“Still the same and better off than others?”: social and temporal comparisons in old age

Abstract

Cognitive adaptation in the elderly and the motivated use of temporal and social comparisons set the conceptual frame for the present study. Three research questions were investigated in a sample of 2.129 persons aged between 50 and 90 years. First, the direction of social and temporal comparisons for three domains (physical fitness, mental fitness, psychological resilience) was studied, and findings did show that especially lateral followed by upward comparisons were most frequent under both perspectives; downward comparisons clearly showed the least frequency. Second, the distribution of comparison directions was investigated across four age groups. These analyses showed that upward comparisons increased and lateral comparisons decreased across age groups; differential results were observed for the domains under consideration. Third, the relation between social and temporal comparisons and self-esteem was studied. Results obtained here indicated a motivated use of specific comparison directions since downward social comparisons and upward temporal comparisons were most frequent in persons with low self-esteem. Taken together, the study underlines the different functions of social and temporal comparisons in adulthood and old age; it indicates a predominant need for consensus and consistency, and it highlights the importance of selfesteem in cognitive adaptation.

Meaning in life and the experience of older people

“…Mr. Pietersen, on the contrary, contrasts his present painful lack of personal contact with like-minded people with his happy youth and second marriage. This confirms Gerber's observation, referring to research by Ferring and Hoffmann (2007), that "in older age, temporal comparison (comparing to past selves) becomes increasingly important" (2017: 5).…”

Negotiating and effectuating relocation to sheltered housing in old age: a Swedish study over 11 years

“…Different types of comparisons are common throughout life and related to degree of self-esteem. Such cognitive strategies are used to overcome feelings of inferiority and to reduce low self-esteem, but downward comparisons increase with age (Ferring and Horstmann 2007). According to Frieswijk et al (2004), only those frail older people who have low self-esteem use downward comparisons to enhance life satisfaction.…”

Five‐Factor Personality Traits and Age Trajectories of Self‐Rated Health: The Role of Question Framing

“…In the past, this phenomenon has been explained as the result of social comparison processes. Specifically, older adults are thought to selectively compare their own status to negative stereotypes of their age peers and thus maintain high levels of SRH in spite of age‐related declines in objective health (Cheng, Fung, & Chan, ; Ferring & Hoffmann, ). Though many previous studies have reported such discrepancies in age effects for general versus social‐comparative SRH (Andersen et al., ; Baron‐Epel & Kaplan, ; Eriksson et al., ; G. Roberts, ; Sargent‐Cox et al., ), our findings add to the scarcer evidence for longitudinal trajectories of temporal‐comparative SRH items (Leinonen, Heikkinen, & Jylha, , ; Sargent‐Cox et al., ).…”