Age Lecture 12-Identity & the Self

Generativity vs. Stagnation

-"Making you mark" on the world by caring for others and accomplishing things that make the world a better place; Sense of purpose. VS -Refers to a failure to contribute; disconnected and uninvolved in community.

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

-8 crisis stages in maturation of ego. -Point of maximum vulnerability to biological, psychological, and social forces. -Basic cycle that repeats: •Trust leads to Achievement which leads to Wholeness.

The Body Esteem Scale (BES)

-Franzoi & Shields (1984) -35 items rated on 5-point scale.

Possible Selves Theory

-Future-oriented representation of self-concept: •Who we might become (hoped for and feared). •Motivates choices and behaviors. -With age, decrease in number of possible, strength of belief, and sense of personal control.

Self-Esteem

-General emotional evaluation of one's own worth. -Increases throughout middle adulthood. -Decrease in old age.

Identity Theory and Well-Being

-Older adults who avoided adopting negative views of aging (identity assimilation) lived 7.5 years longer and had better psychological health. -Accomodation associated with depressive symptoms. -Identity assimilation in late adulthood may serve as a protective function especially regarding negative information.

Healthy Self-Concept

-Optimization of happiness. -Ability to tolerate tension and negativity to maintain objectivity.

Self-Concept

-Organized, coherent, integrated pattern of self-perceptions.

Assimilation

-Process that uses already existing aspects of identity to handle present situations. -Higher in older adulthood. -Positive self-regard.

McAdam's Life Story Model

-Process through which individuals develop a narrative view of their lives. -Continuity or change. -Idealizations of the self. -Ending leaves a legacy.

Accomodation

-Reflects the willingness of the individual to let the situation determine, modify, or create what they will do. -Higher in young adulthood. -Poor psychological health for older adults.

Body Esteem

-Self-evaluation of your body or appearance. -Surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. -Socioeconomic status. -Health.

Age Identity

-Subjective evaluation of age. -Tend identify with younger selves. -Women > men.

Life Narratives

-The aspects of personality pulling everything together. -Integrative aspects that give a person an identity or sense of self. -Talking about the past, present, and future.

Lifespan Contruct

-Unified sense of past, present, and future. -Identity development based on equilibrium between identity and experiences. -Scenario: •Expectations of the future. •Translates aspects of our identity that are especially important now into a plan for our future. •Influenced by age norms. -Life Story: •Personal narrative history from past to future. •Autobiography.

Rochester Adult Longitudinal Study (RALS)

-Well-being and psychosocial development in later life. -Retrospectively analyzed major life choices and experiences in 30s, 40s, and 50s.

Five Pathways of Rochester Study

1. Authentic Road- Achieves solid identity commitments through exploration and change. 2. Triumphant Trial- Overcomes challenges; is resilient. 3. Straight and Narrow Way- Maintains consistent life pattern; defensive about change. 4. Meandering Way- Fails to settle on a course in life; constantly searches for identity. 5. Downward Slope- Shows self-defeating behavior; makes poor decisions.

McAdam's Model of Generativity

It shows that there are multiple factors that influence a person's narrative. -It shows how generativity results from the conflict of interconnections amongst societal external forces and inner individual forces. -Generative concern is beneficial for the older generation; generative action does not benefit them.

Labouvie-Vief's Dynamic Integration Theory

Self is a product of the integration of emotion and cognition.

Whitbourne's Identity Theory

We build our own conceptions of how life should proceed.