According to Erik Erikson, middle adulthood is either spent making a personal contribution to family, community, or work, or it is spent focusing on the triviality of one's own activity making only limited contributions to the world. Erikson refers to this stage of development as

You are the on-duty desk sergeant at the local police station. a man walks in and says, "i killed someone and want to confess." you grab your digital voice recorder and direct the man to a chair. he sits down and tells the tale of what turns out to be a first-degree murder. you record every word, including the numerous instances in which you said, "uh- huh" and "i see." satisfied that the subject did, indeed, commit a murder, you place him under arrest. the confession is: