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Journal of Adult Development, Vol. 10, No. 3, July 2003 (°
Turning Points in Adults’ Lives: The Effects of Gender
and the Amount of Choice
Anna Rönkä,1,2 Sanna Oravala,1 and Lea Pulkkinen1
The study sought to discover what women and men in their 30s regard as the most important
turning points in their lives, and whether the amount of choice they have in relation to these
events influences the way in which turning points are evaluated. The study was part of the
Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, started in 1968. Data
for the present study was collected by means of interviews conducted when the participants
(n = 283) were 36 years old. Turning points were most often related to family, education, work,
and social transitions. Women regarded parenthood, the health problems of people close to
them, and moving to another community as turning points more often than men; whereas men
regarded occupational events, military service, and changes in their lifestyle as turning points
more often than women. Individuals tended to mention turning points over which they had a
large amount of choice. The more personal choice the participants had enjoyed at the time of
a turning point, the more positively they evaluated it at the time, and also later on.
KEY WORDS: turning point; choice; continuity and change; gender differences.
Recent discussions of life course development
have often dealt with the dynamics of lives over time.
Human development is viewed as a coactive process in which sociocultural, biological, and psychological forces interact over time (Caspi & Roberts,
1999; Elder, 1998). Some of the developmental processes are cumulative and continuous, whereas others are discontinuous and innovative, showing little
connection to prior events or processes (Baltes, 1987,
1997). Life course development is conceptualized by
dynamic terms such as trajectory, cumulative continuity, developmental pathway or cycle (Elder, 1998).
One of the recent interests in life course psychology is the question of change. What pushes some
individuals away from their previous developmental
pathways, and why? Are there certain periods in life
when people are especially susceptible to change? The
crucial periods of change have been described in terms
of a variety of theoretical concepts, such as transitions
(Dunn & Merriam, 1995; Kittrell, 1998), turning
points (Clausen, 1995; Denne & Thompson, 1991;
Graber & Brooks-Gunn, 1996), branching points
(Schroots, 1988), and life-markers (Grob, Krings, &
Bangerter, 2000, 2001). In these periods or moments
of life, past decisions are reevaluated, new role expectations are confronted and changes in lifestyle
are considered (e.g., Brammer, 1992; Clausen, 1991;
Hareven & Masaoka, 1988; Levinson, 1986; Rutter,
1996). These changes affect the development of ego
identity in adulthood and the direction of development of the life course (Clausen, 1995; Hareven &
Masaoka, 1988; Labouvie-Vief, 1998; Rutter, 1996).
In this article the concept of “turning point” as
referring to the individual’s subjective conception of
change in his/her life is examined. We sought to discover what adult people in their 30s themselves consider to be the most important turning points in their
lives, and whether there are gender differences in the
perception of turning points. The special interest of
this study was the question of whether the degree of
choice which people enjoy in regard to the various
perceived turning points in their lives, affects their
evaluation of these turning points. This question stems
1 University
of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of
Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, P. O. Box 35, FIN40014, Jyväskylä, Finland; e-mail: [email protected].
2 To
203
C 2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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from the recent tendency in life-course psychology to
see individuals as active contributors to their own development (e.g., Elder, 1998).
TURNING POINTS, LIFE-EVENTS
AND TRANSITIONS
Turning points refer to important life-events,
which cause a lasting alteration in the developmental
trajectory, or at least some reorientation of priority
of activities (Clausen, 1995). Depending on the turning point, such changes can either exclude or open
up opportunities (Pickles & Rutter, 1991); lead to
changes in people’s lifestyles, self-concepts, and roles
(Elder, 1986; Elder & Caspi, 1988; Pickles & Rutter,
1991; Vaughan, 1986); as well as change their views of
other people and the world (Clausen, 1995; Clausen &
Jones, 1998; Denne & Thompson, 1991; Lauer &
Lauer, 1987; Rutter, 1996). Turning points are heterogenous experiences, and include those over which
the individual has no control and those subject to individual choice (Rutter, 1996).
There is some ambiguity in the ways in which researchers understand the concept of the turning point.
In some cases the concept of turning point is used
as a synonym for life event or transition. Several researchers, however, point out that a transition or a
life event does not always constitute a turning point
(Clausen, 1995; Pickles & Rutter, 1991; Wheaton &
Gotlib, 1997). Life transitions are the periods in life
when tension increases, past decisions are reevaluated
and changes in lifestyle are considered (Clausen, 1995;
Dunn & Merriam, 1995; Levinson, 1986). In a life transition roles are transformed, redefined, or left behind
for new roles; for example starting school, leaving
home and getting married (Wheaton & Gotlib, 1997).
To be perceived as a turning point the transition or life
event should be personally significant, and promote
change in the individual’s developmental trajectory.
At the very least, an individual must have the feeling that new meanings have been acquired (Clausen,
1995; Rutter, 1996; Starr, 1994; Thurnher, 1983). Turning points are often recognized as such only after time
has passed and it has become clear that there has been
real change in the direction taken by the individual’s
life (Clausen, 1998; Wheaton & Gotlib, 1997 ). The
concept of turning point is thus well suited to the study
of adults.
In positive cases, turning points can constitute important developmental crises in people’s lives. When a
person reflects on which are the most important values
Rönkä, Oravala, and Pulkkinen
and goals in his/her life, and experiences strong emotion, he/she can mature emotionally. Turning points
can also create new roles and behavior patterns,
which help the person to cope with new life-changes
and even change the direction of maladaptive developmental paths (Maughan & Rutter, 1998; Rönkä,
Oravala, & Pulkkinen, 2002). In this way turning
points may become learning experiences that promote people’s cognitive, emotional, and personality development (Cabral & Salomone, 1990; Higgins,
Loeb, & Ruble, 1995; Steward, 1982). Positive turning
points are usually related to the birth of a child, marriage, and success in realizing one’s own goals; such
as a better economic situation brought about through
work (Hareven & Masaoka, 1988; Hughes, Blazer, &
George, 1988; Stallings, Dunham, Gatz, Baker, &
Bengtson, 1997; Thurnher, 1983). Religious commitment and unexpected opportunities (Hughes et al.,
1988; Swearingen & Cohen, 1985; Thurnher, 1983)
are other examples of life events that may bring about
positive changes in individuals’ lives.
Turning points may also be accompanied by
negative changes in people’s life courses. Negative
turning points are often related to a loss (Lauer &
Lauer, 1987), and include, for example, interpersonal
problems and failures in regard to one’s own goals
(Brammer, 1992; Hughes et al., 1988; Lauer & Lauer,
1987; Oakley, 1987; Thurnher, 1983).
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN
TURNING POINTS
Studies have revealed gender differences in the
content of turning points (Clausen, 1995; Lauer &
Lauer, 1987; Oakley, 1987; Rutter, 1996). Women regard meaningful relationships (Lauer & Lauer, 1987),
changes in the family sphere (Hareven & Masaoka,
1988; Oakley, 1987), and issues relating to the quest
for identity as turning points more often than men
(Clausen, 1995). Men for their part tend to regard
military service and crucial decisions linked to occupational events as turning points.
According to Clausen (1995) and Oakley (1987)
these findings reflect different orientations toward the
self and the world among the two sexes. It has been
suggested (e.g., Block, 1983; Caffarella & Olson, 1993)
that organizing principles for women’s development
are relatedness, attachment, and doing things for others, whereas men’s lives are grounded to a greater
extent in separateness and autonomy. This is often
explained in terms of different socialization patterns,
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Turning Points in Adults’ Lives: The Effects of Gender and the Amount of Choice
and the different expectations society has of women
and men (Block, 1983; Caffarella & Olson, 1993;
Clausen, 1995; Hareven & Masaoka, 1988). Gender
roles relate to people’s values and perceptions of life,
so that the sources of identity and self-esteem—and
also turning points—may be based on different things
(Caffarella & Olson, 1993; Clausen, 1995; Oakley,
1987). The life paths of women are also characterized by diversity and nonlinearity. This is partly due
to the fact that the birth and care of children plays a
particularly large role in shaping the life patterns of
women (Caffarella & Olson, 1993).
TURNING POINTS AND THE
AMOUNT OF CHOICE
In recent years, there has been growing interest
in human agency in the selection of particular roles or
situations. Researchers from various research traditions (e.g., Bandura, 1997; Brandtstädter, 1989) using
a variety of concepts (see a review by Grob, 2000)
all agree that a sense of control or efficacy over the
events of one’s life is related to a sense of well-being.
People tend to strive to exercise control over events
that affect their lives. Those who believe they are able
to exert influence over the flow of events also show
higher levels of self-esteem and perceive their world in
a more positive light. It has been suggested that during
recent decades the active role of individuals as agents
of their lives has become more of a reality, due to the
increasing amount of choice, and the greater number
of opportunities for the individual, that are now an
offer; coupled with social networks offering weaker
social ties (Buchmann, 1989; Hurrelmann, 1989).
Correspondingly, several researchers (e.g.,
Brammer, 1992; Clausen, 1991) have found out
that the essential factor related to the evaluation of
turning points is the amount of personal choice which
an individual has over the turning point. Inability to
control one’s own life, and the feeling that life goes
on just by force of circumstances can give rise to a
situation in which challenging turning points may
lead to negative outcomes, such as low psychological
well-being (Headey & Wearing, 1989; Stallings et al.,
1997; Vinokur & Selzer, 1975; Whitbourne, 1986),
and psychopathology (Laub, Nagin, & Sampson,
1998; Laub & Sampson, 1993; Rönkä et al., 2002;
Sampson & Laub, 1993). Conversely, the feeling that
one has control over the events of one’s life is related
to positive evaluation of the turning point, both at
the time it occurs and later in life (Brammer, 1992;
205
Clausen, 1991; Denne & Thompson, 1991; Stone,
Helder, & Schneider, 1988; Töres, 1992; Wheaton,
1990).
PROBLEMS AND HYPOTHESIS
The aim of this study was to investigate what
adults in their mid-30s consider as the most important turning points in their lives. Levinson (1986) divides early adulthood into various periods, which have
their own life structures. The entry life structure for
early adulthood (ages 22–28) precedes the age 30transition; during which the direction of life may be
reappraised. It is followed by the settling-down life
structure of early adulthood. The age of 36 belongs
to the era of early adulthood that ends in the midlife
transition from age 40 to 45. According to Levinson
(1986), early adulthood is the season for forming and
pursuing youthful aspirations, establishing a niche in
society, raising a family, and as the era ends, reaching
a more senior position in the adult world. This stage
of life is accompanied by new challenges but at the
same time, by stresses caused by the burdens of parenthood and the requirement to establish oneself in
an occupation.
Two factors related to turning points were studied: gender, and the amount of personal choice. We
were interested to see if there are gender differences
in the content and evaluation of turning points, and
whether the amount of choice over a turning point
has a bearing on its immediate and later evaluation.
The studies of gender differences in turning points are
mostly based on American samples (Clausen, 1995;
Lauer & Lauer, 1987; Thurnher, 1983) and can not be
straightforwardly generalized to Finland, where the
roles taken on by the two sexes are more alike. A notable cultural feature which lies behind this is the fact
that Finland offers a more easily available communal day care system, and longer maternity leave than
many other countries (Julkunen, 1999). Thus, the opportunities for Finnish women both to create a career
and to have children have been good. Accordingly,
the full-time employment rate of Finnish women has
been very high, about 71% (Lehto, 1999). In spite of
these cultural differences we expected gender differences in turning points.
We assumed that (1) adults in their 30s tend to
regard events related to education, work, and family as turning points in their lives (Clausen, 1995;
Levinson, 1986); (2) men tend to regard education
and work as turning points more often than women,
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whereas women would regard changes related to
the family sphere as turning points more often than
men (Clausen, 1995; Lauer & Lauer, 1987; Thurnher,
1983); (3) that people evaluate turning points more
positively, both at the time they occur and later on,
if they have some kind of control over what happens to them (Clausen, 1991; Denne & Thompson,
1991; Vaughan, 1986; Wheaton, 1990); (4) that negative turning points are related to loss (Vaughan, 1986)
and involve a low amount of personal choice (Lauer &
Lauer, 1987); (5) that positive turning points are related to success in achieving one’s own goals and often involve a substantial component of one’s own
choice (Hareven & Masaoka, 1988; Hughes et al.,
1988; Stallings et al., 1997; Swearingen & Cohen, 1985;
Thurnher, 1983); (6) that the amount of choice enjoyed over the turning point would function as a moderator between immediate and later evaluations of
the turning point. Moderation would imply that the
relation between the evaluation of turning point at
the two points of time would change as a function of
the moderator (amount of choice; Baron & Kenny,
1986). In other words, we assumed that the evaluation that one had control over the turning point is related to positive change in the way one sees it as time
passes.
METHOD
Participants
The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development
(Pulkkinen, 1998), which has been in progress for over
30 years. The original random sample of the study
consisted of 173 girls and 196 boys aged 8 years. The
racially homogeneous Finnish-speaking sample (b. in
1959) included 12 normal school classes from downtown and suburban areas in the town of Jyväskylä,
Finland.
This study was based on the data collection made
in 1995, when the subjects had reached the age of
36. Information on turning points at age 36 (1995)
was available for 146 (75.3% of the original sample)
men and 137 (79.2% of the original sample) women.
The sample at age 36 was representative of the population of Finnish citizens born in 1959, when compared with data derived from Statistics Finland. No
differences were found at the time of the measurement in marital status (61% married, 20% cohabited,
8% divorced, 0.4% widowed, 10% single) or unem-
Rönkä, Oravala, and Pulkkinen
ployment rate (18%). Thirty-six percent had completed higher secondary school (12 years), which is
the minimum required for university entrance. The
analysis of the representativeness of the sample is
reported in more detail elsewhere (Sinkkonen &
Pulkkinen, 1996). Most Finnish citizens are Protestants by religion.
Sample attrition was studied by comparing these
146 men and 137 women who were captured in
the interview with the rest of the original sample
(those 36 women and 50 men who did not participate
the semistructured interview) in respect of personality
styles (aggressiveness and anxiety measured at age 8);
and school achievement, and parental socioeconomic
status (measured at age 14). The comparison showed
that the two groups did not differ in respect of any of
these variables. Consequently, the data in this study
represents the original sample well.
Measures
The interview concerning turning points was conducted at age 36 as part of a longer semistructured
interview. The semistructured interview yielded information about the following topics: family relationships, housing, financial situation, education, occupation, leisure activities, alcohol consumption, smoking,
criminality, health, life values, life changes, personal
control over development, emotional reactions, identity status, and future orientation. Interviews were carried out by trained interviewers and lasted about 3 hr.
Turning points. At the beginning, the interviewer
introduced the concept of turning points and their
functioning as bringing structure to one’s life, for example, in the domains of education, work, and family.
The introductory talk also included the statement that
we have all experienced important life events, which
are like crossroads in our lives. At these crossroads
we make decisions and choices which will direct the
future course of our lives, and so change us, to some
extent at least. Then the participants were asked what
kinds of significant life-events, and the decisions and
choices made concerning these, they could identify in
their own life courses. The participants were encouraged to report at least three turning points, if possible,
and most of them did so. These life events were written
down; and for each one, the participants were asked
to specify: How much personal choice they had had
in regard to this particular life event; how old they
were at the time it happened: how they had evaluated
about it when it happened, and how at the present
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time they evaluated the consequences this life-event
had had for them?
Turning point categories. The responses—which
included a huge variety of events and experiences—
were first coded into 22 categories according to their
content. Six of these 22 categories included subcategories. The coding scale was based on Jari-Erik
Nurmi’s scale developed for coding the content of
important life events, life issues, and goals, which has
been used in several studies (e.g., Nurmi, 1992). Turning points were coded by two coders, who then discussed their decisions.
The categories which were thematically close to
each other (and which included only a few cases)
were afterwards combined by a third coder following a categorization system which has been developed
and refined in several international studies of turning points (Clausen, 1995, 1998; Denne & Thompson,
1991; Elder & Caspi, 1988; Hareven & Masaoka, 1988;
Lauer & Lauer, 1987; Oakley, 1987). The final categorization, thus, included the following main categories:
education, work, family, health, interpersonal relationships, quest for identity (e.g., psychological crisis,
religious commitment), loss (death of a close other),
standard of living (e.g., getting a new apartment), social transitions (e.g., move to another community, military service), world (e.g., wars), lifestyle (e.g., new
hobbies, crimes), and other (e.g., unique experiences
with significant others). The final categorization with
its 12 main categories and 30 subcategories is shown
in Appendix A. Each of these variables could have
either of two values (1 = had happened and 0 = had
not happened ).
The amount of personal choice over each turning
point was assessed by means of a question : How much
personal choice/control did you have in regard to this
particular life event? The responses were given on a
3-point scale : 1 = no personal choice, happened due
to circumstances; 2 = some personal choice; 3 = plenty
of choice. Quantitative scales were used to make possible the comparison of the turning point experiences
of the different participants.
The evaluation of the turning points. (1) Immediate reactions to each turning point were assessed by
means of the question: How did you evaluate the lifeevent when it happened? The responses were given
on a 5-point scale: 1 = very negative reaction; 2 =
rather negative reaction; 3 = both positive and negative reaction; 4 = fairly positive reaction; and 5 = very
positive reaction. (2) The consequences of each turning point were assessed on the basis of the following
question: How do you evaluate the consequences of
207
these life-events at the present time? The responses
were given on a 5-point scale: 1 = very negative
consequences; 2 = rather negative consequences;
3 = both positive and negative consequences; 4 =
fairly positive consequences; and 5 = very positive
consequences.
Data Analysis
Data analyses were based on cross-tabulations
for turning point categories and subcategories. Possible sex differences in the distribution of turning points
were analyzed using the Chi-square test. T-tests for
paired samples were used for studying changes in the
evaluations of turning points. T-tests with independent samples were used to analyze gender differences
in the evaluation of turning points. The number of participants reporting different turning points varied. We
did not do statistical testing if only a very few people
had mentioned a particular turning point.
MANOVA with repeated measures and
Scheffe’s test were used to see whether the amount of
personal choice over the turning point would moderate the relationship between the immediate reactions
to the turning and its more lasting consequences.
RESULTS
The Content of Turning Points in Men and Women
The number of turning points people mentioned
varied from 0 to 9, the average number was three.
Four of the participants (all of them were men) could
not identify any turning point in their lives. They described their life-courses as “monotonous,” “flat” or
said that their life course was “living on from day to
day without too much thinking.”
Over 80% of the participants mentioned turning points which involved family life (Table I). These
were, for example, marriage or divorce, or the birth
of a child. Life events relating to education, work,
and social transitions were other commonly mentioned turning points. Less frequent turning points
were, the deaths of close others, and changes related
to the standard of living; these were mentioned by
little more than a tenth of participants. A minority,
about one tenth, mentioned turning points related
to lifestyle and interpersonal relationships. Turning
points relating to the quest for identity, such as religious commitment, were rare. This was also true of
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Rönkä, Oravala, and Pulkkinen
Table I. Self-Reported Turning Points in Women and in Men at Age 36 (Percentages)
Content and type of
turning point
Women
(N = 137)
Men
(N = 146)
All
(N = 283)
Family
Common-law marriage/marriage or divorce
Building a family
Entering a new intimate relationship/separation
Education
Choice of occupation
Choices related to nonoccupational studies
Graduating from school
Success in studies/dropping out of school
Work
Job seeking, job loss, retirement
Starting one’s first job
Entrerpreneurial activity/bankruptcy
Social transitions
Move to another community
Becoming independent/leaving home
Travelling, moving temporarily to another country
Military/community service
Loss, death of close other
Standard of living
Getting a new apartment/summer cottage
Lifestyle
Changes in leisure activities (e.g. hobbies)
The search for a lifestyle
Drinking problems, drugs, crimes
Interpersonal relationships
Quest for identity
Religious commitment/changes in one’s view of life
Psychological crisis
Health
Own illness
Illness of a close other
Other
86.9
56.2
57.7∗
16.8
55.5
46.0
13.1
4.4
1.5
32.8
21.9
6.6
4.4
43.8
21.9
13.1
13.9∗
0
18.2
13.9
13.9
5.8
2.9
2.2
0.7
9.5
9.5
6.6
3.6
7.3
2.9
4.4∗
4.4
78.8
55.5
41.8
18.5
44.5
34.9
11.0
3.4
3.4
49.3∗∗
27.4
14.4∗
13.0∗
34.9
14.4
9.6
5.5
11.0∗∗∗
15.1
12.3
12.3
13.7∗
8.2
4.1
2.1
8.2
5.5
4.8
0.7
3.4
3.4
0
6.2
82.7
55.8
49.5
17.7
49.8
40.3
12.0
3.9
2.5
41.3
24.7
10.6
8.8
39.2
18.0
11.3
9.5
5.7
16.6
13.1
13.1
9.9
5.7
3.2
1.4
8.8
7.4
5.7
2.1
5.3
3.2
2.1
5.3
Note. (1) The significance of gender differences was tested by Chi-square test. (2) Turning points
mentioned by less than 1% of the participants were excluded from the table.
∗ p < .05. ∗∗ p < .01. ∗∗∗ p < .001.
changes in health and other more unique individual
experiences.
There were differences between men and women
in their perceptions of the most important turning
points. As compared to men, women more often mentioned changes related to building a family, such as
the birth of child; and travels and living temporarily in another country as social transitions. Furthermore, women more often mentioned turning points
linked to changes in the health of people close to
them. Men, for their part, more often mentioned turning points in the work sphere, especially those which
related to the reevaluation of their own goals because
of new opportunities or failures. In particular, the first
job, and entrepreneuring were mentioned as important. One tenth also mentioned military service as a
change which had affected their life course. Further-
more, changes in lifestyle were more common turning
points among men as compared to women.
The Evaluation of Turning Points
Turning points mostly evaluated as very positive at the time they happened were related to the
quest for identity, such as religious commitment, and
changes in the view taken of life (Table II). Almost as positive were those turning points related
to family, a better standard of living, work, and
education. However, choices related to nonoccupational studies, and school changes were more ambiguous, that is to say, they were seen as including both
positive and negative aspects. Other ambiguouslyrated turning points were related to lifestyle, social
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Table II. The Amount of Choice Over Turning Points, and the Evaluation of Turning Points (Means Mentioned)
Content and type of turning point
Amount of choice
(1 = no choice;
3 = plenty of choice)
Immediate reactions
(1 = very negative;
5 = very positive)
2.7
4.6
4.9
2.8
2.8
2.6
4.7
4.6
4.1
4.7
4.7
4.3
2.7
4.4
4.6
2.8
2.1
4.5
3.5
4.5
3.6
2.7
2.5
2.4
4.7
4.1
4.0
4.2∗
3.6
4.1
2.7
2.4
2.3
2.0
2.3
1.7
1.6
1.3
1.1
3.6
4.3
3.5
4.3
3.8
2.2
3.3
1.3
1.4
4.1
4.1
4.2
4.7
4.0
3.2
3.3
3.3∗∗
2.1∗∗∗
Quest for identity (N = 21)
Religious commitment/changes in view of life
Family (N = 233)
Entering a new intimate relationship/separation
Building a family
Common-law marriage/marriage or divorce
Standard of living (N = 34)
Getting a new apartment/summer cottage
Education (N = 138)
Choice of occupation
Choices related to nonoccupational studies
Work (N = 111)
Starting one’s first job
Entrepreneurial activity/bankruptcy
Job seeking, job loss, retirement
Social transitions (N = 109)
Move for another community
Travel, moving temporily to another country
Military/community service
Becoming independent
Lifestyle (N = 28)
Other (N = 14)
Interpersonal relationships (N = 23)
Health (N = 15)
Loss (N = 45)
Consequences
(1 = very negative;
5 = very positive)
Note. (1) The significance of change in evaluations was tested by t-test of paired samples. (2) Turning points mentioned by less
than 10 participants were excluded from the table.
∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01. ∗∗∗p < .001.
transitions (especially moves to another community,
and men’s military service), and interpersonal relationships. The turning points mostly regarded as
negative were related to the subject’s own illness,
to the loss of close others or to other more unique
experiences.
T-tests of paired samples were used to test
whether change had occurred between immediate and
later evaluation of the turning point (Table II). The
analysis showed that the evaluations of illness and the
deaths of close others were more positively evaluated
with time, whereas the evaluations of the first job became more negative.
There were some differences in the ways women
and men evaluated turning points. As compared to
men, women had more positive experiences of enterpreneuring in the sphere of work than men, M =
3.9 for men and 5.0 for women; t(22) = 2.7, p < .01.
However, as compared to women, men had more positive experiences of building a family in the familial
sphere, M = 4.4 for women and 5.0 for men; t(134) =
3.8, p < .001. Furthermore, men (M = 4.3) experienced job-seeking, job loss, and retirement more pos-
itively, t(63) = 2.3, p < .01, than women (M = 3.7).
As to the evaluation of the consequences of turning points, only a few gender differences emerged.
Women (M = 4.5) mentioned the consequences of
entering into common-law marriage or getting married as more positive, t(153) = 2.5, p < .01, than men
(M = 4.2); whereas the consequences of building a
family were seen as more positive, t(135) = 3.0, p <
.01, among men (M = 4.9) than among women
(M = 4.6).
The Amount of Personal Choice
In most cases the participants had had a great
deal of personal choice over the turning points they
reported (Table II). In particular, turning points which
were related to standard of living, family, quest for
identity, and education involved a considerable degree of personal choice. However, changes in the educational sphere linked to nonoccupational studies,
and school changes were turning points over which
individuals had less control. Turning points related to
work, lifestyle, and social transitions; such as moves to
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Rönkä, Oravala, and Pulkkinen
another community and military service, were other
turning points including less choice. Turning points
which included no personal choice, or which had happened due to circumstances (Table II) were the illness
and deaths of close others and other unique experiences, such as the divorce of one’s parents. There
were no gender differences in the amount of personal
choice related to turning points.
The amount of personal choice correlated with
the evaluation of turning points. The more personal
choice participants considered they had had at the
time when their turning points occurred, the better
they had felt about them. This was observed in relation to almost all of the turning point categories.
The correlations between personal choice and the
positive experience of turning points varied from .37
( p = .001, N = 88; turning points relating to work) to
.56 ( p = .000, N = 43; losses).
Amount of Choice as a Moderator Between
Immediate and Later Evaluations
We conducted MANOVA with repeated
measures in order to see whether the amount of
personal choice over the turning point (plenty of
choice, some choice, no choice) would moderate
the relationship between the immediate reactions
to the turning point (very negative, negative, both
positive and negative, positive, very positive) and its
more lasting consequences (very negative, negative,
both positive and negative, positive, very positive).
The amount of choice was used as a between-group
variable, and time as a repeated measure.
The statistically significant Amount of choice ×
Time interaction, F(2, 120) = 6.30, p < .01, revealed
that immediate and long-term reactions to turning
points were different in the three categories of choice
(plenty of choice, some choice, no choice). In those
cases in which the participant judged that he or she
had had plenty of choice over the turning point, both
the immediate reactions and the more lasting impressions were positive. In cases where the participant had
only limited control over the turning point or none at
all, the immediate reactions were negative, but the
more lasting evaluation was almost as positive as was
the case with a high degree of choice.
There was a main effect for the Amount of choice,
F(2, 120) = 22.73, p < .000. As is shown in Fig. 1,
a sense of plenty of choice over the turning point
was related to positive evaluations both at the time
the turning point occurred and at present; whereas
a sense of no or limited choice was related to less
positive evaluations. The analysis also showed that
the evaluations had become more positive in the
course of time, as indicated by a main effect for Time,
F(2, 120) = 14.23, p < .000.
One-way analysis of variance and Scheffe’s test
( p < .01) revealed that the participants who considered that they had had plenty of choice over the turning point differed from those who had limited or no
choice in having more positive immediate reactions to
the turning point. But as far as the long-term evaluation was concerned, participants who had had a high
degree of choice differed only from those who had
had none; and not from those whose choice had been
limited.
Fig. 1. The amount of choice as a moderator in the positivity of the evaluation of turning points concerning intimate
relationships (N = 120).
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DISCUSSION
What brings about changes in individuals’ developmental trajectories in adulthood? The results
showed that turning points among adults in their
mid-30s were most often related to family, education, work, and social transitions. When compared to
men’s lives, women’s lives were more influenced by
the familial sphere, including not only their own experiences but also those of close others. Women also
regarded moving to another country, and travelling as
social transitions; and the illness of a close other as a
turning point in their lives more often than men did.
Opportunities or failures in work, changes in lifestyle,
for example due to a new hobby, and military service were especially important turning points in men’s
lives. Most of the turning points as reported by participants came about through actively made choices. The
more personal choice at the time of the turning point
the participants experienced, the more positively they
evaluated it at the time and also later.
In accordance with the findings of earlier studies
(Clausen, 1995; Hareven & Masaoka, 1988; Hughes
et al., 1988; Thurnher, 1983) and the assumptions
posed by traditional theories of psychosocial development (Havighurst, 1972; Levinson, 1986) most of
the turning points were normative role transitions of
early adulthood: leaving home, ending school, starting
a new job, starting or ending a relationship, becoming
a mother or father. Nonnormative events, such as the
death or illness of a close other—more common at a
later age—were seldom regarded as turning points at
age 36. In line with earlier findings (Hughes et al.,
1988; Swearingen & Cohen, 1985; Thurnher, 1983)
turning points relating to the quest for identity, such
as religious commitment; unique experiences of significant others; world events, and changes in lifestyle
were also relatively rare. Their existence, however, illustrates the point that the concept of turning point is
not synonymous with the concepts of transition or lifeevent. Unique experiences not relating to normative,
age-graded transitions or life events, such as “When
I changed from piano to guitar,” “When I started to
wear odd clothes,” or “When there was an organizational change in my work place” may become turning
points, too. On the other hand, an individual does not
regard all the life events and transitions that she/he
has actually gone through as turning points, as noted
by Oravala (1998) in her masters’thesis based on the
same data.
The results indicated that the way in which
Finnish men and women construct their life courses in
211
terms of turning points are somewhat different, and
seem to reflect gender roles. This finding is in line
with studies of other cultures (Clausen, 1995; Elnick,
Margrett, Fitzgerald, & Labouvie-Vief, 1999; Lauer
& Lauer, 1987; Oakley, 1987; Rutter, 1996). Women
are generally more influenced by parenthood and the
care of a close other, whereas lifestyle and one’s own
individual goals at work generally affect men more
than women. The fact that women in Finland work
full-time almost as often as men (Lehto, 1999) does
not eliminate gender differences in the way individuals think about their past. It seems that gender role
expectations have a differential effect on the values
and life perceptions of men and women, so that what
they regard as turning points in their lives and how
they perceive them, may be different (Caffarella &
Olson, 1993; Clausen, 1995; Oakley, 1987). Work roles
are more salient for men than for women; at least for
individuals in their mid-30s and in this cohort. Reproductive functioning and the quality of relationships
with close others seem to play an especially central
role in female’s lives. This last observation is in line
with a prior finding based on this same sample but different measurements that the quality of the partner
affected women’s lives more than men’s lives (Rönkä,
Kinnunen, & Pulkkinen, 2001).
As to the evaluation of turning points by the two
genders, the results were more complex. As compared
to men, women evaluated the experience of building
a family as more negative. A possible reason for this is
that there was more variety in the experiences relating to family formation among women; for example,
the experience of childlessness and of miscarriages.
The finding also implies the central role of reproductive functioning in women’s self-esteem. Men’s experiences as entrepreneurs were more negative than
women’s were. This may be due to the fact, that for
men, such activities constituted an important turning point, and bankruptcy was experienced as a very
painful event.
The results confirmed our hypothesis that the
amount of personal choice does matter in the evaluation of turning points. First, the majority of turning
points were branching-points of some kind or other;
that is to say, life events in which people, by their
own choice, reoriented their lives in directions serving their long-term goals (Schroots, 1988). This underlines the point that people try to direct their life
courses in directions which they have chosen (Caspi,
Bem, & Elder, 1989; Caspi & Herbener, 1990); or at
least, interpret changes made actively through personal choice as especially important (Clausen, 1995).
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Individuals of today are expected to be active agents
in their lives and to exercise control over them.
Second, in line with earlier findings it was shown that
the more personal choice people experienced at the
time the turning points occurred, the more positive
they felt at the time and also later (Brammer, 1992;
Clausen, 1991; Denne & Thompson, 1991; Stone et al.,
1988; Töres, 1992; Wheaton, 1990). This is in line with
the general notion that a feeling that one is in control
of one’s life is an important precondition for wellbeing (Grob, 2000).
The turning points perceived as most positive
were those related to success in achieving one’s own
personal goals, for example events that bettered one’s
economic situation, and to new opportunities that
opened up due to one’s work or education (Hareven
& Masaoka, 1988; Hughes et al., 1988; Stallings et al.,
1997; Thurnher, 1983). Correspondingly, the most
negative turning points were those where no opportunities were presented, and those which came about by
force of circumstances (Hughes et al., 1988; Lauer &
Lauer, 1987; Pickles & Rutter, 1991; Thurnher, 1983).
Turning points of this kind were bankruptcies, illness,
and the death of a close other.
We did not find support for our hypothesis that
judging that one had control over a particular turning point is related to positive change in the way one
sees it as time passes. What we found was, that in
cases where individuals thought they had enjoyed a
considerable degree of freedom over a turning point,
both the immediate reactions and the more lasting
consequences were positive. In cases where the individual had only limited control over the turning point
or none at all, however, the evaluations became more
positive over time. This demonstrates the point that
people have an ability to cope with hazard and unexpected life changes, and integrate them into their lives.
The ability to evaluate the consequences of negative
changes as more positive than the way they were seen
at the time of the turning point, can help to maintain psychological well-being and life-satisfaction in
different phases of life.
Caveats that have to be considered in this study
concern statistical problems. Some of the reported
turning points were mentioned so seldom that their
low frequency restricted statistical testing of, for example gender differences. Therefore we did not do
statistical testing if there were only very few mention of a particular turning point. Another point that
shoud be noted is that the information used in the
MANOVA analysis was based on people’s memories
and collected by means of a retrospective method.
Rönkä, Oravala, and Pulkkinen
This raises the possibility that the time that had
elapsed between the recalled events, and their recall
influenced the way people looked at the turning points
of their past lives, so that the original meaning these
events had had for them underwent change. For this
reason it is difficult to draw conclusions base purely
on this information.
The statistical problems (especially the one
dealing with small N’s) could be resolved either by
a larger sample of participants, or alternatively by a
more qualitative approach. We recommend the latter
alternative for two reasons. First, despite larger sample size, the small N’s problem would remain because
of the heterogenity of turning point experiences.
Second, we think that a qualitative approach would
better capture the personal significance of the turning
points; something which, as a number of researchers
(Clausen, 1995; Rutter, 1996) have emphasized, is
an essential feature of turning points. For example,
a narrative approach, the purpose of which is to
examine people’s own stories of their lives and how
the stories emerge in the social context (e.g., Gergen
& Gergen, 1993) could be valuable. Another possible
research theme which might increase our knowledge
of life trajectories would be to look for relationships
between childhood experiences and turning points.
We did this recently (Rönkä et al., 2002) and found
out that an integration of qualitative and quantitative
approaches would be a good solution in this kind
of research design (e.g., Laub & Sampson, 1998). It
was fruitful to combine subjective data concerning
turning points with more objective facts about life
course development.
Let us finally go to the question of what turning points really tell us. First, turning points—that
is to say, self-reported life events that cause lasting
change—do not tell us the objective truth about how
lives really have been shaped. Instead, they rather tell
us how lives have been experienced, what is important and meaningful (Clausen, 1995, 1998). Second,
although discontinuities (e.g., death of a close other)
may prove to be turning points in the life course, very
often an accentuated degree of continuity through
self-selected decisions may be perceived as a turning
point, too (Clausen, 1995). Paradoxically speaking,
what was thought to represent change seems rather
to represent continuity. All in all, turning points seem
to constitute part of the cumulative continuity of life
courses, because people tend to built up the circumstances that characterize their lives through their own
choices, values, behavior, and personality in ways that
make them coherent, at least to themselves.
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213
Appendix A. The Categorization of Turning Points According to Content
Categories
1. Education
2. Work
3. Family
4. Health
5. Interpersonal relationships; changes in friendships,
events related to childhood family
6. Quest for identity
7. Loss; death of a close other
8. Standard of living
9. Social transitions
10. World
11. Lifestyle
12. Other
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