Print

Conference poster

“While the life cycle encompasses only one pattern of adulthood, the life spiral encompasses several patterns of adulthood. The cycle implies that issues are resolved at specific stages of the life course. The spiral implies the possibility of changing roles and arriving at new resolutions regarding issues once presumed to have been settled. A cycle requires an invariant temporal pattern, a sequence of stages that occur in a specified progression. A spiral allows varying temporal patterns that occur without a necessarily fixed order of events. The life spiral is a non-age-graded sequence of adult roles, whereas the life cycle assumes that age determines the sequence of adult stages. Whereas the cycle forces us to view individuals who do not follow the dominant pattern as deviants, the spiral allows us to view alternate patterns of adulthood from a comparative perspective.” (Etzkowitz, H. and P. Stein. 1978. The Life Spiral. Human Needs and Adult Roles. In: Journal of Economic and Family Issues 1 (4): 434-446)