Overview and forwarding
By:
Thomas A. Rando, Laura L. Carstensen,
K. Warner Schaie, and Sherry L.
Willis
Advances in science and technology in the
20th century reshaped 21st century life in industrialized nations around the
world. Living conditions so improved that infant and childhood mortality were
profoundly reduced and medical advances in the prevention and treatment of
leading causes of death among adults, such as heart disease and cancer, further
extended the lives of older individuals.
As a result, in the course of a single
century, the average life expectancy in developed countries nearly doubled. For
the first time in human history, old age became a normative stage in life. Not
only are individuals living longer on average, but populations have begun to
age as a result of this increase in life expectancy along with a precipitous
drop in fertility rates.
Countries in the developed world are
rapidly reaching the point where there will be more people over 60 than under
15. Thus, the status of older people holds ramifications for the functioning of
entire societies.
Even though the near-doubling of life
expectancy was a spectacular achievement, there were not concurrent advances in
our ability to alleviate the disabling conditions of later life. Nor were there
sociological advances to create a world as responsive to the needs of very old
people as to the very young.
In order to realize the enormous potential
of longer life, scientists must come to a more comprehensive understanding of
human aging and the social, psychological and biological factors that
contribute to optimal outcomes.
Along with the phenomenal advances in the
genetic determinants of longevity and susceptibility to age-related diseases
has come the awareness of the critical importance of environmental factors that
modulate and even supersede genetic predispositions.
The
growth of the research literature provides new opportunities to replace the
index of chronological age as the primary independent variable with other
variables that represent causal mechanisms, and hence present the potential for
control or experimental modification. Both academic and public interests have
been contributing to the emergence of the psychology of aging as a major
subject in universities and research institutions.
Issues
of interest to the psychology of aging touch upon many features of daily life,
from the workplace and family life to public policy matters covering health
care, retirement, social security, and pensions.
The
psychology of aging is complex and many new questions keep being raised about how
behavior is organized and how it changes over the course of life. Parallel
advances in research methodology particularly directed toward the problems of
studying change allow us to explicate in greater detail, patterns and sub-patterns
of behavior over the life span.
Results
of the markedly increasing number of longitudinal studies are providing new
insights into the casual factors in behavior changes associated with adult
development and aging. They are contributing to our understanding of the role
of behavior changes in relation to biological, health, and social interactions.
References:
Handbook
of the Psychology of Aging, K. Warner Schaie,
and Sherry L. Willis, 2011, Elsevier Inc.
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