chapter 19

Question 1

Erikson’s developmental stage for late adulthood

Answer 1

integrity versus despair
-involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one’s life has not been well spent

Question 2

activity theory

Answer 2

the more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their lives

Question 3

socioemotional selectivity theory

Answer 3

older adults become more selective about their social networks; because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction, older adults often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships

Question 4

selective optimization with compensation theory

Answer 4

successful aging is related to three main factors: selection, optimization, and compensation

• selection: reduced capacity and loss of functioning require a reduction in performance in many domains
• optimization: possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and technology
• compensation: needed when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the performance potential

Question 5

possible selves

Answer 5

what individuals might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming

Question 6

agism

Answer 6

prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults

Question 7

eldercare

Answer 7

physical and emotional caretaking for older members of the family, whether by giving day-to-day physical assistance or by being responsible for overseeing such care

Question 8

generational inequity

Answer 8

the view that our aging society is being unfair to its younger members because older adults pile up advantages by receiving inequitably large allocations of resources

Question 9

convoy model of social relations

Answer 9

individuals go through life embedded in a personal network of individuals to whom they give and from whom they receive support