Overview Lecture 13 Successful Aging 1 Successful Aging

Overview Lecture 13 Successful Aging 1. Successful Aging: Theoretical Perspectives 2. Age and Creativity Simonton Model Last Works

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging Focus of Successful Aging theories and research • Factors that contribute to survival • Enhanced spirit and joy in life • “Mental health”

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging Mac. Arthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging Absence of disease High physical and cognitive functioning Maintain engagement with life

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging Social Indicator Model of Well-Being • Age • Gender • Marital status • Income account for Well-Being Older adults should have lower well-being

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging Paradox of Well-Being Older adults are lower on social indicators (e. g. , income, health, education, marital status) BUT They have high levels of wellbeing Successful aging is the norm

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging Percent who rate selves as happy Mroczek & Kolarz 1998

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging: Subjective Well-Being Definition and Measurement Subjective well-being • Overall sense of happiness Life satisfaction • Cognitive evaluation of one’s life circumstances MIDUS study of midlife 2700+ participants 25 -74 years, average= 46 Factors contributing to subjective well-being

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging: Subjective Well-Being Findings of MIDUS Study • Women: positive affect highest in oldest groups • Men: higher positive affect scores in later life only for introverted (extroverted were higher throughout) • Older groups of married men had lower scores than younger married men

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging: Subjective Well-Being Set Point Perspective Well-being reflects personality traits • Biologically determined temperament sets boundaries for levels of well-being

Theoretical Perspectives on Successful Aging: Subjective Well-Being Possible Ways to Achieve High Well-Being • Adaptation or habituation • Feeling of making progress toward goals • Coping strategies • Social comparison • Life story as reflection of identity processes

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Early Studies Lehman • Analysis of significant contributions • Peak productivity between 30 -35 • Peak varies by discipline

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Lehman’s Findings for Three Disciplines 26 -30 Chemistry Chief Ministers 40 -44 “Best Books” 55 -60

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Lehman’s Conclusions • Earlier peaks in sciences and fields depending on imagination and physical ability • Later peaks in fields that rely on experience and diplomacy

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Early Studies Dennis • NUMBER (not quality) of creative works • Only people who lived to at least 80 • Steep decline after peak age in arts • Decline after peak age in sciences • However, steady rate of production through late 60 s

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Findings from Dennis (1966)

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Summary Early Studies Lehman • Rapid increase in creative output • Peak in 30 s or early 40 s • Steady decline thereafter Dennis Creative productivity unlikely to component of successful aging. But there are many well-known “older thinkers”

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Problems With Counts of Productivity by Age • highly creative artists die before becoming “old” (e. g. , Mozart) • Compositional fallacy- average productivity rates do not describe productivity of individuals in that group

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Simonton’s Model of Age and Creative Production a Number of works in unlimited lifespan Ideation Production of new ideas for new products m p Creative Potential Creative Products e Elaboration Transforming ideas into products Calculated on basis of CAREER AGE

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Model for Poetry and Pure Mathematics Career age

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Typology of Career Trajectories • Variations by career onset and creative potential • Use formula to predict first, best, and last works Low Early Earliest “Last Work” High

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Typology of Career Trajectories CREATIVE POTENTIAL CAREER ONSET Low First Best Last High Latest “Last Work”

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Relation of Quantity to Quality Equal Odds Rule • Positive relationship between quality and quantity • Highly productive older individuals have high probability of creating a masterwork

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Conclusions from Simonton’s Research • Emphasis on career age not actual age • Productivity in later life higher among those who begin later • However, high creative potential leads to high rate of productivity early and later in career • Longer span for highly creative between first and last works • Model allows for possibility of highly creative older people

Productivity and Creativity: The Relationship Between Age and Creativity Characteristics of Last Works Artists “Old age style” Musicians “Swan Song” Scientists • Eliminates fine details • Presents essence of work’s meaning • More subjective, less objective • Shorter main themes • Simpler melodies • Integration and synthesis • Studies of aging • Research on aging Stimulated by: Proximity to death Desire to leave legacy Reaction to age-related changes

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. ” Robert Browning 1812 -1889