What Have You Learned?

1. Question 25.1

   How does Erikson’s use of the word integrity differ from its usual meaning?

   The word integrity is often used to mean honesty, but it also means a feeling of being whole, not scattered, and comfortable with oneself. In Erikson's eighth stage, adults seek a feeling of wholeness and connectedness, feeling pride in their personal history. An inability to feel this would result in feelings of disconnectedness and despair.

2. Question 25.2

   How does hoarding relate to self theory?

   Older adults may begin to cling to possessions as they try to maintain a sense of self and of autonomy as they age. Things accumulate because possessions are part of self-expression, and the elderly resist self-destruction.

3. Question 25.3

   What are the advantages of the positivity effect?

   The positivity effect refers to elderly people’s tendency to perceive and remember positive events and to downplay negative ones. The positivity effect makes it easier for older adults to dismiss unpleasant or stressful events—or at least to not take them personally. Compensation occurs via selective recall: Unpleasant experiences are reinterpreted as inconsequential. People select positive emotions, perceptions, and memories.

4. Question 25.4

   What are the disadvantages of the positivity effect?

   The positivity effect may explain why, in every nation and religion, older people tend to be more patriotic and devout than younger ones. They see their national history and religious beliefs in positive terms, and they are proud to be themselves. This same trait can keep them mired in their earlier prejudices—racist, or sexist, or homophobic, for instance.

5. Question 25.5

   How can disengagement be a mutual process?

   Disengagement theory holds that as people age, traditional roles become unavailable, the social circle shrinks, coworkers stop relying on them, and adult children turn away to focus on their own children. According to this theory, disengagement is a mutual process, chosen by both generations. Thus, younger people disengage from the old, who themselves voluntarily disengage from younger adults, withdrawing from life’s action.

6. Question 25.6

   What does activity theory suggest older adults should do?

   Activity theory holds that the elderly should seek to remain active with relatives, friends, and community groups. Being active correlates with happiness, intelligence, and health. This is true at younger ages as well, but the correlation between activity and well-being is particularly strong at older ages.

7. Question 25.7

   What are the problems with being female, according to stratification theory?

   Irrational, gender-based fear may limit female independence from infancy to old age. Because women typically marry men a few years older than them, wives tend to outlive their husbands. If the marriage includes traditional gender roles, the husband may handle the finances, leaving his widow at risk for financial trouble.

8. Question 25.8

   What are the problems with being male, according to stratification theory?

   Boys are taught to be stoic, repressing emotions and avoiding medical attention, which could lead them to early death.

9. Question 25.9

   According to stratification theory, how is old age difficult for members of minority groups?

   Past racism may cause weathering in African Americans, increasing allostatic load and shortening healthy life. Past ethnic discrimination also affects income in many ways. Many minorities have been deprived of a source of financial security for seniors—home ownership. Many immigrant elders are ineligible for Social Security and pensions, and so they live in poverty, unable to live with their children because homes and apartments are generally designed for nuclear families.

10. Question 25.10

    How is self-theory reflected in older adults’ desire to age in place?

    When adults age in place, their neighborhood or apartment complex can become a naturally occurring retirement community (NORC), where young adults stayed as they aged. People in NORCs are often content to live alone after children leave and partners die. They enjoy home repair, housework, and gardening partly because their lifelong neighbors notice the new curtains, the polished door, the blooming rosebush. Their self-esteem and their identity are tied to their pride in their home, and their identity is in part derived from the neighborhood or complex in which they live.

11. Question 25.11

    How does retirement affect the health of people who have worked all their lives?

    If retirees voluntarily leave their jobs and engage in activities and intellectual challenges, they become healthier and happier than they were before.

12. Question 25.12

    Why would a person choose not to retire?

    A person may continue working based on financial need, because they like the status of the position, or because the job and community associated with work is something the person enjoys and values and is reluctant to give up.

13. Question 25.13

    What does age affect how likely someone is to choose to volunteer?

    Older retirees may be less likely to volunteer than middle-aged, employed people.

14. Question 25.14

    What are four common reasons why elderly people do not volunteer?

    Lack of commitment to the community, a culture that does not support volunteering, none of their friends volunteer, and because they donate money instead of time.

15. Question 25.15

    What are the benefits and liabilities for elders who want to age in place?

    Many elders prefer to age in place, comfortable in the familiarity of their home and community. Such social ties lead to a greater sense of well-being. But this can only be experienced if the supports that an elderly person needs exist in the community—including a range of community resources, from access to health care to reliable transportation to safety and security—and if the dwelling is suitable for growing old in. If not, an individual could live in dangerous or isolated conditions.

16. Question 25.16

    How does religion affect the well-being of the aged?

    Religious practice correlates with health because religions tend to encourage healthy behaviors, provide opportunities for social engagement, offer insight on the meaning of life, and give hope in death. Religious institutions often provide a host of social services that benefit the elderly, while also providing a sense of community.

17. Question 25.17

    How does the political activism of older and younger adults differ?

    While older adults are less likely to be involved in campaigns and political activism, they are more likely to write to elected officials, to vote, and to follow current events.

18. Question 25.18

    What is the usual relationship between older adults who have been partners for decades?

    Outsiders might judge many long-term marriages as unequal, since one or the other spouse usually provides most of the money, or needs most of the care, or does most of the housework. Yet such disparities do not bother older partners, who accept each other’s dependencies, remembering times (perhaps decades ago) when the situation was reversed.

19. Question 25.19

    Who benefits from relationships between older adults and their grown children?

    Familism prompts family caregiving among all the relatives. One manifestation is filial responsibility, the obligation of adult children to care for their aging parents. This is a value in every nation, stronger in some cultures than in others. As family size shrinks, many older parents continue to feel responsible for their grown children. Both generations benefit from their relationship.

20. Question 25.20

    Which type of grandparenting seems to benefit both generations the most?

    Companionate grandparents, who are fun, kind, and generous playmates for grandchildren and who provide babysitting and financial support for the family while still having their own independent lives, seem to benefit both generations the most.

21. Question 25.21

    Why do older people tend to have fewer friends as they age?

    Some older friends die, and retirement usually means losing contact with most work friends.

22. Question 25.22

    Why is the inability to perform ADLs indicative of frailty?

    ADLs are activities of daily life, or the five tasks of self-care required for independence: eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, and transferring from a bed to a chair. Assessing these activities is one way to measure frailty, according to insurance standards and medical professionals, because they assess a person’s level of difficulty in performing the tasks of self-care to maintain independence.

23. Question 25.23

    Why are IADLs considered even more important than ADLs in assessing frailty in an elderly person?

    IADLs are actions important to independent living—like maintaining a budget—that require intellectual competence. The inability to perform IADLs makes a person frail, regardless of physical condition. Problems with IADLs often precede problems with ADLs, since planning and problem solving help frail elders maintain self-care.

24. Question 25.24

    What three factors increase the likelihood of elder abuse?

    Elder abuse is most common if 1) the caregiver suffers from emotional problems or substance abuse; 2) the care receiver is frail, confused, and demanding; 3) the care location is isolated, where visitors are few. In addition, relatives who have had little training are often required to provide substantial and nearly constant care without help or supervision; a lack of support, training, and respite are problems.

25. Question 25.25

    What are the advantages and disadvantages of assisted living for the elderly?

    Advantages: Assisted-living residences provide private apartments for each person and allow pets and furnishings as in a traditional home. But assistance is available, in the form of communal meals, special transportation and activities, household cleaning, and medical assistance. Disadvantages: Standards vary or are nonexistent, and many places are unlicensed. Some regions of the world have many assisted-living options, while others have almost none.

26. Question 25.26

    When is a nursing home a good solution for the problems of the frail elderly?

    It is a good solution for some elders, usually over 80 years old, frail and confused, with several medical problems. Some need such care for more than a year, and a very few stay for 10 years or more.