Chapter 18: Late Adulthood: Social and Personality Development

1. Chapter 18: Late Adulthood: Social and Personality Development Development Across the Lifespan

2. Personality Development and Successful Aging • Whether personality changes or stays stable in late adulthood depends on which facets of personality are considered. • According to Costa and McCrae, basic personality traits remain stable. • agreeableness • satisfaction • intellect • extroversion • energy

3. Some changes in personality occur as a result of new challenges that appear in later adulthood.  Erikson labeled the last stage of personality development EGO-INTEGRITY-VERSUS-DESPAIR, which is characterized by a process of looking back over one's life, evaluating it, and coming to terms with it.

4. Erikson, continued • Integrity comes when people feel they have realized and fulfilled the possibilities that have come their way. • Despair occurs when people feel dissatisfied with their life, and experience gloom, unhappiness, depression, anger, or the feeling that they have failed

5. changes in personality: peck’s developmental tasks • Robert Peck suggests that personality development in elderly people is occupied by three major developmental tasks or challenges. • The first is REDEFINITION OF SELF VERSUS PREOCCUPATION WITH WORK-ROLE,which means that those in old age must redefine themselves in ways that do not relate to their work-roles or occupations.

6. (peck’s developmental tasks, continued) • The second major task is BODY TRANSCENDENCE VERSUS BODY PREOCCUPATION,a period in which people must learn to cope with and move beyond changes in physical capabilities as a result of aging. • The third developmental task is EGO TRANSCENDENCE VERSUS EGO PREOCCUPATIONin which elderly people must come to grips with their coming death.

7. Changes in personality: Levinson’s views on the Winter of Life • According to Daniel Levinson, people enter late adulthood after passing through a transition stage that typically occurs about age 60 to 65. • During this transition time people begin to view themselves as entering late adulthood. • People struggle with being "old", and often must face illness and death of one's friends and loved ones

8. ( Levinson’s views on the winter of life, continued) • People must struggle with the loss of power, respect, and authority. • People can serve as resources for younger people and be in a position to give advice. • Old age brings freedom to do things for fun and entertainment

9. Coping with Aging: Bernice Neugarten’s Study • Rather than focusing on commonalities of aging, this classic study focused on the different ways that people cope with aging. • Four different personality types among those in their 70’s • Disintegrated & disorganized • Passive-dependent personalities • Defended personalities • Integrated personalities

10. Disintegrated & disorganized • Unable to accept aging • Experience despair as they age • Often end up in nursing homes, or are hospitalized • Passive-dependent personalities • Lead lives filled with fear • Illness • Future • Inability to cope • May seek out hope, even when not needed

11. Defended personalities • Seek to ward off aging • May try to act young • Exercise vigorously • Youthful activities • Unrealistic expectations may lead to disappointment • Integrated personalities • Most successful • Cope comfortably with aging • Accept becoming older & maintain self dignity ~Most people studied fell into the final category

12. Erikson, Peck, Levinson & Neugarten all suggest that a major characteristic of personality development in old age is looking backward, called a LIFE REVIEW,where people examine and evaluate their lives.

13. Life Review & Reminiscence: The Common Theme of Personality Development • According to Robert Butler, the life review is triggered by the increasing awareness that one will die. • There are benefits to a life review. • a better understanding of one's life • resolution of lingering problems • a sense of sharing and mutuality with others like them • may improve memory

14. A life review is not always positive. • People may become obsessed with the past. • This may cause psychological dysfunction • Overall, a life review and reminiscence can play an important role in the ongoing lives of the elderly • Continuity between past & present • Increases awareness of the contemporary world • New insights (Overall personality growth & development!)

15. Age Stratification Approaches to Late Adulthood • Age stratification theories suggest that economic resources, power & privilege are distributed unequally among people at different stages of the life course, impacting development. • Power declines among elderly in industrialized nations lead to more distance between this group and young adults ~These theories help explain why aging is viewed more positively in less industrialized societies

16. Culture Shapes the Way We Treat People in Adulthood • Cultures that revere old age have several things in common. • They are homogeneous in socioeconomic terms and the elderly control the finances. • Older adults in these cultures continue to engage in activities that are valued by society. • These cultures tend to be organized around extended families.

17. Cultural differences in the way the elderly are treated are often exaggerated • The Eskimos do not leave their elderly to die on ice floes. • The Chinese revere old age but there is great individual variation. ~ Important to avoid broad global statements about how older adults are treated in a given society!

18. Does Age Bring Wisdom? • Wisdom: expert knowledge in the practical aspects of life. • This concept has received little attention from gerontologists and other researchers • Developmentalists disagree on whether we should expect a relationship between wisdom and aging. • Is wisdom a trait that declines with age? • Does wisdom reflect an accumulation of knowledge, experience, and contemplation?

19. Another challenge: differentiating wisdom from intelligence • Timing? • Intelligence • Related to the here-and-now • Logical & systematic thinking • Wisdom • Timeless quality • Understanding of human behavior • ~Psychologist Robert Sternberg: Intelligence permits people to invent the atom bomb, wisdom prevents them from using it

20. Successful Aging: What is the Secret? • No proven way to age successfully • How people age depends on personality factors and personal circumstances • 2 major approaches provide alternate explanations • Disengagement theory • Activity theory

21. Disengagement Theory: Gradual Retreat • According to DISENGAGEMENT THEORY,the period in late adulthood that marks a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels; people withdraw from the world and the world compels the elderly to withdraw (e.g., retirement). • The theory suggests that withdrawal is a mutual process • norms and societal expectations • allows more reflection and freedom

22. Disengagement Theory, continued • People can become more reflective about their lives. • People can become less constrained by social roles. • People become more discerning about relationships, which can help them adjust to increasing frequency of serious illness and death among their peers. • Disengagement is not an automatic, universal process for all people in late adulthood.

23. Activity Theory: Continued Involvement • According to ACTIVITY THEORY, successful aging occurs when people maintain the interests, activities, and social interactions with which they were involved during middle age. • Happiness and satisfaction with life are assumed to spring from a high level of involvement with the world.

24. Activity Theory, continued • When it is no longer possible to work, successful aging according to activity theory suggests that replacement activities be found. • Being involved in any activity just to remain active may not always contribute to happiness and satisfaction. • Some people are happier when they can slow down and only do those things that bring them the greatest satisfaction.

25. Neither theory provides a complete picture of aging • Which theory best explains successful aging may depend on one's behavior prior to late adulthood. • Those active in youth better off with activity • Those that were uninvolved/socially independent may be more satisfied with disengagement

26. A General Model of Successful Aging… • Good physical and mental health are important in determining an elderly person's sense of well-being. • Financial security and a sense of autonomy and independence also give one's later life a significant advantage. • A positive outlook on life helps people view their old age more favorably.

27. the selective optimization model of successful aging • Developmental psychologists Baltes and Baltes focus on the selective optimization model • Suggests that older people overcome changes and losses in old age according to the principle of SELECTIVE OPTIMIZATION,where people concentrate on particular skill areas to compensate for losses in other areas.

28. Selective Optimization with Compensation According to this model, successful aging occurs when an older adult focuses on his or her most important areas of functioning & compensates for losses in other areas.

29. Daily Life in Late Adulthood: Living arrangements • Contrary to the stereotype, only 5 % of elderly people end their lives in a nursing home. • 2/3 of people over the age of 65 live with other members of the family. • Most live with their spouse. • The adjustment to living with children can be difficult. • African-Americans are more likely to live in multigenerational families than Whites.

30. (Living arrangements in late adulthood, continued) • 10 % live in a CONTINUING-CARE community, which typically offers an environment in which all the residents are of retirement age or older and need various levels of care. • Several types of nursing homes exist.  ADULT DAY-CARE FACILITIESare where elderly individuals receive care only during the day, but spend nights and weekends in their own homes.

31. (Living arrangements in late adulthood, continued) • SKILLED-NURSING FACILITIESprovide full-time nursing care for people who have chronic illnesses or who are recovering from a temporary medical condition. • Only 1 % of those aged 64 to 74 are in nursing homes. • 25 percent of those over 85 are in nursing homes.

32.  Fears of nursing homes can lead to INSTITUTIONALISM, a psychological state in which people develop apathy, indifference, and a lack of caring about themselves. • Often brought about by a sense of learned hopelessness, the belief that one has no control over one's environment. • Langer and Janis found that when given simple choices over their lives, only 15 % of the choice groups died within 18 months, compared to 30 % of the comparison group.

33. Financial issues in late adulthood • People who were well-off in young adulthood remain so in late adulthood; those who were poor remain poor in late adulthood. • 12 % of the elderly over age 65 live below the poverty line. • Women are twice as likely to live in poverty than men. • 7 % of White people live below the poverty line.

34. (Financial issues in late adulthood, continued) • 18 % of Hispanics live below the poverty line. • 25 % of African-Americans live below the poverty line. • 82 % of African-American women are "poor" or "near-poor". The elderly must often live on a fixed income. • social security • pensions • savings

35.  The elderly face rising health costs. • The average older person spends 20 % of his or her income on health care costs. • Nursing homes can cost $30,000 to $40,000 a year

36. Work and retirement in late adulthood • When to retire is a major decision faced by the majority of people in late adulthood. • The typical retirement age is moving downward to age 60. • Social security and pensions allow people to retire earlier. • A disincentive is built into Social Security by having workers taxed at higher rates on both social security and earnings.

37. Work and retirement in late adulthood, continued • Many people continue to work full- or part-time for some part of late adulthood. • Mandatory retirement is illegal (since the 1970s) with the exception of certain public safety jobs such as police, firefighters, prison guards, and pilots.

38. The retirement decision is based on a number of factors. • Workers may be burned out after working all their lives. • Jobs can be frustrating and tension-filled. • Health may decline. • Incentives are offered by their company to retire early. • Desire to travel and see more of family

39. According to Atchley, people pass through stages in the process of retirement. • At first there is a honeymoon period, in which former workers engage in a variety of activities, such as travel, that were previously hindered by full-time work. • Disenchantment may occur when retirees conclude that retirement is not all they thought it would be. • Reorientation is the stage where retirees reconsider their options and become engaged in new, more fulfilling activities

40. Atchley, stages in the process of retirement continued • A retirement routine stage occurs when retirees come to grips with the realities of retirement and feel fulfilled in this new phase of life. • The final stage is the process of termination where the retiree either goes back to work or health deteriorates so badly that the person can no longer function independently. • Not everyone passes through each stage and the sequence is not universal (table in text)

41. Gerontologists suggest several factors related to a successful retirement • Plan ahead financially. • Consider tapering off from work gradually. • Explore your interests before you retire. • Plan to volunteer your time.

42. Relationships: Old and New • Marriage in the later years • The proportion of men who are married over the age of 65 is far greater than that of women. • 70 % of women outlive their husbands. • The marriage gradient makes remarriage easier for elderly men than for women. • The vast majority of those still married report they are satisfied with their spouse.

43. Living Patterns of Older Americans Think about what these patterns might suggest about the relative health & adjustment of men & women.

44. (Marriage in the later years, continued) • For some, the stress of retirement or old age changes the relationship • 2 % of divorces in the U. S. involve women over 60 • Reasons for divorce at such a late stage are varied. Women initiate it because: • Husband may be abusive or alcoholic. • The husband may have found a younger woman. • Men in retirement may suffer psychological turmoil

45. (Marriage in the later years, continued) • Divorce is harder on women than men. • Happiness and quality of life for women often plummets since marriage may have been central to their identity • 5 % of the elderly never married and late adulthood brings fewer changes to their lives. • Report feeling less lonely than most people of the same age • Greater sense of independence

46. The Lasting Influence of Childhood: Evidence from the Terman Study • The Terman study of over 1,500 children of high intelligence began in the 1920s (“termites”) • Still ongoing with subjects now in their 80s being tested every 5 years. • Longest-running longitudinal study in the field of psychology • Recent analyses have examined the impact that several types of psychological stresses have had on participants current lives—and deaths

47. Terman study, continued • Subjects whose parents divorced when they were children faced a 1/3 greater risk of an earlier death compared to those whose parents remained married until the children were at least 21 • There was greater stigma attached to divorce then. • Children of divorced parents had greater marital instability themselves.

48. Terman study, continued • Those who were prudent, truthful, and free from vanity had a 30% lower chance of dying in a particular year perhaps due to a greater adherence to health habits. • Childhood cheerfulness was related to a shorter life perhaps because of carelessness and a carefree attitude about health habits. • Earlier death is related to occupational choice: Men & women with more stereotypically male jobs showed higher mortality rates!

49. Dealing with retirement: Too much togetherness?  For many couples, retirement means that relationships have to be refashioned. • Couples spend more time together. • Provides an opportunity for sharing household chores. • Men become more affiliative and less competitive and women become more assertive and autonomous.

50. Caring for an Aging Spouse • Shifts in health mean that in late adulthood men and women may have to care for an ill spouse. • May provide closeness and a sense of fulfillment. • The caregiver may not be in good health either. • In most cases, the caregiver is the wife.