Interview With an Elderly Person

2512 Words6 Pages

Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging. Methods I interviewed my 92 year old neighbor who, I believe, presents a case of successful aging. As far as I can tell, she has not experienced many limitations due to age. She is spirited, active, and bright. Other neighbors tell me that she has been somewhat physically restrained in the recent past, and she has been using a walker more frequently, but she seems to be fine with that. She grew up in Germany, a country that is very close to the United States in regards to how people view aging. According to McConatha, Schnell, Volkwein, Riley, and Leach (2003), Germans, compared to US Americans, view aging a somewhat more negatively. They are often more pessimistic about the likelihood of finding contentment in old age and generally do not expect to feel good when they are older. To my surprise, my aunts views about aging were very positive. The Interview Questions The following interview was held on the 1st of March 2014 over the phone. I asked my aunt a few questions and gave her the reason... ... middle of paper ... ...velopment. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. McConatha, J. T., Schnell, F., Volkwein, K., Riley, L., & Leach, E. (2003). Attitudes toward aging: a comparative analysis of young adults from the United States and Germany. International Journal Of Aging & Human Development, 57(3), 203–215. Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730. Quoidbach, J., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2013). The end of history illusion. Science, 339(6115), 96–98. Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37(4), 433–40. Strawbridge, W. J., Wallhagen, M. I., & Cohen, R. D. (2002). Successful aging and well-being: Self-rated compared with Rowe and Kahn. The Gerontologist, 42(6), 727–33.

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