CHAPTER 14

NOTES AND TEST

Social Aspects of Later Life

Theories of Psychosocial Aging

1.  Continuity theory

a.      Continuity theory suggests that older individuals respond to daily life the same way they responded in the past. An important aspect to adapting to later life is maintaining internal and external continuity

2.  Competence and environmental press

a.      Competence-environmental press theory suggests, that individuals optimal adaptation happens when there is balance between their ability to cope and the level of environmental demands that are placed on them

b.     The behavior becomes maladaptive, when the individual does not achieve balance

c.     A number of studies the applicability of this theory to a variety of real world situations

Personality development in later life

1.  Integrity versus despair

a.      According to Erikson older individuals as they review their life struggle with integrity versus despair

b.     Integrity is accepting one’s life for what it is, while despair is bitterness at one’s past

c.     Individuals who reach integrity are self-affirming and self-accepting, and judge their lives to have been worthwhile and good

Well-being and possible selves

a.      Issues that influence possible selves differ with age

b.     Ryff suggested six aspects to reaching well-being

1        self acceptance

2        positive relations to others

3.     autonomy

4.     environmental mastery

5.     purpose in life

6.     personal growth

c.     Older adults usually view their past more positively and see themselves as closer to their ideals selves when compared with younger or middle-aged adults

Religiocity and spiritual support

a.      Older adults use religion more often than any other strategy to help them cope with life problems

b.     Higher levels of well-being have been reported by those who rely on spiritual support

c.     Research has found that this is especially true for African American women, who are more active in their church and attend services more often

Living in retirement

1.  What does being retired mean?

a.      Retirement is the process by which individuals withdraw from full-time employment

b.     There is not single definition of retirement across all ethnic groups.  Self-definition depends on a number of factors, including the individual’s eligibility for certain programs

Reasons individuals retire

a.      Usually individuals retire because they choose to.  Some people are forced to retire while others are forced to retire because of serious heath problems such as cardiovascular disease or cancer

b.     There are also gender and ethnic differences in reasons why individuals retire and how they refer to themselves after retirement

c.     The majority of research results are based on European American men from traditional marriages

Adjustment to retirement

a.      Retirement is an important life transition.  Most researchers view retirement as a process rather than a series of stages

b.     The majority of individuals report that are satisfied with retirement

c.     In the years immediately following retirement most individuals maintain their health, friendship networks, and activity levels

d.     For men, personal life priorities are key factors, but very little is known about predictors of women’s retirement satisfaction

e.      A large number of retired individuals remain active volunteering and helping others

Interpersonal ties

a.      Retirement can disrupt long-held behavior patterns in marriages

b.     The stress of retirement can be lessened by maintaining social relationships

c.     Readjusting to staying home and not going to work is difficult for men who are in traditional marriages

d.     Sometimes marriages are disrupted but in general married men reported being happier in retirement than non-married men

e.      Participation of individuals in community organizations helps raise their satisfaction level

f.       Volunteer work has been shown to fill the void of quitting work

g.     Improved attitudes toward older individuals in society also helps

Friendship and family in later life

1.  Friends and sibling

a.      Quality friendships are important because they act as a buffer against the stress that is part of old age.  The patterns of friendship are similar to those in younger adults with women having more intimate friendships.  Research has found that in general older individuals have fewer relationships

b.     Relations with siblings are and especially important aspect of friendship.  Researchers have identified five types of sibling relationships:

1.     intimate

2.     congenial

3.     loyal

4.     apathetic

5.     hostile

c.     The most common are loyal and congenital. 

d.     The ties between sisters are the strongest

2.Marriage

a.      For the majority of marriages long-term ones tend to be happy until one spouse develops serious health problems.  According to research older married couples show a lower potential for marital conflict and greater potential for pleasure.  In general older married couples are more alike than younger married couples

3.  Caring for a partner

a.      Caring for a spouse places considerable strain on the relationship.  Marital satisfaction has proven to be a strong predictor of perceived stress in spousal caregivers

b.     Although it is difficult initially, the majority of spousal caregivers are able to provide adequate care

c.     The perception of competence among spousal caregivers at the beginning of caregiving may be especially important

4.  Widohood

a.      Widohood is one of the most difficult transitions for most individuals.  The feelings of loneliness that follow the death of a partner are hard to cope with, especially during the first few months

b.     After the death of a spouse men usually have problems in social relationships and in household tasks; while women tend to have more severe financial problems

c.     A number of widowed individuals remarry, in order to solve loneliness and financial problems

5.  Great-grandparenhood

a.      For many older adults becoming a great-grandparent is an important source of personal satisfaction

b.     Great-grandparents as a group are more similar to each other than grandparents are

c.     Great-grandparenhood has three important aspects:

1.     a sense of personal and family renewal

2.     a new diversion in life

3.     a major life milestone

Social issues and aging

1.  Frail older adults

a.      The number of frail older adults is growing.

1.     Fraility is defined in terms of impairment in activities of daily living such as basic self-care skills, and instrumental activities of daily living such as actions that require intellectual competence or planning

b.     As many as half of the women that live past the age of 85, may require assistance with activities of daily living or with instrumental activities of daily living. Environments that are supportive are useful in optimizing competence and environmental press

2.  Living in nursing homes

a.      Two levels of care are provided in nursing homes:

1.     intermediate care

2.     skilled nursing care

b.     The majority of residents in nursing homes are European American women who are in poor health

c.     Ethnic minority women have a lower rate of placement in nursing homes

d.     An important component of good nursing care is maintaining a resident’s sense of control.  Individuals who reside in nursing homes should be treated with respect and dignity

3.  Elder abuse and neglect

a.      An increasing problem for individuals residing both in the community and nursing homes is abuse and neglect

b.     Abuse and neglect are difficult to define with any precision.  Categories used include: physical; psychological/emotional; sexual; material or financial; and the violation of rights

c.     The majority of perpetrators are adult children

e.      It is unclear whether older adult victims are dependent on their caregivers or whether the caregivers are dependent on the victim

4.  Public policy issues and older adults

a.      Starting in the 1970’s, older adults have been seen as the source of the U.S.’s fiscal problems.  As a result changes have been made in several programs and policies

b.     Today adults over the age of 65 are more politically active when compared to any other age group

c.     The primary source of financial support for retired U.S. citizens is social security.  By the time the Baby Boom generation retires there will be twice as many individual’s collecting Social Security as workers paying into the system

d.     A large number of individuals over the age of 65 depend on Medicare to cover their medical costs.  As the Baby Boom generation is starting to age, Medicare faces problems similar to those facing Social Security