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The relative importance of personal beliefs, meta-stereotypes and societal stereotypes of age for the wellbeing of older people
- Authors:
- FASEL Nicole, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 41(12), 2021, pp.2768-2791.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Negative images of old age can harm older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning and health. Yet, older people may be confronted with age stereotypes that are inconsistent with their own personal beliefs. This study examines the implications for older people's wellbeing of three distinct elements of age stereotypes: their personal beliefs about their age group, their perception about how others generally perceive older people (i.e. their meta-stereotypes) and the societal age stereotypes that are empirically widely shared in society. Using measures from the Stereotype Content Model and survey data of older people from the United Kingdom (UK) (Study 1, N = 171), this study found only partial overlap between older people's personal beliefs and their meta-stereotypes. Personal beliefs were unrelated to wellbeing, but positive meta-stereotypes of older people's competence were linked to higher wellbeing. These findings were largely replicated with a sample of baby-boomers from Switzerland (Study 2, N = 400) controlling for socio-demographics. Study 3 used representative survey data (N = 10,803) across 29 European countries, to test and confirm that the link between positive competence meta-stereotypes and wellbeing can be generalised to different cultures, and that positive warmth meta-stereotypes were an additional predictor. At the country level, societal age stereotypes about competence were positively related to the wellbeing of older people, but only in countries that provide greater opportunities for competence attainment. (Edited publisher abstract)
The effects of personality and aging attitudes on well-being in different life domains
- Authors:
- PARK Jeongsoo, HESS Thomas M.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 24(12), 2020, pp.2063-2072.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Personality plays a major role in determining the way people adjust to life experiences, ultimately affecting life satisfaction. Aging attitudes also impact well-being, but there is little research on whether these personality and attitudinal effects reflect the same mechanism. The purpose of this study was to examine whether aging attitudes mediate the relationship between personality and well-being across seven different domains of everyday functioning, and whether this effect depends on age. Methods: Data from 563 adults ranging in age from 30 to 89 were used. Sociodemographic information as well as the Big Five Inventory, aging attitudes, and well-being (i.e. current self-views and life satisfaction) in seven different life domains was assessed. Results: The mediating effect of aging attitudes in the relationship between personality and well-being was strong for neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness and varied across domains. Significant mediation effects were limited for openness and extraversion. Significant moderated mediations were rather limited but the effects were stronger in later life. Discussion: These results suggest that personality influences aging attitudes, which in turn affect well-being. Further, our results indicate that such relationships are context-specific, suggesting that the global assessments of attitudes and well-being may not fully characterize significant aging outcomes. (Edited publisher abstract)
Risk time framing for wellbeing in older people: a multi-national appreciative inquiry
- Authors:
- CLARKE Charlotte Laura, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health Training Education and Practice, 13(1), 2018, pp.44-53.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of older people and their sense of developing wellbeing, including consideration of the strategies they employ to respond to perceived risk. Design/methodology/approach: An Appreciative Inquiry study was used, which collected data with 58 participants in focus group and individual interviews. Interviews focused on ways in which older people in South Africa, Australia, Germany and the UK understand and seek to maintain wellbeing. Findings: The changing time horizons of older people lead to perceptions of risk and concerns that embrace societal as well as individual concerns. Often, this leads to a sense of societal responsibility and desire for social change, which is frustrated by a perceived exclusion from participation in society. Social implications: In mental health practice and education, it is imperative to embrace the shift from ageist concerns (with later life viewed as risky and tragic in itself) towards a greater sensitivity for older people’s resilience, the strategies they deploy to maintain this, and their desire for more control and respect for their potential to contribute to society. Originality/value: Variation in time horizons leads to changes in temporal accounting, which may be under-utilised by society. Consequently, societies may not recognise and support the resilience of older people to the detriment of older people as individuals and to the wider society. (Publisher abstract)
Let me grow old and senile in peace: Norwegian newspaper accounts of voice and agency with dementia
- Author:
- SIINER Maarja
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 39(5), 2019, pp.977-997.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study analyses the remaking of dementia as a social and cultural phenomenon in the public media discourse in a welfare state Norway. A content analysis was carried out of articles on dementia published in Norwegian paper media from 1995 to 2015. The study combined the tools from quantitative corpus analyses and qualitative critical discourse analyses, making it possible to detect and interpret diachronic changes in the dementia discourse. Although the main focus in Norwegian dementia discourse has changed from the disease to the personhood, the agents defining what it means to live well with dementia continued to be predominantly institutional: non-governmental organisations, municipalities, health-care institutions and politicians. An analysis of the uses of the politically incorrect Norwegian term for dementia, ‘senility’, revealed that this term offered an alternative to the institutionalised dementia discourse and functioned as an unconventional and therapeutic-free space where older people and persons with dementia could use humour to subvert these norms and power relations. (Publisher abstract)
Enhancing our understanding of drinking in later life: qualitative data refreshes parts that other data cannot reach
- Author:
- FUDGE Nina
- Journal article citation:
- Age and Ageing, 48(1), 2019, pp.3-5.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This article considers how older people can be at risk of alcohol-related harm. It points out that qualitative studies on drinking in older age provide nuanced detail on the routines and practices behind drinking in later life. For example: most adults consider themselves responsible drinkers; ‘othering’ differentiates themselves from heavier and riskier drinkers and drinking alcohol in later life can be pleasurable, helping to ease social interactions and structure post-retirement day. It concludes that qualitative evidence can be used to develop public health interventions that speak to the people they are intended for. (Original abstract)
Aging attitudes and daily awareness of age-related change interact to predict negative affect
- Authors:
- NEUPERT Shevaun D., BELLINGTIER Jennifer A.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 57(Suppl 2), 2017, pp.S187-S192.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Background and Objectives: Possessing more positive views of one’s own ageing is associated with better self-rated health, reduced reactivity to stressors, and better well-being. The authors examined two components of ageing attitudes: awareness of age-related change (AARC) of loss and gain experiences and attitudes toward own ageing (ATOA). The authors expected that AARC would vary day-to-day and interact with ATOA to predict daily negative affect. Research Design and Methods: One hundred and sixteen participants (61% women, M age = 64.71, range 60–90) reported on 743 total days via an online daily diary study. On Day 1, participants reported baseline ATOA and baseline AARC for losses and gains. On Days 2–9, daily stressor exposure, daily AARC losses and gains, and negative affect were reported. Results: Unconditional multilevel models revealed significant within-person fluctuation in daily AARC losses and gains. Controlling for daily stressors, age, and baseline AARC, daily increases in AARC losses were associated with increases in negative affect and a cross-level interaction revealed that this effect was stronger for those with more positive ATOA. Discussion and Implications: AARC gains and losses vary from day-to-day, suggesting that interventions targeting the contextual fluctuations in daily life may be a promising avenue for future research. Specifically, individuals who feel generally positive about their own ageing, although less likely to report awareness of daily age-related losses, may be the most vulnerable when they do occur. Efforts to reduce daily AARC losses (e.g., limiting activities due to age, receiving help because others assume age-related deficits) may improve the daily well-being of older adults. (Edited publisher abstract)
Factors determining the balance between the wish to die and the wish to live in older adults
- Authors:
- BONNEWYN Anke, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(6), 2017, pp.685-691.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: The “Internal Struggle Hypothesis” (Kovacs and Beck, 1977) suggests that suicidal persons may have both a wish to live (WTL) and a wish to die (WTD). The current study investigates whether the three-group typology – “WTL”, “ambivalent (AMB)”, and “WTD” – is determined by common correlates of suicidality and whether these groups can be ordinally ranked. Methods: The sample comprised 113 older inpatients. Discriminant analysis was used to create two functions (combining social, psychiatric, psychological, and somatic variables) to predict the assignment of older inpatients into the groups WTL, AMB, and WTD. Results: The functions “Subjective Well-being” and “Social Support” allowed us to assign patients into these three distinct groups with good accuracy (66.1%). “Subjective Well-being” contrasted the groups WTD and WTL and “Social Support” discriminated between the groups WTD and AMB. “Social Support” was highest in the AMB group. Conclusions: The results suggest a simultaneous presence of a WTL and a WTD in older inpatients, and also that the balance between them is determined by “Subjective Well-being” and “Social Support”. Unexpectedly, the AMB group showed the highest scores on “Social Support”. The authors hypothesise that higher social support might function as an important determinant of a remaining WTL when a WTD is present because of a lower sense of well-being. The study suggests that the groups WTL–AMB–WTD can not situated on a one-dimensional continuum. (Edited publisher abstract)
Self-compassion, attitudes to ageing and indicators of health and well-being among midlife women
- Authors:
- BROWN Lydia, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(10), 2016, pp.1035-1043.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Attitudes to ageing exert a powerful influence on health and well-being, yet surprisingly little research has examined factors that contribute to the formation of these attitudes. The aim of this study was to consider the potential role of self-compassion in predicting attitudes to ageing, which in turn contribute to positive and negative mental well-being and self-reported health. Method: This was a cross-sectional study using data from 517 midlife women aged between 40 and 60. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships between self-compassion, three facets of attitudes to ageing and well-being outcomes. Results: Together, self-compassion and attitudes to ageing explained between 36% and 67% of the variance in well-being. Self-compassion was a strong predictor of attitudes towards psychosocial loss, physical change and psychological growth (β range: .22–.51). Furthermore, the relationship between self-compassion and well-being outcomes was partially mediated by attitudes to physical change. Conclusion: Self-compassion may be a modifiable internal resource to promote healthy attitudes to ageing in midlife, when ageing becomes personally relevant. Moreover, attitudes towards physical change may help explain how self-compassion promotes well-being among midlife women. (Publisher abstract)
‘Thinking you're old and frail’: a qualitative study of frailty in older adults
- Authors:
- WARMOTH Krystal, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(7), 2016, pp.1483-1500.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Many older adults experience what is clinically recognised as frailty but little is known about the perceptions of, and attitudes regarding, being frail. This qualitative study explored adults' perceptions of frailty and their beliefs concerning its progression and consequences. Twenty-nine participants aged 66–98 with varying degrees of frailty, residing either in their homes or institutional settings, participated in semi-structured interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. Self-identifying as ‘frail’ was perceived by participants to be strongly related to their own levels of health and engagement in social and physical activity. Being labelled by others as ‘old and frail’ contributed to the development of a frailty identity by encouraging attitudinal and behavioural confirmation of it, including a loss of interest in participating in social and physical activities, poor physical health and increased stigmatisation. Using both individual and social context, different strategies were used to resist self-identification. The study provides insights into older adults' perceptions and attitudes regarding frailty, including the development of a frailty identity and its relationship with activity levels and health. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Social ties and psychological well-being in late life: the mediating role of relationship satisfaction
- Author:
- FULLER-IGLESIAS Heather R.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 19(12), 2015, pp.1103-1112.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objective: The current paper examines whether quantitative aspects of social support (i.e., support network characteristics) indirectly influence psychological well-being via older adults' qualitative perceptions of support (i.e., satisfaction with social relationships). Methods: A sample of 416 adults aged ≥60 was drawn from the Social Integration and Aging Study, a community-based survey conducted in a small US (Midwestern) city. The survey assessed social networks, social support, and physical and mental health among older adults. Results: Bootstrapping was used to examine mediation models. Greater support network size predicted lower perceived stress, fewer depressive symptoms, and better life satisfaction, yet this association was fully mediated by relationship satisfaction. For support network composition, greater proportion kin was associated with lower stress and better life satisfaction, though not depressive symptoms, however, relationship satisfaction did not mediate this link. Discussion: Findings highlight the complex interplay of support network characteristics and satisfaction, and suggest the greater import of support satisfaction for older adults' psychological well-being. (Publisher abstract)