Chapter 14: Successful aging

Question 1

Rowe and Kahn definition of successful aging

Answer 1

(1) absence of disease and disability, (2) high cognitive and physical functioning, and (3) active engagement with life

Question 2

Critiques about Rowe and Kahn

Answer 2

(1) overly normative and not inclusive (2) fails to take into account sociocultural factors (3) and subjective meanings by older adults (4) criteria are not well-specified

Question 3

WHO definition of active and healthy ageing

Answer 3

process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age

Question 4

successful cognitive aging

Answer 4

cognitive performance that is above the average for an individual’s age group as objectively measured

Question 5

superagers

Answer 5

individuals aged 80 or older that have episodic memory that is comparable or superior to that of middle-aged adults

Question 6

positive psychology

Answer 6

seeks to provide greater understanding of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Question 7

life satisfaction

Answer 7

overall assessment of an individual’s feelings and attitudes about their life at a particular point in time

Question 8

subjective well-being

Answer 8

individual’s overall sense of well-being

Question 9

paradox of well-being

Answer 9

findings from research on successful aging that older adults maintain high subjective well-being despite facing challenges from their objective circumstances

Question 10

social indicator model of well-being

Answer 10

demographic and social structural variables account for individual differences in levels of well-being; older adults have less so should be unhappier

Question 11

3 models of subjective well-being

Answer 11

social indicator model, paradox of well-being, set point perspective

Question 12

set point perspective

Answer 12

people’s personalities influence their level of well-being throughout life

Question 13

age-friendly environment

Answer 13

enables people of all ages to participate in their communities and be free from poverty, treats everyone with respect, regardless of age (maintain dignity), makes it easy for older people to maintain their social connections, and helps people maintain their health, activity, and autonomy

Question 14

communicative ecology model of successful aging (CEMSA)

Answer 14

ways of seeing and talking about themselves can influence the way older adults feel about aging and their ability to age successfully

Question 15

Planck hypothesis

Answer 15

tendency of peak scientific productivity to occur in early adulthood; peak at 40 but doesn’t include those that died before old age

Question 16

creative potential

Answer 16

total number of works a person can hypothetically produce without an upper limit

Question 17

career age

Answer 17

age at which individual started producing creative works

Question 18

3 factors in simonton’s model of creative productivity

Answer 18

creative potential, number of ideas, and ability to turn ideas into products

Question 19

equal odds rule

Answer 19

creative individuals who produce more works are more likely to produce one or more of high quality than those who produce fewer works

Question 20

blind variation and selective retention (BVSR) theory

Answer 20

true creativity requires producing a large number of ideas in trial-and-error fashion then the best of which will remain

Question 21

old age style

Answer 21

negative and positive features that is common in the work of older artists

Question 22

swan song

Answer 22

last burst of creativity of an older musician

Question 23

Rowe and Kahn’s limitations of normal aging

Answer 23

cognitive and physical heterogeneity within primary or normal aging, “normal” suggests no risk and unmodifiable aging

Question 24

Missing predictors of successful aging

Answer 24

spirituality, marital status and satisfaction, positive (not pathological) health, leisure activity, well-being and quality of life, personal fulfillment

Question 25

Alternative models to successful aging

Answer 25

resilience aging and harmonious aging

Question 26

resilience aging

Answer 26

focuses on patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant risk or adversity; achievable by many regardless of social, cultural background, or physical/cognitive impairment

Question 27

harmonious aging

Answer 27

wisdom of handling opportunities and challenges, acknowledgement of physical and functional changes, interdependence among people

Question 28

stereotype embodiment

Answer 28

stereotypes are embodied when their assimilation from the surrounding culture leads to self-definitions that influence functioning and health

Question 29

2 directions of stereotype embodiment

Answer 29

top-down (culture, society, historical) and over-time (childhood, adulthood, old age)

Question 30

How are stereotypes embodied?

Answer 30

become internalized across the lifespan, gain salience from self-relevance, can operate unconsciously, impact multiple pathways

Question 31

Influence of positive self-perception on health and survival

Answer 31

leads to lower decline in functional health and an extra 7.5 years of life on average

Question 32

How are age stereotypes more likely to be internalized compared to race and gender stereotypes?

Answer 32

they become internalized and self-relevant as we transition from the privileged groups (young) to the marginalized group (old); lack of egalitarian thinking where the old are treated the same as the young

Question 33

negative features of old age style

Answer 33

more pessimistic view of life, sense of isolation, choice of tragic themes, feeling of imminent departure

Question 34

positive features of old age style

Answer 34

more expressive and less realistic, accumulation of symbolism, more freedom in use of paint strokes, richer in meaning