16.1 The Meaning of Aging in Late Adulthood

Cultural perspectives on aging are often a combination of positive and negative views. These views may be affected by several factors, including cultural values and perceived competition for limited resources.
Stereotypes about aging can be either positive or negative, and many (especially the negative ones) aren’t supported by research. Stereotypes can lead to ageism and discrimination.
In Erikson’s final stage, integrity versus despair, many people reflect on their life and consider its meaning. Older adults often define themselves in complex ways, reflecting a lifetime of experiences.
Personality factors such as extraversion and neuroticism change in varying degrees with age. Emotional experiences generally improve in older age, because most people experience more positive and fewer negative emotions.

16.2 Contexts: Family, Friendships, Romantic Relationships, and Social Communities in Late Adulthood

Social networks tend to get smaller as people age, largely due to an increased focus on close emotional relationships, such as with family.
Marital satisfaction in later years tends to be high, yet the divorce rate among older adults is increasing.
Many older adults remarry after experiencing widowhood or divorce; however, older heterosexual men and lesbian women tend to remarry at higher rates than others.
Older adults gain great benefit from formal social support to meet their more practical needs, and from informal social support to meet both practical and emotional needs.

Choosing when to retire, doing financial planning, and setting postretirement goals and activities are all necessary preretirement tasks.
After retiring, older adults often engage in paid work, volunteer work, time with family, and leisure activities including sports and travel.
Retirement age has been increasing, and retirement has been growing less accessible due to the need to plan for a longer retirement (given increased life expectancy), late decisions to start investing for retirement, poor investment choices, and inability to save enough for retirement due to low income.

While most older adults maintain their independence, many need housing arrangements that include access to help and other resources.
Health-care requirements and needs related to IADLs and ADLs often determine the appropriate type of housing environment, such as independent living, assisted living, or nursing home care.
As an alternative to moving to institutional living environments, many older adults age in place and rely on family or professionals if they have needs that aren’t being met.
Long-term care, especially in institutional settings, can be very expensive, yet many adults do not (or cannot) purchase long-term care insurance or plan for these expenses.
Elder abuse is a common problem and is most often committed by family members, friends, and acquaintances.

Emotional changes in later adulthood typically demonstrate successful aging as individuals come to experience more positive emotions and fewer negative ones.
Resilience, gratitude, and an internal locus of control are all related to more positive outcomes in later adulthood.
Social relationships also represent successful aging, because most older adults maintain high-quality social relationships throughout life.
The SOC theory describes how older adults are able to age successfully despite age-related declines.