Individuals from more recent cohorts show more flexibility in old age than people from previous generations.

True or False?

True!

 Although there is a common belief that older adults tend to be depressed, research suggests that older adults actually feel what?

More Content and Satisfied

A longitudinal study of older adults demonstrated that negative emotions such  as boredom, loneliness, and unhappiness decreased after what age?

age 60

Older adults who reported higher levels of positive emotion and retained their positivity are those considered to have which personality?

Extrovert

Older adults who are overanxious and restless and who seem to complain and have negative affect are likely to have which personality? 

Neurotic

According to Erikson, persons in late adulthood are in which crisis?

ego integrity versus despair

 June is 75 years old and is examining her life in order to accept her approaching death. 

 ego integrity versus despair stage

What is the virtue gained during Erikson’s final stage?

Wisdom

According to Erickson, wisdom includes acceptance of death, as well as imperfections in one's self and who else?

one's parents

When 80-year-old Monty is asked about his life, he states that he knows he has lived life as well as he could and that he loves his deceased parents despite all faults.

According to Erikson, what virtue has Monty developed?

Wisdom

According to Erikson’s theory, people who successfully resolve the final crisis can overcome what?

Despair

What is the ability to adapt thinking and behavior to reduce or relieve stress that arises from harmful, threatening, and challenging conditions is referred to as?

Coping

Name 3 mature adaptive defenses that the Grant Study determined to be important factors in predicting emotional heath at age 65.

   A. altruism

B. humor

       C. sublimation

What is the process of adapting to harmful, threatening, or challenging conditions?

Coping

David has had trouble getting into his apartment building because the steps are too steep. He makes several complaints to the owner of the building until finally the owner installs a ramp, making entry easier.

What style of coping is this?

problem-focused style of coping

     Delores wishes she could see her grandchildren more often, but they live on the other side of the country.

To help herself feel better, Delores volunteers at a day care center so she can be around small children.

What style of coping is this?

the emotion-focused style of coping

Is emotion-focused coping used more by older or younger adults?

older adults

According to the text, who has the most flexible coping strategy?

elderly adults

What are the three most frequently reported coping strategies with which older people cope with stressful events?

A. keeping busy

B. accepting situations that cannot be changed

C. religious faith

The loss of a loved one to Alzheimer’s disease, the loss of a child to drug addition, and the loss of a homeland are all examples of what kind of loss, according to Pauline Boss?

Ambiguous loss

What person is most likely to show a strong correlation between religious activity and well being?

an African American  woman, age 85

Successful or optimal aging has been measured using all of the following criteria: 

cardiovascular functioning and cognitive performance,

productivity and longevity,

and a degree of what?

personal control retained in old age

The question of whether people are well because they are active in late adulthood or active because they are well is a constant focus in studying which theory?

the activity theory

Which theory says the normal way to age is to cut down in activities and commitments to others and to become increasingly preoccupied with the self?

disengagement theory

Dan, age 78, has reduced his social commitments, is slowing down, and is focusing on his own needs. He is aging successfully, according to which theory? 

the disengagement theory

What theory holds that people age most successfully by remaining involved in as many roles as possible and finding substitutes for lost roles?

Activity theory

Cathy, after retiring from teaching school, rechanneled her energy into serving on the boards of directors for both a senior center and a historical foundation. She also volunteered for “meals on wheels.”

Which activity theory is she following?

activity theory of successful aging

Which theory of successful aging suggests that older adults should continue to do what they have been doing as long as they find that activity satisfying?

continuity theory

According to Atchley’s continuity theory, the most desirable pattern of development in later life is for older people to welcome some change but also do what?

maintain links with the past

Which coping method's success depends on having goals to guide development and resources to make the goals potentially achievable?

selective optimization and compensation

According to Carstensen’s socioemotional selectivity theory, the most important psychological function of social interaction in old age is what?

emotional support

A study that analyzed styles of aging found all of the following:

A. most older people who have aged successfully remained active,

B. less active lifestyles are also associated with successful aging,

and what else? 

 different personality types react to aging in a variety of ways

According to the research of Carstensen, “the most reliable finding in social gerontology” is that older people tend to reduce what? 

their social contacts

What is the most crucial lifestyle decision people make as they approach late adulthood?

Whether and when to retire

When did the concept of retirement become widespread?

during the early twentieth century

Why did retirement at age 65 eventually became almost universal?

Primarily because of the social security system

A noted gerontologist is giving a lecture titled “How to Age Successfully.”  What would the audience be least likely to hear?

What 3 choices about working are available to older adults?

A. early retirement

                                   B. retiring from one career to start another

   C. working part-time

Compared to younger workers, the typical older workers are more what?

responsible

Older workers have more experience than younger workers,

they are absent from work less than younger workers,

and they are more what?

loyal

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1986) protects most workers age 40 and older from what?

being denied a job, fired, paid less, or forced to retire because of age

Older adult workers have been found to be better educated than those that retire, as well as being what?

in good health

more careful, dependable, and responsible

In a study commissioned by the United States Congress, findings about older workers demonstrated that job performance were not best predicted by age, but by what?

tests of specific abilities

Since the turn of the century, the participation of older men in the workforce of the United States has decreased and the participation of older women has ________.

 increased

Since the late 1960’s the proportion of U.S. older adults doing volunteer work has ________.

increased

there are too few younger workers contributing to Social Security; there is uncertainty about how well private pension funds will perform;

and  what problem specific to women?

women often will receive smaller pensions than men

What is a key predictor of positive morale after retirement for both men and women?

workers’ satisfaction in their jobs before retirement

Approximately what percentage of older adults has done volunteer work or community service during the past year?

57%

 A pattern of retirement activity that is found in well-educated older adults who seem to allocate their time equally among family, work, and leisure is referred to as what kind of lifestyle?

a balanced investment lifestyle

Dan and Diane are retirees who spend much of their time visiting family and friends, watching television, and going to inexpensive restaurants with friends.

What kind of retirement lifestyle is this?

a family-focused retirement lifestyle

Ellen, who is recently retired from her job as a nurse, now devotes most of her time to making furniture, something she has always wanted to do.

a serious leisure retirement lifestyle

Since the late 1960s, has the proportion of older adults doing volunteer work increased or decreased?

increased greatly

What is the single largest source of income for older people in the United States?

Social Security

What number out of ten older Americans receives social security benefits? 

9

Who are most likely to be poor in late adulthood?

black women

 they are unable to work,

 inflation has eroded their savings and pensions,

 and they have what?

Soaring medical bills

Proposed adjustments in the United States’ Social Security  program include all of the following:

privatization,

raising the income cap,

and raising what else?

retirement age

 Who do most older Americans live with?

spouse, children, or other relatives

How many out of ten older people own their homes, and prefer to live  there even  after they are widowed?

8

What is the most desired living arrangement by the majority of elderly Americans?

Aging in place

What is the single most important factor that enables older adults to live in their own homes instead of in institutions?

being married

Among those 75 and over, what percentage of women live alone?

50%

All of the following reasons have been cited to explain the growth of elderly single-person households:

 increased old-age benefits,

reverse mortgage programs,

and what else?

long-term care policies that discourage institutional living

Families seem to make the assumption that when older adults live alone they  are lonely, but what 3 other factors also play a significant role in whether or not a loved one will be vulnerable to loneliness?

A. personality traits of the older adult.

 One of the reasons that older adults do not want to be absorbed into their children’s households is  that  they will be isolated from who?

their friends

The older adults most likely to be institutionalized are those who have overburdened their busy families with what?

their poor health and disabilities

Approximately what percentage of Americans over 85 years old lives in nursing homes?

18%

The following features are desirable in a nursing home:

A. privacy for social activity

B. opportunities for socialization

C. a full range of what?

social and therapeutic services

What element is MOST important in a good nursing home?

opportunity for residents to make decisions

 Residents in intermediate-care nursing homes who had higher self-esteem, less depression, and a greater sense of satisfaction with their lives were more likely than others to adjust well and be less likely to do what?

to die within four years

What is the fastest-growing form of housing for the elderly in the United States?

The Assisted-living facility

What is the form of elder abuse in which a frail or ill old person is abandoned called?

granny dumping

 According to the text, elder abuse involves what 3 types of abuse?

neglect, physical abuse & emotional abuse  

Neglect or physical or psychological abuse of dependent older persons is  most likely to be committed by who?

a caregiver-spouse

What older person would be most likely to be abused to the point of injury?

very old, infirm woman living with her husband

What are close friends and family members upon whom older people can rely for social support and well-being called?

social convoys

Who most likely wants to get to know new and interesting people?

a young adult in good health

Clara has recently lost her spouse. To help her maintain satisfaction in life after this trauma, what is it very important that Clara’s family and friends do?

 provide emotional support

Now that multigenerational families are beginning to span five generations, many of the “over 60” family members are caregivers to parents for a  longer time than they did what?

cared for their children

The Hispanic Americans culture demonstrates a lineal, or Inter-generational obligation, which means that power and authority is held by who?

older generations

African Americans and Irish Americans, whose cultures have been marked by poverty, have household structures that are highly _______.

collateral

What percent of marriages last for at least 50 years?

20%

According to research cited in the text, couples who are still together in late adulthood are more likely than middle-aged couples to find what?

to find their marriage satisfying 

    A. since divorce is relatively easy today, people who are still together have usually chosen to be together.

B. they have had more time to work out their difficulties.

and....

C. they may need to justify having remained married so long.

Divorce in late life is _____.

Rare

Men tend to be more satisfied in late-life remarriages than in what?

mid-life remarriages

U.S. women ages 65 and over are how many times more likely than men of the same age to be widowed?

3 times

Glenda, who is 74 years old, never married nor had children. What relationship would she probably find LEAST important to her?

 relationships with similarly aged men

What percentage of U.S. men and women 65 years of age and older have never married?

4%

Generalizing from the textbook: it could be concluded that in comparison with older people who have been married, “never marrieds” are more likely to be what?

independent

Because of negative attitudes toward homosexuality throughout much of the twentieth century, many homosexuals’ self-concepts were shaped by the _______  _________; those born later tend to view their homosexuality as a status.

prevailing stigma

What is a common problem for aging homosexuals?

poor relations with their family

Friends are important because they are chosen by the person.

True or False?

True!

Having friends in late adulthood is important because choosing friends gives one a sense of ______.

control

Who do older people rely on in emergencies?

neighbors

Elderly parents do not want to be a burden on their children or expect them to provide what?

financial help

What does research suggest that elderly childless people regret?

not having children

Sisters tend to be more _______ than brothers in late adulthood.

nurturant

Grandparenting offers what 3 benefits to the family?

sense of renewal,

source of diversion,

mark of longevity