Psychological Theories of Aging

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Psychological Theories of Aging (personality) Lec
ture 8 Chapter 7
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Personality????
"There is very little difference between one
person and another but what little difference
there is, is very important." (William James,
1897)  
Definition (Costa McCrae) Psychological
organization of the individual as a whole and
especially to those features that distinguish the
individual from others
(Mischel) Distinctive patterns of behavior,
thought, emotion that characterize each person's
adaptation to the situations of life
traits
situation
Interval Environment
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Does Personality Change Over Time?

• Depends on how you study personality
• Cross sectional studies vs Longitudinal studies

• Depends on how what aspect of personality you are
  measuringTheories of Personality

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Personality Theories

• Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking
  down behavior patterns into observable traits
  (instead of observable behavior)
• Developmental (Stage) Theory - emphasizes
  different stages that occur during development
  (both traits behavior)

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Trait Theory
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Trait Theories of Personality

• Assumption of trait stability has led researchers
  to examine personality traits longitudinally
• McCrae and Costa (1984, 1990) proposed 5-factor
  model of personality traits
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness to experience
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness

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Big Five Personality TraitsCosta and McCrae
(1992) - Broad dimensions

• Neuroticism- individuals who experience negative
  affects (tense, moody, anxious) ? tendency to
  easily experience unpleasant emotions
• Extroversion individuals who are sociable
  (talkative, energetic, assertive) ? a tendency to
  seek stimulation and the company of others
• Openness to Experience individuals who have
  have active imaginations and are attentive to
  their inner feelings ? a tendency to enjoy art,
  new intellectual experiences, and ideas
• Agreeableness - individuals who are fundamentally
  altruistic, (sympathetic, kind, affectionate) ?
  tendency to be compassionate rather than
  antagonistic towards others
• Conscientiousness - individuals who are
  purposeful (organized, thorough planful) ? a
  tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully,
  and aim for achievement

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• Cross Sectional Studies
• neuroticism
• extroversion
• openness
• agreeableness
• conscientiousness

• Longitudinal Studies
• neuroticism
• extroversion
• openness
• ? agreeableness
• ? conscientiousness

Results on Older adults
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Trait (beliefs about control)
Locus of Control (Rotter)
Internal
External
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Locus of Control (Rotter)

• College Students vs Older Adults (Rhee Gatz,
  1993)
• More internal LC older adults vs college
  students
• younger group assessed older adults as having
  more External
• older adults assessed younger group as having
  more Internal

• Longitudinal Study of four generations (Gatz
  Karel, 1993)
• from young adulthood to middle aged more
  internal
• no difference between middle age and older
  adults (cross section)

External
Internal
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Developmental (Stage) Theories
Based on Freudtook steps further what happens
when you are young impacts later life Stages of
Life
Carl Jung (1875 1961)
Erik Erikson (1902 - 1994)
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Carl Gustav Jung
Wholly unprepared, we embark upon the second half
of life . . . we take the step into the afternoon
of life . . . with the false assumption that our
truths and ideals will serve as before. But we
cannot live the afternoon of life according to
the program of lifes morningfor what was great
in the morning will be little at evening, and
what in the morning was true will at the evening
have become a lie. For a young person it is
almost a sin, or at least a danger to be too
preoccupied with the self but for the aging
person it is a duty and a necessity to devote
serious attention to the self. Carl Jung (1933)
Feb. 1955
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Jungs Psychoanalytic Perspective (Stage Theory)

• Carl Jungs model of personality assumes changes
  throughout life
• Model emphasizes stages in the development of
  consciousness and the ego
• Focus early in life (youth and middle age) is
  extraversion (focus on external world) to
  introversion (focus on ones inner world in old
  age)
• Life must contract and attention needs to be paid
  to inner life.

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Jungs theory
stages of life youth (puberty to 35 years old)
narrow focus of childhood leads to. old
age expanded consciousness in old age
most important and lifelong task is fulfillment
through the process of individuation achievement
of harmony of ego and consciousness, which makes
a person one and whole

• Theory of Individualism People either
  introverted or extrovertedIf balanced good
  mental health
• Major focus of the second half of life should be
  mortality and that anything that took away from
  that was in the direction of not being mentally
  healthy
• 2 shifts in personality
• Extroversion-introversion
• Masculinity-femininity (anima-animus)

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anima (Latin for soul)a wildly imaginative and
seductive feminine power within man
eros... animus (Latin for spirit)a fiercely
willful and visionary masculine luminosity within
woman logos...
feminine side of a male's unconscious mind
a set of unconscious masculine attributes and
potentials for females
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Masculinity/Femininity

• less differentiated in late life

• men ? nurturing, expressive qualities

• woman ? assertiveness, more dominant

Turning Inwardness

• ? interiority w/ age - tendency to become more
• preoccupied w/ feelings, experiences

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Stage Theories of Personality

• Erik Erikson
• Focus on psychosocial development throughout the
  life cycle
• 8 Stages of ego development
• Last stage ego integrity vs. despair
• Purpose to establish a sense of meaning in
  ones life, rather than feeling despair or
  bitterness that life was wasted to accept
  oneself and ones life without despair

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• Erikson's Stages of Development
• (Personality development as epigenetic stages)
• Developmental processes of socialization
• 8 stages of development

• We develop through a predetermined unfolding of
  our personalities in eight stages
• Progress through each stage is in part
  determined by our success, or lack of success, in
  all the previous stages
• A little like the unfolding of a rose bud, each
  petal opens up at a certain time, in a certain
  order
• If we interfere in the natural order of
  development by pulling a petal forward
  prematurely or out of order, we ruin the
  development of the entire flower.

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Erik Eriksons 8 Stage of Man (woman!)

• trust vs. mistrust (0-1 infant)

• autonomy vs. shame (2-3 toddler)

• initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 preschooler)

• industry vs. inferiority (7-12 School age)

• identity vs. confusion (12-18 Adolescence)

• intimacy vs. isolation (20s Young adult)

• generativity vs. stagnation (late 20s to 50s
  
• middle Adult)

• integrity vs. despair (50 Old Adult)

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Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation - middle
adulthood. To establish a sense of care and
concern for the well being of future generations
to look toward the future and not stagnate in the
past (20 -50s) Stage 8 - Integrity vs.
Despair - old age. To establish a sense of
meaning in one's life, rather than feeling
despaired or bitterness that life was wasted to
accept oneself and one's life without despair (50
up)