Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T22:01:55.461Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negotiating the demands of active ageing: longitudinal findings from Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

MARTIN J. TOMASIK  and
RAINER K. SILBEREISEN
MARTIN J. TOMASIK*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
RAINER K. SILBEREISEN
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Developmental Science, University of Jena, Germany.
*
Address for correspondence: Martin J. Tomasik, Department of Psychology, Applied Psychology: Life Management, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/11, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland. E-mail: tomasik@psychologie.uzh.ch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The challenges of population ageing and globalisation have been addressed by many welfare states in terms of active ageing policies, which in turn confront individuals with new demands such as keeping up to date with technological developments. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how individuals negotiate the demands of active ageing. The outcome variable was change in primary and secondary control strategies with regard to demands of active ageing over the course of one year. In a German sample of N = 602 men and women aged 55–75 years, we found a strong preference for engagement with these demands and a low preference for disengagement. Furthermore, a higher load of demands of active ageing was associated with an increase in engagement with these demands. However, when people perceived their everyday surroundings as unfavourable, their disengagement with demands of active ageing increased. Higher internal control beliefs concerning demands of active ageing were associated with an increase in engagement and a decrease in disengagement. We conclude that individuals strengthen their efforts to master demands of active ageing when they believe that they can control them. When the everyday ecology seems unfavourable, though, strategies are preferred that enable people to avoid a presumably lost case.

Keywords

active ageingappraisalscontrol beliefsdisengagementengagementsocial change
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 34 , Issue 5 , May 2014 , pp. 790 - 819
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alasuutari, P. 2000. Globalization and the nation-state: an appraisal of the discussion. Acta Sociologica, 43, 3, 259–69.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B., Cornelius, S. W. and Nesselroade, J. R. 1977. Cohort effects in behavioral development: theoretical and methodological perspectives. In Collins, W. A. (ed.), Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 11). Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1–63.Google Scholar
Bath, P. A. and Deeg, D. 2005. Social engagement and health outcomes among older people: introduction to a special section. European Journal of Ageing, 2, 1, 24–30.Google Scholar
Bosma, H. 2006. Socioeconomic differences in health: are control beliefs fundamental mediators? In Siegrist, J. and Marmot, M. (eds), Social Inequalities in Health: New Evidence and Policy Implications. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 153–66.Google Scholar
Bowling, A. 2008. Enhancing later life: how older people perceive active ageing? Aging and Mental Health, 12, 3, 293–301.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. 1986. Ecology of the family as a context for human development: research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22, 6, 723–42.Google Scholar
Christensen, D. A. and Ervik, R. 2003. Active Ageing in Europe: Methods, Policies, and Institutions – Norwegian Country Report. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Cunningham, G. O. and Michael, Y. L. 2004. Concepts guiding the study of the impact of the built environment on physical activity for older adults: a review of the literature. American Journal of Health Promotion, 18, 6, 435–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, A. 2002. Active ageing and education in mid and later life. Ageing & Society, 22, 1, 95–113.Google Scholar
Elder, G. H. 1985. Life Course Dynamics. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. 1996. After the golden age? Welfare state dilemmas in a global economy. In Esping-Andersen, G. (ed.), Welfare States in Transition: National Adaptations in Global Economies. Sage, London, UK, 1–30.Google Scholar
European Commission 2002. Europe's Response to World Ageing: Promoting Economic and Social Progress in an Ageing World. A Contribution of the European Commission to the Second World Assembly on Ageing. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament No. COM/2002/0143, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.Google Scholar
Feldman, S. S., Fisher, L. and Ransom, D. 1995. Is “what is good for the goose good for the gander?” sex differences in relationships between adolescents coping and adult adaptation. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 5, 3, 333–59.Google Scholar
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A. and Gruen, R. 1986. The dynamics of stressful encounter. Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 5, 992–1003.Google Scholar
Forsythe, C. J. and Compas, B. E. 1987. Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: testing the goodness of fit hypothesis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, 4, 473–85.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A. 1985. The social dynamics of early withdrawal from the labour force in France. Ageing & Society, 5, 4, 381–412.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J. and Tomasik, M. J. 2002. Get an apprenticeship before school is out: how German adolescents adjust vocational aspirations when getting close to a developmental deadline. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 2, 199–219.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C. and Fleeson, W. 2001. Developmental regulation before and after a developmental deadline: the sample case of “biological clock” for childbearing. Psychology and Aging, 16, 3, 400–13.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C. and Schulz, R. 2010. A motivational theory of life-span development. Psychological Review, 117, 1, 32–60.Google Scholar
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. 2000. Rethinking globalization. In Held, D. and McGrew, A. (eds), The Global Transformation Reader: An Introduction to the Globalization Debate. Polity Press, Cambridge, UK, 99–104.Google Scholar
Hofäcker, D., Buchholz, S. and Blossfeld, H.-P. 2006. Late careers in a globalized world: a comparison of changes in twelve modern societies. In Blossfeld, H.-P., Buchholz, S. and Hofäcker, D. (eds), Globalization, Uncertainty and Late Careers in Society. Routledge, New York, New York, USA, 353–71.Google Scholar
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P. 1997. Random-Route-Stichproben nach ADM [Random route samples according to ADM]. In Gabler, S. and Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P. (eds), Stichproben in der Umfragepraxis. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, Germany, 33–42.Google Scholar
Humpel, N., Owen, N. and Leslie, E. 2002. Environmental factors associated with adults’ participation in physical activity: a review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22, 3, 188–99.Google Scholar
Huneault, L., Mathieu, M.-È. and Tremblay, A. 2011. Globalization and modernization: an obesogenic combination. Obesity Reviews, 12, 5, 64–72.Google Scholar
Kessler, E.-M., Rakoczy, K. and Staudinger, U. M. 2004. The portrayal of older people in prime time television series: the match with gerontological evidence. Ageing & Society, 24, 4, 531–52.Google Scholar
Kessler, E.-M., Schwender, C. and Bowen, C. E. 2010. The portrayal of older people's social participation on German prime-time TV advertisements. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 62B, 1, 97–106.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S. and Folkman, S. 1984. Stress, Appraisal and Coping. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Lemon, B. W., Bengtson, V. L. and Peterson, J. A. 1972. An exploration of the activity theory of aging: activity types and life satisfaction among in-movers to a retirement community. Journals of Gerontology, 27, 4, 511–23.Google Scholar
Leventhal, T. and Brooks-Gunn, J. 2003. Moving to opportunity: an experimental study of neighborhood effects on mental health. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 9, 1576–82.Google Scholar
Lewis, G. and Araya, R. 2002. Globalization and mental health. In Sartorius, N., Gaebel, W., Lopez-Ibor, J. J. and Maj, M. (eds), Psychiatry in Society. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, UK, 57–8.Google Scholar
Loretto, W., Duncan, C. and White, P. J. 2000. Ageism and employment: controversies, ambiguities and younger people's perceptions. Ageing & Society, 20, 3, 279–302.Google Scholar
McCrae, R. R. 1984. Situational determinants of coping responses: Loss, threat, and challenge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 4, 919–28.Google Scholar
Mishra, R. 1999. Globalization and the Welfare State. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.Google Scholar
Moody, H. 1995. Ageing, meaning and the allocation of resources. Ageing & Society, 15, 2, 163–84.Google Scholar
Ney, S. 2005. Active aging policy in Europe: between path dependency and path departure. Ageing International, 30, 4, 325–42.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1998. Maintaining Prosperity in an Ageing Society. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Pavlova, M. K. and Silbereisen, R. K. 2012. Perceived level and appraisal of the growing expectations for active ageing among the young-old in Germany. Research on Aging, 34, 1, 80–99.Google Scholar
Perek-Białas, J., Ruzik, A. and Vidovićová, L. 2008. Active ageing policies in the Czech Republic and Poland. International Social Science Journal, 58, 190, 559–70.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1997. Employment and training: planning for 2020 and beyond. In Evandrou, M. (ed.), Baby Boomers: Ageing in the 21st Century. Age Concern, London, UK, 41–58.Google Scholar
Piekkola, H. 2003. Active Ageing in Europe: Methods, Policies, and Institutions – Finnish Country Report. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Piekkola, H. 2004. Active Ageing and Labor Markets: Synthesis Report. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. and Silbereisen, R. K. 2004. Human development in times of social change: theoretical considerations and research needs. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 4, 289–98.Google Scholar
Ranzijn, R. 2011. Active ageing – another way to oppress marginalized and disadvantaged elders? Aboriginal elders as a case study. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 5, 716–23.Google Scholar
Razin, A., Sadka, E. and Swagel, P. 2002. The Ageing of the Population and the Size of the Welfare State. IMF Working Paper No. 02/68, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC, USA.Google Scholar
Robertson, R. 1992. Globality, global culture, and images of world order. In Haferkamp, H. and Smelser, N. J. (eds), Social Change and Modernity. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA, 396–412.Google Scholar
Rothbaum, F., Weisz, J. R. and Snyder, S. S. 1982. Changing the world and changing the self: a two-process model of perceived control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 1, 5–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sameroff, A. J. 2000. Developmental systems and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 3, 297–312.Google Scholar
Scheier, M. F., Weintraub, J. K. and Carver, C. S. 1986. Coping with stress: divergent strategies of optimists and pessimists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 6, 1257–64.Google Scholar
Schoon, I. and Silbereisen, R. K. 2009. Transitions from School to Work: Globalization, Individualization, and Patterns of Diversity. Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Shanahan, M. J. and Hood, K. E. 2000. Adolescents in changing social structures: bounded agency in life course perspective. In Crockett, L. J. and Silbereisen, R. K. (eds), Negotiating Adolescence in Times of Social Change. Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA, 123–34.Google Scholar
Silbereisen, R. K. and Chen, X. 2010. Social Change and Human Development: Concept and Results. Sage, London, UK.Google Scholar
Silbereisen, R. K., Tomasik, M. J. and Grümer, S. 2008. Soziodemographische und psychologische Korrelate des bürgerschaftlichen Engagements anfangs 2000 in Deutschland [Socio-demographic and psychological correlates of civic engagement at the beginning of the new millennium in Germany]. In Silbereisen, R. K. and Pinquart, M. (eds), Individuum und sozialer Wandel: Eine Studie zu Anforderungen, psychosozialen Ressourcen und individueller Bewältigung. Juventa, Weinheim, Germany, 197–227.Google Scholar
Stenner, P., McFarquhar, T. and Bowling, A. 2010. Older people and ‘active ageing’: subjective aspects of ageing actively. Journal of Health Psychology, 16, 3, 467–77.Google Scholar
Sutcliffe, B. and Glyn, A. 1999. Still underwhelmed: indicators of globalization and their misinterpretation. Review of Radical Political Economics, 31, 1, 111–32.Google Scholar
Tikkanen, T., Valkeavaara, T. and Lunde, A. 1996. The ageing work force and lifelong learning: an organisational perspective. Education and Ageing, 11, 2, 100–14.Google Scholar
Tomasik, M. J. and Silbereisen, R. K. 2009. Demands of social change as a function of the political context, institutional filters, and psychosocial resources. Social Indicators Research, 94, 1, 13–28.Google Scholar
Tomasik, M. J. and Silbereisen, R. K. 2012. Beneficial effects of disengagement from futile struggles with occupational planning: a contextualist-motivational approach. Developmental Psychology, 48, 6, 1785–96.Google Scholar
Tomasik, M. J., Silbereisen, R. K. and Heckhausen, J. 2010. Is it adaptive to disengage from demands of social change? Adjustment to developmental barriers in opportunity-deprived regions. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 4, 384–98.Google Scholar
Tomasik, M. J., Silbereisen, R. K. and Pinquart, M. 2010. Individuals negotiating demands of social and economic change: a control-theoretical approach. European Psychologist, 15, 4, 246–59.Google Scholar
van Dyk, S. and Lessenich, S. 2009. ‘Junge Alte’: Vom Aufstieg und Wandel einer Sozialfigur [‘The young old’: on the emergence and change of a social figure]. In van Dyk, S. and Lessenich, S. (eds), Die jungen Alten: Analysen einer neuen Sozialfigur. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 11–48.Google Scholar
Wahl, H.-W. and Weisman, G. D. 2003. Environmental gerontology at the beginning of the new millennium: reflections on its historical, empirical and theoretical development. The Gerontologist, 43, 5, 616–27.Google Scholar
Wahrendorf, M. and Siegrist, J. 2008. Soziale Produktivität und Wohlbefinden im höheren Lebensalter [Social productivity and wellbeing in older age]. In Erlinghagen, M. and Hank, K. (eds), Produktives Altern und informelle Arbeit in modernen Gesellschaften. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, Germany, 51–74.Google Scholar
Walker, J. 1996. Changing Concepts of Retirement: Educational Implications. Arena, Aldershot, UK.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 2002. A strategy for active ageing. International Social Security Review, 55, 1, 121–39.Google Scholar
Welzel, C., Inglehart, R. and Klingemann, H.-D. 2001. Human development as a general theory of social change: a multi-level and cross-cultural perspective. WZB Discussion Paper FS III 01-201, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Berlin, Germany.Google Scholar
Wood, J. T. 1994. Who Cares? Women, Care, and Culture. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois, USA.Google Scholar
World Health Organization 2002. Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Wurm, S., Tomasik, M. J. and Tesch-Römer, C. 2010. On the importance of a positive view on aging for physical activity among older adults: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. Psychology and Health, 25, 1, 25–42.Google Scholar
Yue, Y., Leventhal, T., Brooks-Gunn, J. and Earls, F. J. 2005. Neighborhood residence and mental health problems of 5- to 11-year-olds. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 5, 554–63.Google Scholar