Prescriptive Views of Aging: Disengagement, Activation, Wisdom, and Dignity as Normative Expectations for Older People

Couto, Maria Clara Pinheiro de Paula; Rothermund, Klaus

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11073-3_4

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Prescriptive views have been mostly addressed in research on gender (e.g., women should be communal; Koenig, 2018) or race inequality (e.g., Asian Americans should not be dominant; Berdahl & Min, 2012). Psychological research on prescriptive age norms, however, is a recent phenomenon (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022; North & Fiske, 2013; Pavlova & Silbereisen, 2012, 2016). PVoA have received attention due to societal discourses centering on changing demographics, intergenerational tensions, and tying the deservingness of social resources in retirement to continued reciprocation (Martinson & Halpern, 2011).…”

Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PVoA can function as guiding principles as they entail knowledge about what life is like in old age and what it takes to live a good life as an older adult. Thus, PVoA can become core elements of older adults’ self-concepts via internalization (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022; Greve et al, 2005). It is assumed that we learn about views of aging at a young age and that we apply these views to ourselves and act accordingly, once these views become self-relevant when we transition into late adulthood (B.…”

Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, many older adults engage with prescriptive demands (Tomasik & Silbereisen, 2014). For example, postponing (signs of) old age by staying active is attractive for many older adults and, thus, they invest energy and resources into achieving this possibility (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022). At the same time, older adults may avoid applying PVoA to themselves by constructing a psychological distance from the group of older adults (Weiss & Kornadt, 2018).…”

Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Wirth¹,

Couto²,

Pavlova³

et al. 2023

Psychology and Aging

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Older adults are faced with prescriptions to remain fit and socially engaged (active aging) or limit consumption of social resources (altruistic disengagement), and violations of these may result in backlash and marginalization. Despite such negative consequences that prescriptive views of aging (PVoA) may have for older adults, whether PVoA endorsement is modifiable is still to be examined. Thus, in our study, we investigated the malleability of PVoA endorsement. Further, we explored whether malleability of PVoA endorsement generalizes across specific age norms (active aging and altruistic disengagement), life domains (health and social), and targets (others and self). We conducted two preregistered experiments in which participants reflected on agreeing or disagreeing with PVoA. In Experiment 1, 536 adults (50–89 years) reflected on their personal agreement or disagreement with PVoA. In Experiment 2, 435 adults (50–87 years) reflected on agreement with PVoA in society. Reflecting on agreement changed endorsement of PVoA in both experiments: Participants who reflected on agreement reported higher endorsement of PVoA, whereas participants who reflected on disagreement reported lower endorsement. Our results indicated that the cognitive representation of PVoA is norm and domain specific: The endorsement effect did not transfer from active aging to altruistic disengagement (or vice versa) nor across health and social domains. Further, participants set the same prescriptions for their behavior as they set for others as shown by a transfer between endorsement of other- to self-related PVoA. Our findings attest to the complexity and specificity of PVoA and offer important insights for designing interventions.

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Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Wirth¹,

Couto²,

Pavlova³

et al. 2023

Psychology and Aging

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“…These measures allow researchers to (a) specify the exact meaning of the relation between category and the stereotypic attribute, and (b) to incorporate a combination of category and context information into the proposition the endorsement of which is to be assessed. A promising new paradigm of this type that is optimally suited for an implicit assessment of context-dependent age stereotypes is the propositional evaluation paradigm (PEP; Müller and Rothermund, 2019 ; see also Cummins and De Houwer, 2021 ; de Paula Couto and Rothermund, 2022 ). In each trial of the PEP, a statement reflecting a specific belief is presented (e.g., “When driving a car, young people are reckless” or “When driving a car, old people are reckless”).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endorsement and embodiment of cautiousness-related age stereotypes

Huang

Rothermund²

2023

Front. Psychol.

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Endorsement of implicit age stereotypes was assessed with the propositional evaluation paradigm (PEP) in a high-powered, preregistered study, comprising samples of young (n = 89) and older (n = 125) adults. To investigate whether implicit age stereotypes shape the behavior via self-stereotyping (“embodiment”), we examined whether implicit endorsement of the belief of older (young) people being cautious (reckless) predicts older (young) individuals’ spontaneous behavior in a speeded response time task. In both age groups, we found significant implicit endorsement effects of age stereotypical beliefs. However, implicit endorsement effects of the cautiousness-related age stereotypes were unrelated to our indicators of spontaneous cautious/reckless behavior in the speeded RT task (as assessed with the parameter a of a diffusion model analysis) for both age groups. The same pattern of results (endorsement of age stereotypic beliefs but no relation with behavioral indicators) was found for explicit measures of age stereotypes. Replicating previous findings, implicit and explicit measures of cautiousness-related age stereotypes were uncorrelated. In sum, our findings provide evidence for the implicit and explicit endorsement of cautiousness-related stereotypical beliefs about old and young people; individual differences in belief endorsement, however, did not predict differences in spontaneous cautiousness-related behavior in a speeded RT task.

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“…Individuals who maintain such negative perceptions may have difficulty finding a sense of purpose, setting new goals, and staying motivated to pursue their goals. As a result, they may feel disengaged and lack the drive to achieve their aspirations (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022). Therefore, it was hypothesized that positive perceptions of aging contribute to life satisfaction, in part, by fostering a sense of purpose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Purpose in Life Links Positive Aging Views to Life Satisfaction: A Within-Person Analysis Spanning 13 Years

Joshanloo

2023

J Appl Gerontol

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This study aimed to examine the relationship between positive perceptions of aging, purpose in life, and life satisfaction in older adults. It was hypothesized that purpose in life mediates the relationship between positive perceptions of one’s aging and life satisfaction. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of older American adults from four waves of the Health and Retirement Study collected at 4-year intervals between 2008 and 2020 ( N = 11,546, mean age in 2008 = 62.772). The random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to separate within-person and between-person sources of variance. Mediation was tested at the longitudinal within-person level and was supported. Results suggest that an increase in positive perceptions of aging is associated with a future increase in purpose in life, which in turn is associated with higher future levels of life satisfaction. The findings inform interventions promoting positive aging, purpose, and life satisfaction in older adults.

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Prescriptive Views of Aging: Disengagement, Activation, Wisdom, and Dignity as Normative Expectations for Older People

Cited by 6 publications

References 48 publications

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Endorsement and embodiment of cautiousness-related age stereotypes

Purpose in Life Links Positive Aging Views to Life Satisfaction: A Within-Person Analysis Spanning 13 Years

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