Chapter 20

1. Chapter 20 Socioemotional Development in Late Adulthood

2. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

3. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

4. Erikson’s Theory • Integrity Versus Despair • Robert Peck’s Reworking of Erikson’s Final Stage • Life Review Black Hawk College Chapter 20

5. Integrity Versus Despair • Erikson’s eighth and final stage of development, experienced during late adulthood. • Involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one’s life has not been well spent. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

6. Integrity Versus Despair • If the older adult has developed a positive outlook in each of the preceding periods, then retrospective glances and reminiscence will reveal a picture of a life well spent (integrity). • Negative reflections of the past lead to despair. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

7. Robert Peck’s Reworking of Erikson’s Final Stage • Differentiation Versus Role Preoccupation • Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation • Ego Transcendence Versus Ego Preoccupation Black Hawk College Chapter 20

8. Differentiation Versus Role Preoccupation • Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must redefine their worth in terms of something other than work roles. • Peck believes older adults need to pursue a set of valued activities so that time previously spent in an occupation and with children can be filled. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

9. Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation • Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must cope with declining physical well-being. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

10. Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation • For those whose identity has revolved around their physical well-being, the decrease in health and deterioration of physical capabilities may present a severe threat to identity and feelings of life satisfaction. • Many older adults who experience illnesses enjoy life through human relationships. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

11. Ego Transcendence Versus Ego Preoccupation • Peck’s developmental task in which older adults must recognize that while death is inevitable and probably not too far away, they feel at ease with themselves by realizing that they have contributed to the future through the competent rearing of their children or through their vocation and ideas. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

12. Life Review • Involves looking back at one’s life experiences, evaluating, interpreting, and often reinterpreting them. • Robert Butler believes the life review is set in motion by looking forward to death. • Life reviews can include sociocultural issues, interpersonal and relationship dimensions, and personal dimensions. • Hidden themes of great meaning to the individual may emerge, changing the nature of the person’s sense of self. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

13. Disengagement Theory • States that to cope effectively older adults should gradually withdraw from society. • Older adults develop increasing self preoccupation, lessen emotional ties with others, and show decreasing interest in society’s affairs. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

14. Disengagement Theory • By following these strategies of disengagement, it was believed that older adults would enjoy enhanced life satisfaction. • These were the prevailing beliefs about older adults early in the 20th century. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

15. Activity Theory • States that the more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they will be satisfied with their lives. • Researchers have found strong support for activity theory, as when older adults are active, energetic, and productive, they age more successfully and are happier. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

16. Socioemotional Selectivity Theory • States that older adults become more selective about their social networks. • Because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction, older adults often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships. • Older adults systematically hone their social networks so that available social partners satisfy their emotional needs. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

17. Goals of Older Adults • Socioemotional selectivity theory states that the two classes of goals people have are: • knowledge-related. • emotional. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

18. Goals of Older Adults • The theory emphasizes that the trajectory of motivation for knowledge-related goals starts relatively high in the early years of life, and declines beginning in middle and late adulthood. • The emotion trajectory is high during infancy and early childhood, declines from middle childhood through early adulthood, and increases in middle and late adulthood. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

19. Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory • Paul Baltes’ theory states that successful aging is linked with three main factors: selection, optimization, and compensation. • The process of selective optimization with compensation is likely to be effective whenever loss is prominent in a person’s life. • Because of individual variations in the nature of losses, the specific form of selection, optimization, and compensation will likely vary. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

20. Selection, Optimization, and Compensation • Selection is based on the concept that older adults have a reduced capacity and loss of functioning, which require a reduction in performance in most life domains. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

21. Selection, Optimization, and Compensation • Optimization suggests that it is possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and the use of new technologies. • Compensation becomes relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the older adult’s performance potential. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

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23. Stereotyping Older Adults • Ageism is prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults. • Older adults may be perceived as incapable of thinking clearly, learning new things, enjoying sex, contributing to the community, and holding responsible jobs. • Many groups now exist to lobby and fight for issues related to the rights of the elderly. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

24. Seven Stereotypes of Older Adults • Perfect grandmother • Golden ager • John Wayne conservative • Severely impaired • Shrew/Curmudgeon • Despondent • Recluse Black Hawk College Chapter 20

25. Policy Issues in an Aging Society • The Status of the Economy • The Provision of Health Care • Eldercare • Generational Inequity Black Hawk College Chapter 20

26. The Status of the Economy • There exists the concern that our economy cannot bear the burden of so many older persons, who by reason of their age are consumers rather than producers. • Not all persons 65 and over are nonworkers and not all persons 18-64 are workers. • Considerably more individuals in the 55-64 age group are in the workforce than a decade ago. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

27. The Provision of Health Care • Escalating health-care costs are currently causing considerable concern. • One factor that contributes to the surge in health costs is the increasing number of older adults. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

28. The Provision of Health Care • Approximately one-third of the total health bill of the U.S. is for the care of adults 65 and over. • The U.S. is the only industrialized nation currently without a national health-care system. • While many of the health problems of the elderly are chronic, the medical system is based on a “cure” rather than a “care” model. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

29. Eldercare • The physical and emotional caretaking of older members of the family, whether that care is day-to-day physical assistance or responsibility for arranging and overseeing such care. • An important issue is how it can best be provided. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

30. Eldercare • An added problem is many caregivers are in their sixties and many are ill themselves. • Some gerontologists advocate that the government should provide financial support to help care for aging individuals. • This support has been slow to develop, however. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

31. Generational Inequity • States that an aging society is being unfair to its younger members because older adults pile up advantages by receiving an inequitably large allocation of resources. • It raises questions about whether the young should be required to pay for the old. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

32. Generational Inequity • Some authors believe this inequity produces intergenerational conflict and divisiveness in society at large. • Another issue is whether or not the “advantaged” old population is using up resources that should go to disadvantaged children. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

33. Income • Since the early 1980s, 10-12% of the elderly population lives in poverty. • This percentage increases when focusing on women only and ethnic minorities, particularly those who are women, with 50-60% poverty. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

34. Income • The oldest old are the age subgroup most likely to live in poverty. • The average income of retired Americans is only about a half of what they earned when they were fully employed. • Social Security is the largest contributor to income. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

35. Living Arrangements • Nearly 95% of older adults live in the community. • Almost 66% live with family members. • Almost 33% live alone. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

36. Living Arrangements • The quality of housing for the elderly is far too often inadequate. • The older adults become, the more likely they are to live in an institution. • The majority of the elderly in institutions are widows, and they are increasing in number. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

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38. The Aging Couple • Individuals who are married in late adulthood are happier than those who are single. • Marital satisfaction is greater for women than men. • A number of older adults date. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

39. The Aging Couple • Older adults enjoy touching and caressing as part of their sexual relationships. • When older adults are healthy, they still engage in sexual activities. • Companionship often becomes more important. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

40. Grandparenting • Satisfaction with Grandparenting • Grandparenting Roles • Grandparenting Styles • The Changing Profile of Grandparents Black Hawk College Chapter 20

41. Satisfaction with Grandparenting • A majority of grandparents say grandparenting is easier than parenting. • In one study, middle-aged grandparents were more willing to give advice and to assume responsibility for watching and disciplining grandchildren than were older grandparents. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

42. Satisfaction with Grandparenting • Frequent contact with grandchildren has predicted high levels of satisfaction in grandparenting for both grandmothers and grandfathers. • Opportunities to observe their grandchildren’s development and share in their activities were described as the best features of grandparenting. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

43. Grandparenting Roles • Grandparenting can be a source of biological reward and continuity. • Grandparenting can be a source of emotional self-fulfillment, generating feelings of companionship and satisfaction that may have been missing in earlier adult-child relationships. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

44. Grandparenting Roles • Grandparenting is not as important to some, who experience it as a remote role. • The grandparent role may have different functions in different families, ethnic groups, and cultures, and in different situations. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

45. Grandparenting Styles • Formal style - perform in what is considered to be a proper and prescribed role. • They show a strong interest in their grandchildren, but leave the parenting to the parents. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

46. Grandparenting Styles • Fun-seeking - informal and playful. • Grandchildren are a source of leisure activity and they emphasize mutual satisfaction. • Distant figure - benevolent, but interaction occurs on an infrequent basis. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

47. The Changing Profile of Grandparents • Climbing divorce rates, teen pregnancies, and drug use are the main reasons that grandparents are now being thrust back into the “parenting” role. • In 1997, census data showed that 3.9 million grandchildren lived with their grandparents. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

48. The Changing Profile of Grandparents • Grandparents who take in grandchildren are in better health, are better educated, are more likely to be working outside the home, and are younger than grandparents who move in with their children. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

49. Friendship • People choose close friends over new friends as they grow older. • As long as they have several close people in their network, they seem content. Black Hawk College Chapter 20

50. Friendship • A recent study revealed that older men declined in number of new friends, in their desire for close friendships, and in involvement beyond family activities; older women did not. • Friendships with unrelated adults may help to replace the warmth, companionship, and nurturance that used to come from families. Black Hawk College Chapter 20