Towards a positive psychology of ageing: potentials and barriers

Development and evaluation of the positive psychology intervention for older adults

“…Findings of this study refute the widespread stereotypical belief that older age is inevitably related to losses and declines. Rather, they suggest that getting older can be a positive experience if the challenges and difficulties in late life are confronted with a positive attitude through realizing the strengths that one has already gained with age (Ranzijn, 2002). This interpretation can be understood from the conceptual framework of the intervention program.…”

“…Interventions that are designed to promote positive emotions, character strengths, and meaningful life can help older adults to shift their attentional focus from overemphasizing their limitations to appreciating positive qualities that are accompanied with old age. However, research and application of psychological interventions alike tend to have an underlying assumption that age is positively associated with declines, and therefore emphasis has been placed on compensation and minimization of these deficits, rather than to explicitly focus on positive qualities of older people (Ranzijn, 2002). Research on positive psychology suggests that therapeutic techniques can be developed to facilitate personal strengths and psychological resources in order to improve functioning and well-being of the general population (Seligman, 2011;Sergeant & Mongrain, 2011).…”

“…Aging has often been stereotypically perceived as a time of losses and deteriorations on functional capacities, including physical functioning, cognitive ability, social network, and emotional well-being (Bonhote, Romano-Egan, & Cornwell, 1999;Erikson, 1982;Ranzijn, 2002;Shapira, Barak, & Gal, 2007). While it is unavoidable that older adults are faced with a number of age-related declines, the positive qualities that one has acquired with age and life experiences can help older adults buffer against mental illnesses (Baltes & Baltes, 1990;Duckworth, Steen, & Seligman, 2005;Wood & Tarrier, 2010).…”

Successful transition to later life: Strategies used by baby boomers

“…They pursued appropriate help-seeking from their GPs, psychologists and psychiatrists and had both an understanding of their personal experience of depression and a strong sense of what strategies served them best in times of sickness and health. Recent work has suggested that acceptance is a quality held by older people in general [22] and further that reflecting and reviewing one's life can have beneficial effects for depressed adults who are over 50 years of age [23].…”

An Exploration of Wisdom in Mid- to Older-Aged Adults: An Australian Context

“…A further point of note, however, is that much like definitions of wisdom, the definition of wellbeing and its derivatives tends to vary within the research. As such, when looking to the literature on the topic of wellbeing, there is often a blurring between constructs and so one must also consider terms such as successful ageing, positive ageing, and life satisfaction, for example, as being related to the same theme (e.g., Ranzijn, 2002;Ryff, 1982;Seligman, 2011;Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). For the purposes of this research -and given it is beyond the scope of the task to carry out an extensive review of the wellbeing and similar terminology literature -wellbeing and life satisfaction will be used interchangeably in this thesis with the fundamental understanding that reference is being made to overall physical, mental, and social wellbeing.…”