Supplemental info for final
Sandwich generation
Late life suicide
Personality change in adulthood
Emotional and social development in late adulthood (death)
Introduction
A mix of gains and losses
Time of pleasure, children grown, life's work nearly done, lighter responsibilities
Concerns about physical decline, loneliness, imminent death
Reap great benefits from family, friendship and leisure pursuits
Erikson’s theory
Ego Integrity vs Despair
Ego integrity
Feel whole, complete, satisfied with achievements
View life in context of all humanity
Associated with favourable psychological well-being
Despair
Feel many decisions were wrong, yet time is now too short
Bitter, unaccepting of death
Expressed as anger, contempt for others
Robert Peck: tasks of ego integrity
Ego integrity requires moving beyond life’s work, own bodies and separate identities
Ego differentiation:
Find other ways (than career) to affirm self-worth through family, friendship, community life
Body transcendence
Emphasize cognitive, emotional, social powers
Ego transcendence:
Face reality of death constructively
Efforts to make life more secure, meaningful for younger generations
Social Theories of aging
Continuity theory
Strive to preserve a consistent sense of self by maintaining familiar roles, routines and relationships, even as they adapt to age-related changes
Adapt in ways consistent with your beliefs, personal values, etc
Examples
A retired bookstore manager builds a children’s library for a local community center- still engaging in literacy and child-focused work, but in a new way
A lifelong runner may switch to indoor walking to stay active while accommodating physical limitations
Older adults often maintain long-term friendships and family bonds, even after retirement or relocation, reinforcing stability and emotional support
Socioemotional selectivity theory
Goals are set in time based contexts
Younger adults view time as expansive while older adults view time as limited
Older adults strive to maximize their current emotional well-being and avoid wasting time on unpleasant or unfulfilling pursuits
Social networks become more selective with age, extending lifelong selection processes
Limited time left in life, would rather spend it with people you enjoy and make you happy
Interacting mostly with close relatives and friends increases the chances of having more pleasant relationships and interactions
Have smaller social networks but are happier with their relationships
Generalizes to other areas of life outside of relationships as well
Age- related changes in number of social partners varying in closeness
The positivity effect
Attend to and better recall emotionally positive over negative information
Contributes to resilience
Greater competence at emotional self-regulation
Shortened time perspective induces focus on meaningful experiences
High levels of emotional stability are the norm
Reminiscence and life review
Reminiscence: telling stories about the past and reporting thoughts and feelings that arise
Life Review: forms of reminiscence
Goal: greater self-understanding and integrating positive and negative memories
Counselor-led life review interventions can lead to
Increased self-esteem, sense of purpose
Reduced depression
Can be helpful for ople with dementia
Not essential for adjustment
Well-adjusted older-adults don’t necessarily spend more time reminiscing about or evaluating their past
They are present and future oriented like other age groups
Often happens for all ages during life transitions
Self-concept and personality in late adulthood
Secure, multifaceted self-concept:
Supported by a lifetime of self-knowledge
Autobiographical selves emphasize coherence, consistency
Allows for self-acceptance
Continued pursuit of possible selves
Spirituality and religiosity in late adulthood
Religion very important to most americans age 65+
Supports quest for meaning
Spirituality and faith may move away from prescribed beliefs toward a more reflective approach
Religious involvement associated with
Better physical, psychological well-being
Closeness to family and friends
Greater generativity
Social support
Influences on psychological well-being
Control vs dependency
Physical health
Negative life changes
Control vs dependency
Reinforcing dependent behavior at expense of independent behavior:
Dependency-support script: attend immediately to dependent behaviors
Independence-ignore script: ignore independent behaviors
Person-environment fit: a match between person’s abilities and demands of living environments
Sustain optimism, self-efficacy
Promotes adaptive behavior, psychological well-being
Retirement
Retirement age has risen in western nations
Majority of baby boomers want to work longer
Contemporary retirement process highly variable
Not a single event
Decision to retire
Adequate retirement benefits
Compelling leisure interests
Low work commitment
Declining health
Spouse retiring
Routine, boring job
Decisions to postpone retirement, continue working
Limited or no retirement benefits
Few leisure interests
High work commitment
Good health
Spouse working
Flexible work schedule
Pleasant, stimulating work environment
Adjusting to retirement
Involves giving up roles vital to identity, self esteem
10-30% report adjustment difficulties
A time of opportunity and personal growth
Factors
Workplace: financial worries, pressures, fulfillment
Sense of personal control
Social support
Spouse, marital happiness
Leisure and volunteer activities
Interested usually continue from earlier in life- continuity is important
Never-married older adults without children
About 5% of older americans
Most develop alternative meaningful relationships
Friendships in late adulthood
Strongly predict life satisfaction
Elder maltreatment
Forms of maltreatment
Physical abuse
Physical neglect
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Financial abuse
Usually a trusted family member or caregiver
Risk factors for elder maltreatment
Dependency of victim
Older people who are more impaired and/ or have traits that make them more vulnerable
(emotional volatility, passivity)
Dependency of perpetrator
Usually mutually dependent
Adult-child needs money, housing or emotional support
Parents need assistance
Can lead to exploitive behavior
Psychological disturbance and other traits of perpetrators (eg social isolation, substance abuse, opportunistic professionals)
Lashing out when caregiving is highly demanding or behavior of older adults is hard to manage
History of family violence
Institutional conditions: more common in low quality nursing homes