PSYC 332 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Old Age, Emerging Adulthood And Early Adulthood, Personal Fable
25 Dec 2018
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Erikson: final stage of psychological challenge of ego integrity vs despair. To accept one"s life has been a worthwhile endeavor. In despair: the older person rejects own life as something that has not been good or worthy, filled with regrets and recriminations. Narrative identity: ego integrity shifts the older person"s focus somewhat from author to reader and critic, becomes audience of own life. With memory loss and increasing frailty, the oldest adults may find it more and more difficult to engage in the process of life narrative construction. Dementia may undermine the author"s fundamental reason of being. Positivity bias of aging: tendency of older people to emphasize positive and deemphasize negative emotions in autobiographical memories. What matters the most in the story at the end of life are probably relationships --> family, close friends. Socioemotional selectivity: as people age, winnow down their priorities to a few things in life that matter the most such as family and friends.
