ABSTRACT
Cross-cultural analysis of both industrialized and simpler societies is needed to isolate any constants from specific sociocultural and economic variables and personal mediating factors. Contrary to the findings of some American research, midlife crisis did not occur most often among respondents in their forties; rather, it was most common among those fifty-five to fifty-nine years of age, and it was identified most often with physical and mental health problems. For both men and women, however, midlife crisis is primarily an upper-middle-class phenomenon. Those members of the middle class who perceive themselves as having failed in prescribed social roles are more likely to report midlife crises associated with health problems, hopeless futures, and unsatisfying social networks. Instead of midlife crisis, it seems more useful to view certain ages, which may shift with economic and social conditions, as nodal points occurring among those occupying certain statuses in a given culture.
