Happy, stable and contented: accomplished ageing in the imagined futures of young New Zealanders

Abstract

In imagining how their lives might turn out, 100 young New Zealanders aged between 16 and 18 years wrote descriptions of their future lifecourse. Their descriptions of themselves at the nominal age of 80 years form the basis of the research reported in this paper. For these young people, ageing and old age are understood as accomplishments in the context of an imagined lifecourse. They see personal ageing as shaped by a common temporal ordering of life events that ensures material security, financial success, and an enduring intimate relationship. In imagining themselves aged 80 years, three key themes that constitute a discourse of ' accomplished ageing ' were identified : the experience of old age would be contingent on achievements throughout the lifecourse ; old age would be a time for harvest ; and while people may look old they can continue to 'be ' young. Although their images of bodily appearance included some negative stereotypes of old age, appearance and bodily function were understood as amenable to life-long self-management. The young people imagined themselves as life-long active agents, and framed a positive image and homogeneous social identity for older people. The ' accomplished ageing ' discourse has implications for how ageing is understood by young people. In particular, the social identity that accomplished ageing implies may shape how they relate to those who do not accomplish ageing in the imagined optimistic and homogeneous way.KEY WORDS -imagined futures, young people, lifecourse, accomplished ageing.

Progress on Understanding Ageism

“…Palmore () in his drive to highlight positive forms defined ageism as “any prejudice or discrimination against or in favor of an age group” (p. 4). Positive views of aging and older adults include characterizations of older adults as calm, cheerful, helpful, intelligent, kindly, neat, and stable as well as more reliable and careful workers, engaging in less criminal activity, participating more in voluntary organizations, and as having higher social status in terms of wealth and holding positions of power in companies and government (e.g., Brewer, Dull, & Lui, ; Cuddy et al., ; Hummert, ; Palmore, ; Patterson, Forbes, & Peace, ). Additionally, older adults may receive unique positive treatment such as discounts, low‐rent housing, pensions, special health care, and tax exemptions (e.g., Palmore, , ).…”

“…These additions could be applied to measurement tools as elaborated in a later section on a wider range of ageism measures. The ageism literature could address these positive successful aging characterizations along with the traditional characterizations of older adults as calm, cheerful, helpful, intelligent, kindly, neat, and stable (e.g., Brewer et al., ; Cuddy et al., ; Hummert, ; Palmore, ; Patterson et al., ).…”

Evaluating life maps as a versatile method for lifecourse geographies

“…Finally, Maritsa ends her map at age 30, signalling a hesitancy to consider the future. This pattern continued across most of the maps, with participants not mapping further than their 30s or 40s, with decreasing amounts of detail (Bagnoli 2009; in contrast see Patterson et al . 2009).…”

Youth Transitions, Welfare Policy and Contemporary Europe

“…Woodman (2009) and Roberts (2010). The degree of agency compelled by these changes is seen by some as having positive implications, creating greater choice and opportunity for young people (Arnett 2006;Patterson et al 2009). Others are concerned to highlight the ways that these institutional changes are coupled with growing risks that young people from all backgrounds are required to face as they make their transition to adulthood.…”