PSY 3128 Chapter 2: Ageing Development
5 Jun 2018
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One Canadian study examined factors related to quality of life among seniors in seven cities: Montreal, Quebec City,
Ottawa, Toronto, Regina, Vancouver, and Whitehorse. The researchers conducted focus groups and individual
interviews with seniors and stakeholders and found that the key factors promoting quality of life were access to
information, health care, housing, income security, safety and security, social contacts and networks, and
transportation. Among participants in all cities, ageism was identified as a major barrier to quality of life and appear
in many ways, including the perpetuation of the myths regarding ageing, being devalued in society, including
education, health care, employment, and the law.
Psychological Models of Development in Adulthood
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory (1963): attempted to understand how people navigate the major life issues that they
face when they encounter each of life’s new challenges.
Epigenetic Principle: asserts that each stage unfolds from the previous stage according to a predestined order.
i. Early Infancy: trust vs. mistrust
ii. Toddlerhood: autonomy and shame vs. doubt
iii. Early Childhood: initiative vs. guilt
iv. Middle Childhood: industry vs inferiority
v. Adolescence: identity achievement vs. identity diffusion
vi. Young Adulthood: intimacy vs. isolation
vii. Middle Adulthood: generativity vs. stagnation
viii. Later Adulthood: ego integrity vs. despair
You may experience these things at different times throughout your life, for example, being robbed in old age may
lead you to mistrust people, being diagnosed with cancer may lead you to face your mortality/ego integrity.
Generativity versus Stagnation, middle-aged adults focus on the psychosocial issues of procreation, productivity, and
creativity. The most common pathway to generativity is through parenthood, an endeavor that involves direct care of
the next generation. However, individuals who do not have children can nevertheless develop generativity through
such activities as teaching, mentoring, or supervising younger people. A career that involves producing something of
value that future generations can enjoy is another form of generativity.
Ego Integrity vs Despair: Older individuals who establish a strong sense of ego integrity can look back at their
experiences with acceptance. Ego integrity also involves an ability to look at and accept the positive and negative
attributes of one’s life and self, even if it may be painful for people to acknowledge their past mistakes or personal
flaws. This sense of acceptance of the past and present self allows the individual to also view mortality with the
acceptance that life inevitably must end.
Erikson was pretty radical because he had the first theory of development that went beyond childhood.
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
Schema: the mental structures we use to understand the world.
Assimilation: people use their existing schemas as a way to understand the world around them. The term assimilation
does not have a common meaning, as when you say that a person has become assimilated to a new culture. In this
model, it has the opposite meaning where it refers to a situation. The world assimilates to the individual.
Accommodation: when you change your schemas in response to new information about the world.
Each stage represents a time of equilibrium when assimilation and accommodation are perfectly balanced.
Identity Process Theory: identity continues to change in adulthood in a dynamic manner.
Identity (Favorable view of the self) → Threshold experience (normal changes, illness) →
i. Identity Accommodation: over the hill syndrome, compulsive illness behavior. You accommodate all
the negative information into your being.
ii. Identity Balance: gradual integration, appropriate adaptation
iii. Identity Assimilation: unhealthy denial, vs. healthy denial. You assimilate the environment to yourself
and the ideas you already had about yourself.
People interpret threshold experiences in one of three ways: identity accommodation (changing your view of yourself),
identity balance (maintaining a stable sense of yourself but making some changes), or identity assimilation (not
changing your sense of self).
Document Summary
One canadian study examined factors related to quality of life among seniors in seven cities: montreal, quebec city, Erikson"s psychosocial theory (1963): attempted to understand how people navigate the major life issues that they face when they encounter each of life"s new challenges. Epigenetic principle: asserts that each stage unfolds from the previous stage according to a predestined order. You may experience these things at different times throughout your life, for example, being robbed in old age may lead you to mistrust people, being diagnosed with cancer may lead you to face your mortality/ego integrity. Generativity versus stagnation, middle-aged adults focus on the psychosocial issues of procreation, productivity, and creativity. The most common pathway to generativity is through parenthood, an endeavor that involves direct care of the next generation. However, individuals who do not have children can nevertheless develop generativity through such activities as teaching, mentoring, or supervising younger people.
