FAD3220 Chapter 18 &19 Psychosocial Development in Late Adulthood/ Dealing with death and bereavement Chapter 18: Class NotesNormative Issues and tasks - Ego integrity vs. despair o Erikson’s 8th and final psychosocial developmental stage - People in late adulthood either achieve a sense of integrity of the self by accepting the lives that they have lived, and thus accept death, or yield to the despair that their lives cannot be relived - Achieve ego integrity Personality: Study of Aging - Personality is a strong predictor of emotionality, health and well- being - Self- reported negative emotions decreased w/ age - Positive emotionality tended to remain stable until late life and then declinedonly slightly and gradually Well- being - Adults in late adulthood have fewer mental health disorders and are happier and more satisfied with life than younger adults, despite: o Losing friends and family o Not earning as much money as they did before o Not being able to do as many things as they used to Coping w/ Adaptive Defenses - Problem- focused coping: coping strategy directed toward eliminating, managing, or improving a stressful situation. (Younger adults do this) - Emotion- focused coping: coping strategy directed toward managing the emotional response to a stressful situation so as to lessen its physical or psychological impact. (older adults) Age Differences in Coping - Older adults tend to do more emotion- focused coping than younger people. o May be better able to control their emotions o With age, people develop more flexible repertoire of coping strategies Religion and Well- being- Religion comes increasingly important to people as they age o Social support o Encouragement of healthy lifestyles o Sense of control over life through prayer or meditationo Fostering of positive emotional states o Reduction of stresso Faith in God to interpret misfortune Optimal Aging - Avoidance of disease or disease- related disability - Maintenance of high physical and cognitive functioning - Sustained active engagement in social and productive areas Aging Theories- Disengagement theory: successful aging is characterized by mutual withdrawal of older person and society - Activity Theory: in order to age successfully, a person must remain as active as possible - Continuity theory: in order to age successfully, people must maintain a balance of continuity and change in both the internal and external structures of their lives. (keeping up w/ technology) Work and Retirement - Retirement has taken hold since like expectancy has increased- Compulsory retirement outlawed (can’t force someone to retire) - Retirement is only a concept in developed countries- People who work past 65 usually like their work and do not find it stressful- Older workers tend to be more productive than younger workers Life After Retirement - Family focused life-style: pattern of retirement activity that revolves around family, home, and companions - Balanced investment: pattern of retirement activity allocated among family, work, and leisure. Usually done w/ more educated people. - Serious leisure: leisure activity requiring skill, attention, and commitment. (extreme devotion to hobbies) - Volunteer work Living Arrangements - Aging in place: remaining in one’s own home w/ or w/o assistance in later life - Living alone: women are more likely to because they outlive their husbands - Living w/ adult children- Living in institutions (nursing homes) - “older adult” communities or assisted living Personal Relationships - About 1 in 5 elder adults report loneliness (partly due to decreased mobility to visit friends or get out of the house)- Older adults tend to see friends less often, but family as frequently as before.- Older adults may give less support, but receive more support from family Marriage - Many more men than women are married late in life because: o Women marry older men and outlive themo Men are more likely to remarry after a divorce or widowhood - Long- term marrieds report marriage as satisfying - Quality of marriage is important to each spouse’s well- being - Spousal caregiving and illness is common (shift in role you play as a spouse) Widowhood - Older women are more likely to be widowed b/c they outlive their husbands - Older women are less likely to marry again - Men tend to fair worse after death of spouse than women (may die soon after) Chapter 18: Book Notes *Reflect all bolded/ important information not presented in lecture - Coping: Adaptive thinking or behavior aimed at reducing or relieving stress that arises from harmful, threatening, or challenging conditions. - Cognitive- appraisal model: model of coping where people choose coping strategies consciously on the basis of the way the perceive and analyze a situation. o Includes anything a person does in trying to adapt to stress, regardless of how well it works. o Choosing the most appropriate strategy requires continuous reappraisal of the relationship between the person and the environment - Ambiguous loss: losses that are not clearly defined or does not bring closure (loss of someone who is still living due to Alzheimer’s) o Emotion- focused coping can be especially useful when dealing w/ this type of loss - Selective optimization w/ compensation (SOC): Model of successful aging that involves enhancing overall cognitive functioning by using stronger abilities to compensate for those that have weakened. o Enable people to adapt to changing balance of growth and decline throughout life Theories of Social Contact and Social Support - Social convoy theory: aging adults maintain their level of social support by identifying members of their social network that can help them and avoiding those that aren’t supportive- Socioemotional Selectivity Theory: As remaining time becomes short, older adults choose to spend time w/ people and in activities that meet immediate emotional needs. o Would be more likely to spend time with people they know well instead of trying to make new friends. Relationships in later life- Older adults are more likely to cohabitate after a previous marriage - Gay and lesbian relationships in late life tend to be strong, supportive, and diverse. Many homosexuals have children from past marriages or adopted children. - Those w/ a close circle of friends tend to be happier and healthier - Friendships tend to revolve around every day needs and tasks instead of leisure and are preferred to spending time w/ family (usually)
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