- For the song by Faith No More, see Midlife Crisis. For the psychological concept, see Generativity vs. Stagnation.
Midlife crisis is a term first coined by
Elliott Jaques referring to a critical
phase in a person's life during the forties to early sixties, based on periods of transition. The period is said to vary among individuals and between men and women. Despite popular perception of this phenomenon, empirical research has failed to show that the midlife crisis is a universal experience, or even a real condition at all.