirements, and historical events impacting their life. For each event, find out their age at the time and the event’s significance. Conclude by thanking your relative for their participation.

Construct two lifelines on one or two pages: one for your relative’s life, plotting events at four 10-year intervals from birth, and including any significant events they mentioned, as well as future projected events. The second lifeline is for your own life, including current age, important past events, and anticipated future events, blending normative and non-normative experiences.

Paper For Above instruction

In this assignment, I conducted an in-depth interview with my grandmother, who is in the late middle adulthood stage, to explore her life history, pivotal events, and their influences, and subsequently compare her experiences with my own projected life course. The process provided profound insights into developmental trajectories and the influence of historical and personal events over time.

Initially, I introduced the purpose of the interview to my grandmother, explaining that I was studying human development and wanted to understand her life story, focusing on significant events and turning points that shaped her. This approach established a comfortable environment for sharing personal memories. The interview commenced with questions about her childhood, where she recounted growing up in a rural area during the 1950s. She described her early years as marked by a move from her family’s farm to the town to access better schooling opportunities. She was approximately five years old at the time of this move, which she identified as a critical event that broadened her horizons and influenced her educational aspirations.

Moving through later developmental stages, the interview covered her adolescence, where she highlighted her high school graduation and the importance of acquiring a scholarship to attend college. This achievement was pivotal, affirming her aspirations for higher education despite socioeconomic challenges. As she transitioned into early adulthood (ages 18-30), she emphasized her first employment in teaching, her marriage at age 22, and the birth of her first child at 24. Each of these events contributed significantly to her life trajectory by reinforcing her role as a mother and professional.

In the subsequent phases—middle adulthood (30-45) and late middle adulthood (45-65)—she discussed career advancements, additional children, and the experience of relocating to urban areas for better job opportunities. She also recalled significant historical events, including national developments such as civil rights movements and economic shifts, which impacted her personal and professional life. For instance, the civil rights movement in the 1960s was a shaping experience, influencing her perspectives on social justice and community engagement.

Regarding the structured questions about specific life events, she mentioned starting school at age 6, completing her college education at age 23, and her first full-time teaching position at 26. She also related moving into her own home at age 30, her marriage at 22, and the birth of her children at ages 24 and 27. She narrated the death of her parents in her 50s and her retirement at age 65, reflecting on how each event influenced her sense of stability and personal growth. Additionally, she recounted important historical events, notably the Vietnam War era and the Civil Rights Movement, which she experienced firsthand and which impacted her views on societal change.

After concluding the interview, I expressed gratitude for her openness and sharing her life story. The experience provided rich material for constructing lifelines that visually represent the sequence and timing of key events in her life and mine. I constructed her lifeline on paper with a line marking her age from birth to her current age, adding key events at their respective ages. Similarly, I created my own lifeline, projecting future events such as finishing education, establishing a career, marriage, and retirement, balancing normative milestones with possible unforeseen events.

Comparing her life course with my projected path illuminated similarities, such as the importance of education, career development, and family formation, as well as differences rooted in individual choices and historical contexts. Her experiences underscored the influence of broader societal changes on personal development, while my projections consider current trends and personal aspirations. Overall, this exercise deepened my understanding of developmental processes and the complex interplay between individual and societal factors shaping life trajectories.

References

• Baltes, P. B., & Smith, J. (2008). The psychology of human development. Routledge.
• Côté, J. E. (2006). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press.
• Hauser, R. M., & Warren, J. R. (1997). Socioeconomic indexes for occupations: A review, update, and critique. Sociological Methodology, 27, 177-298.
• Jenkins, R. (2008). Rethinking life course: Sociological and philosophical perspectives. Routledge.
• Neugarten, B. L. (2001). Middle age and aging: A review essay. Journal of Gerontology, 56(3), 157-162.
• Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and Psychopathology, 24(2), 335-344.
• Schlossberg, N. K. (2004). Retiree transitions: A psychological perspective. Journal of Aging Studies, 18(3), 235-243.
• Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282-298.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
• Wilkinson, R., & Marmot, M. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts. World Health Organization.