The Meaning of Aging in Late Adulthood

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the social and cultural aspects of aging
• Discuss aging stereotypes
• Explain Erikson’s integrity versus despair challenge
• Describe self and socioemotional development in late adulthood

Reina is eighty-five years old. When her children ask what she’s been up to recently, she gives them a lengthy report of her activities, which include making 10 pints of guava jam, tutoring her new neighbor in Spanish, buying Three Kings Day gifts for her grandchildren, having lunch with friends, attending mass, and rooting for her favorite soccer team, Club América (who are apparently not playing up to Reina’s standards).

Research shows that older adults tend to be happier than people in younger age groups, and many maintain their independence for most of their later years. This section focuses on different perspectives on older age, including stereotypes and discrimination. It also covers how our sense of self changes later in life and emotional shifts that typically occur as we get older.

Perspectives on Aging

Older adults typically have a different outlook on life than younger individuals. Their knowledge of their mortality and the realization that time is more limited can drive several changes related to reaching health and fitness goals, nurturing relationships, and maintaining a positive emotional state (Keldal & Şeker, 2021; Strout et al., 2018).

Different cultures also have varied perspectives on age (Figure 16.2). Historically, cultures in eastern Asia were described as having more positive views of aging and viewing aging as a symbol of higher status, due to cultural principles that valued wisdom, collectivism, and family (Gire, 2019; Kornadt et al., 2022). However, more recent research suggests cultural differences are more complex than initially thought. In one study, members of Eastern cultures report seeing older adults as more competent than younger adults but also having more negative feelings toward them and a higher likelihood of avoiding contact (Vauclair et al., 2016).

Figure 16.2 The way different cultures view older adults may depend on cultural values as well as economic conditions. (credit: modification of work “Senior citizen” by Aan Kasman/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

This more nuanced view was supported by a large-scale study of participants from twenty-six Asian and Western countries. The participants tended to have similar views of aging and consistently associated aging with greater wisdom, knowledge, and respect from others, but also with decreased physical ability, attractiveness, and ability to learn new things. However, views of aging were predicted not by culture but by the percentage of older adults in the population, and higher percentages correlated with more negative views (Löckenhoff et al., 2009; Wettstein et al., 2024)¹ (Figure 16.3). Many of these countries also had low socioeconomic status (SES); thus, a potential explanation is that older adults are viewed as competitors for limited resources (Gire, 2019; Kornadt et al., 2022).

Figure 16.3 The percentage of adults over age sixty-five years in the population varies drastically across countries, representing less than 5 percent in some and more than 20 percent in others. Countries with higher percentages of older adults in the population tend to have more negative cultural views about aging. (data source: Population Reference Bureau; attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

Ageism and Stereotypes about Late Adulthood

Stereotypes and misconceptions about the aging process and older people are common, particularly when it is a stage of life we have not experienced ourselves. These views can be positive, such as associating older people with wisdom (Gire, 2019), but most tend to be negative, characterizing older adults as cognitively impaired, grumpy, depressed, isolated, in poor health, and unable to care for themselves (Hummert et al., 1994; Reissmann et al., 2021). Scientific research contradicts many of these biases.

A larger concern occurs when stereotypes translate to discrimination, which is called ageism when it is against someone solely due to their age. It is illegal in the workplace in the United States (under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967), yet research suggests it is still common, especially in the hiring process. Older applicants find it more difficult to gain employment despite their experience and qualifications (Dennis & Thomas, 2007; Neumark, 2020). Common stereotypes are that older workers underperform, resist change, are unable to learn new skills, and are distracted by family and health issues (Ilişanu & Andrei, 2018).

Older women are more likely to experience workplace ageism than older men (Walker & Zelin, 2021). This “gendered ageism” may be particularly true for certain positions or career fields, such as technology (Corbett, 2019), management positions, and physically demanding occupations (McGann et al., 2016). The combination of sexism and ageism in the workplace may lead to lower pay and a lack of promotion opportunities, producing gender differences in financial stability after retirement (Rochon et al., 2021).

Link to Learning

Learn more about why ageism is considered one of the last socially acceptable stereotypes and some of the harm this bias can produce.

Link to Learning

Ageism is often a hidden bias held toward people how are older. Watch this video on how we can all help reduce age bias in ourselves and in the world around us to learn more.

The intersection of ageism and sexism also illuminates double standards in the wider culture. Popular entertainment, for instance, often pairs older men actors with much younger women. Data from the dating website OkCupid suggest that younger users, regardless of gender, want to find partners similar in age (Engel, 2014; Kenrick, 2018; Rudder, 2014). However, men users in their fifties tended to click on potential partners twenty-five years younger (Figure 16.4). Marriage data are consistent with this trend. Women marry similarly aged partners across the lifespan, but as men get older, the age gap between them and women widens (England & McClintock, 2009).

Figure 16.4 Women using OkCupid expressed interest in similarly aged partners, while men looked for relatively younger partners as they got older. (data source: Rudder, Dataclysm: Who we are (when we think no one’s looking); attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

While older men and older women are both underrepresented in the media, older men actors are more likely to play higher-status roles, such as successful businesspeople. Some older actors, such as Harrison Ford (who is over eighty years old) and Samuel L. Jackson (in his seventies), continue to get lead roles in action movies. Media portrayals of older women, on the other hand, constitute only about 25 percent of characters over age fifty years and tend to either make the actresses look younger or reinforce negative aging stereotypes, such as their being cognitively impaired (Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, 2020). Recent efforts have been more inclusive. For example, the Netflix show Grace and Frankie depicts the friendship of two older adult women.

Psychosocial Theory of Development: Integrity versus Despair

Cultural attitudes affect some views of late life, but other views may be more internally determined. The final stage in Erikson’s theory depicts the struggle with what he called integrity versus despair (Erikson & Erikson, 1998). In this stage, when older adults realize they’re nearing the end of their life, they undertake life reviews. A life review is someone’s reflection on and evaluation of the life they have lived, including their accomplishments, relationships, and decisions, and the way past events have contributed to their life’s meaning. According to Erikson, during this process, some individuals will experience despair, including regret over bad decisions or missed opportunities, while others achieve integrity by accepting their life in its entirety and with a positive outlook.

Stage theories have been criticized for oversimplifying the continuous nature of human development (Pelaez et al., 2008), and psychoanalytic theories have been critiqued for using unscientific approaches (Skinner, 1956). While these criticisms apply to Erikson’s theory, data-driven research has found support for Erikson’s theory and its many components (Staudinger, 2001; Villar et al., 2021). For example, life reviews are being used therapeutically, especially in locations such as long-term care facilities that house older adults (Haber, 2006; Zhong et al., 2023). Research has found that for nursing home residents, engaging in a life review is associated with positive outcomes such as increasing aspects of integrity, decreasing aspects of despair, and improving quality of life (Haight et al., 2000; Zhong et al., 2023).

Erikson’s work has also influenced other developmental scholars. For example, Robert Peck expanded the integrity versus despair stage to include three additional tasks:

• Differentiation is the process of adjusting your identity after retiring and finding meaning separate from work, such as by pursuing hobbies or volunteering.
• Body transcendence is the act of coming to terms with the typical declines in physical ability and health. This includes finding value and meaning in areas of life that are not primarily dependent on physical abilities, such as engaging more in puzzles or games that are not physically difficult to perform.
• Ego transcendence is the process of acknowledging and accepting that death is approaching. It includes reflecting on life and recognizing its meaning and value (Peck, 1956). This aspect of Peck’s theory is most consistent with Erikson’s idea of a life review.

Other research has explored the notion of a stage of development after integrity versus despair. Some of this research was based on the work of Joan Erikson, Erik Erikson’s spouse, who proposed that challenges faced after age eighty years required additional adjustment (Brown & Lowis, 2003; Erikson & Erikson, 1998). Tornstam (2011) referred to this stage as gerotranscendence, in which people in their eighties and nineties look beyond their own experience, consider their connections to earlier generations, and accept change as inevitable and natural. Evidence for gerotranscendence has been found in studies of Iranian, Japanese, Ethiopian, and British older adults, although it may be affected by cultural views of spirituality and individual characteristics such as tolerance for ambiguity (Brown & Lowis, 2003; Kida et al., 2024; Mekonnen et al., 2023; Raeesi Dehkordi et al., 2020).

Self and Social Development

People often interpret the word “self” as focusing on the individual, but the self is a very social topic, because people define and evaluate themselves relative to others (Adame, 2022; Sedikides et al., 2011). By comparing your characteristics and abilities to other people, you develop clear ideas about who you are and how you differ from others.

Some research focusing on the self in later life has examined how older adults define themselves. These definitions often include psychological and cognitive characteristics, interpersonal relationships, social roles, appearance, physical functioning, and attitudes (Freund & Smith, 1999; Lu, 2017; Pontinen et al., 2019). These domains may not be equally emphasized, however. Concerns about health and physical functioning often figure prominently (Pontinen et al., 2019), and a study of Israeli older adults noted a tendency to downplay aging and emphasize being active and young (Okun & Ayalon, 2023).

Older adults’ sense of self often includes both positive and negative views of their own aging, their changing appearance, their sense of aging well, their meaning in life, and their future hopes and fears (Hausknecht et al., 2020; Okun & Ayalon, 2023; Pontinen et al., 2019). Many older adults continue to define themselves in terms of their professional occupation despite likely being retired, and concerns about body image rank low on the list, suggesting that older adults are less preoccupied with their appearance and more connected to their younger and middle-aged identities than perhaps previously assumed. Two aspects of self—personality and emotions—are important parts of development at this life stage.

Personality in Late Adulthood

Research related to the Big Five traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) suggests they become very stable after age thirty years (Costa & McCrae, 1994), and this pattern has been found cross-culturally (Fung, 2013). Nonetheless, minor changes may occur (Allemand et al., 2008). Extraversion and conscientiousness slightly decline across adulthood, particularly after age sixty years, suggesting that retirement could reduce opportunities for social interaction and the need for the organized, careful behavior indicative of conscientiousness (Graham et al., 2020). Extraversion and conscientiousness are positively correlated with greater life satisfaction and better mental health in late adulthood, perhaps because they contribute to more and higher-quality relationships (Kida et al., 2024). Neuroticism decreases for most of adulthood but increases in later years, possibly due to anxiety about health problems and thoughts of mortality. Openness to new experiences appears to be stable across adulthood before decreasing in later life. Agreeableness did not demonstrate any change (Graham et al., 2020); this is worth noting because decreased agreeableness could indicate depression, cognitive decline, or other health problems.

Emotional Changes

One way to consider older adults’ emotional state is to examine research studying positive affect and negative affect. Positive affect is the extent to which someone experiences positive emotions such as happiness. Negative affect is the degree to which people feel negative emotions such as sadness or anger. Research suggests that as people age, they report experiencing more positive affect and less negative affect (Carstensen & DeLiema, 2018; Erbey et al., 2020; Mroczek & Kolarz, 1998) (Figure 16.5). This is thought to be one of the reasons depression decreases in older age.

Figure 16.5 Positive affect increases throughout most of adulthood and older age, while there is a corresponding decline in negative affect. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

The ability to control or regulate emotions can follow two paths when people age. One is to be as emotionally positive as possible, which may reflect acceptance of inevitable life changes and potential benefits of aging, such as wisdom, and is consistent with the themes of integrity and gerotranscendence (Kida et al., 2024; Mekonnen et al., 2023; Raeesi Dehkordi et al., 2020). Older adults tend to choose activities that result in positive emotional responses. For example, they avoid potentially distressing situations and seek out entertainment with more uplifting, optimistic themes (Bartsch, 2012; Erbey et al., 2020).

The other path lets us use our cognitive abilities to better understand our negative emotions and maintain objectivity when in a negative emotional state. Gisela Labouvie-Vief, for example, proposed a dynamic integration theory suggesting that emotion and cognition tend to increasingly merge throughout adulthood. At young ages, emotional responses tend to be simpler and more automatic, but they become increasingly complex with age because cognition and emotion are better integrated. Thus, people develop more tolerance for positive and negative emotional states and appreciate the complexity of their emotional responses (Labouvie-Vief, 2003; Labouvie-Vief et al., 2007). For example, say an older adult is in a negative emotional state after being diagnosed with a serious medical condition. They regulate this response and maintain objectivity by considering how they could improve their situation with medication and/or lifestyle changes. They may also consider people in poorer health than they are, allowing them to feel grateful for their current health. Thus, they use cognitive skills to better understand and tolerate negative emotions. This ability to consolidate cognition and emotion tends to decline with decreasing fluid intelligence in later years (Labouvie‐Vief, 2015).