Jacqui Smith. Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development. Editor: Deborah Carr. Volume 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2009.
The term self has been applied in many ways by philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists. Sociologists tend to use the term identity whereas psychologists use the term self, but this disciplinary distinction is blurred (Howard, 2000). Theorists in both disciplines focus on different aspects of the self in their research and theories. In one study, for example, two psychologists (Leary and Tangney, 2003) explored whether the term self was used in a consistent fashion in entries in a computerized database of published psychological studies (Psyclnfo). The researchers found more than 66 different applications, including many hyphenated terms used to denote diverse facets and processes related to the self (e.g., self-esteem, self-monitoring). Following this review, Leary and Tangney concluded that the term self is best used as an organizing construct to integrate theory and research on the personal characteristics and descriptions, subjective experiences and beliefs, personal life stories, and typical behaviors (projects, goals, interests, life routines) of an individual.
Sociologists traditionally consider the social and relational roots of the self and identity over the life course (Howard, 2000; Rosenberg, 1981). According to sociological perspectives, the self is shaped by interactions with cultural, historical, and social systems of influence (e.g., family, school, occupation, religion). As individuals progress through the life course, they are assigned to and actively adopt different roles within these systems. Such roles might include daughter, student, worker, mother, parent, friend, voter, caregiver, or senior citizen. Each of these roles carries social expectations regarding appropriate behavior and beliefs for role holders. Individuals adopt these social expectations as their own beliefs and aspirations, and compare themselves with others in similar social roles and groups (i.e., reference groups). In turn, members of the social groups give feedback to the individual about their status. Sociologists view transitions in work and family roles, physical appearance, social age categories, and participation in society as sources of change in the self.
By contrast, psychologists consider the dynamic intersection between the inborn or personal characteristics of individuals and their social contexts. They focus on underlying cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes associated with adapting to personal aging and changing roles and life circumstances. According to psychological theory, individuals actively select their social contexts and significant others (such as peers, siblings, or spouse) and evaluate their interactions with these significant others {reflected appraisal). In addition, individuals remember their earlier life experiences and construct their own autobiography. In addition to social comparison (that is, comparing one’s self with others, as a way to evaluate one’s own abilities and attributes), individuals also make temporal comparisons with their personal past experience and their personal hopes and fears about the future (possible selves). These different but complementary approaches contribute to a variety of research on the self during adulthood.
This entry primarily focuses on research on the self in midlife and old age. It focuses on two central areas of investigation, the self concept and possible selves, and reviews findings about the content, structure, and functions of these constructs and whether these facets change over time. Before moving to these two topics, we briefly review the multiple components and dimensions of the self, to provide background to subsequent material.
The Multiple Dimensions of the Self
Scholars have long conceptualized the self as a system that involves many components and levels. The psychologist William James (1890) is credited as being the first to distinguish between the self-as-knower (the “I,” or subject) and the self as-known (the “me,” an object of reflection). The self-as-knower encompasses all of the processes involved in monitoring and being aware of our momentary relationship with the environment and our location in space. This aspect of the self also underlies our experiences of emotion, pain, hunger, and bodily sensations and the impression that we can somehow control or direct our feelings and thoughts.
In contrast, the self-as-known refers specifically to people’s knowledge and general beliefs about themselves. Individuals describe, interpret, evaluate, and construct their self as an “object.” The self-as-known may be kept private or disclosed to others. It is protected from threat, enhanced, and adjusts to changes in social context, personal relationships, and personal needs. The self-as-known thus includes one’s sense of identity and perceived social roles, personal knowledge of one’s own life, and autobiographical memories, as well as personal theories, beliefs, goals, and life narratives.
Although the distinction made by James almost a century ago was widely adopted by theorists, until recently most research focused on the known rather than the knowing self. However, contemporary cognitive and social neuroscientists interested in investigating aspects of consciousness, self-monitoring, empathy and the ability to synchronize with the actions of others are revitalizing research on the self-as-knower (e.g., Harmon-Jones and Winkielman, 2007).
In contemporary research on the known self, the terms self concept and identity are frequendy used synonymously to refer to sub-components of the self. Early theories of adulthood and aging sometimes used the terms self and personality interchangeably. There is a growing consensus, however, that personality can be considered a separate component of the self (e.g., Hooker and McA-dams, 2003). Adult personality is often described in terms of a profile of five core dispositions or traits (extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to new experience; e.g., Pervin and John, 1999). Self-related knowledge, beliefs, and processes are distinguished from personality traits; the potential amount of self-relevant information stored in memory is large and varied. Furthermore, whereas individual differences in the core personality traits appear to have a substantial biogenetic basis and to be relatively persistent across the lifespan, differences in self-related knowledge, beliefs, and processes are based more on cultural, historical, and social influences and thus are more susceptible to change during the course of an individual’s life.
Self Concept
According to James, the self-concept is integral to the definition of self-as-known. Researchers have used the term in both a narrow and a broad way, however (Demo, 1992). Narrow definitions focus on the thematic content of self-descriptions and identification with social groups and social roles. Broad definitions also include self-evaluations (e.g., self-esteem), general beliefs about personal competence and ability to achieve goals and perform social roles (self-efficacy, agency), and the memories and stories of one’s own life.
Theories about the nature of the self-concept and how it might change in adulthood and old age originate in the fields of sociology and psychology. Theorists who adopt a broad definition make proposals about changes in content, organization, and function. Sociological frameworks typically address issues related to the social construction of identity and the influence of social roles (e.g., Howard, 2000; Stryker, 2007). Sociologists, in particular, consider differences associated with structural or sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, race, socioeconomic, and age. In comparison, psychologists have focused primarily on self-related processes. They ask whether these processes change during adulthood and examine the consequences of individual differences in self-concept for health, well-being, and longevity.
For example, some psychologists believe that older adults are motivated to maximize positive emotions and minimize negative experiences and that this is observed in their specific selection of social partners (Carstensen, 1993). Older adults prefer to reduce their social networks in order to spend more time with people with whom they feel close. Young adults, in contrast, are motivated to obtain information about the world and to expand their social contacts in order to do this regardless of potential emotional costs. Sociologists, on the other hand, might interpret the reduction in size of the social network as a response to changed roles within society and social expectations, such as retirement or widowhood.
Thematic Content in Midlife and Old Age
Self-descriptions given in response to questions such as “Tell me something about yourself; Who are you?” contain the important characteristics of self-related knowledge that an individual considers uniquely distinguish him- or herself from others (Markus and Nurius, 1986). Self-descriptions may communicate to a listener an overall picture of an individual’s identity, behavior, goals, values, interests, and personal characteristics (Epstein, 1990; McAdams, 2006).
In old age, themes or specific descriptions that were relatively unimportant in young and middle adulthood gain in salience or importance to the individual (Breyt-spraak, 1984). Erik Erikson (1959), for example, proposed that midlife and old age is characterized by the developmental tasks of generativity (versus self-absorption) and integrity (versus despair). He suggested that these tasks are manifested in reflections about the past, one’s legacy, contributions to others, and thoughts about death. Others have added three themes to this description: (a) loss of professional status, (b) coping with physical decline, and (c) the process of dying. Some theorists suggest that the reorganization of personal life narratives and self-descriptions is the major task of mid-life. Others argue that post-retirement and the period of young old age is another period of change due to a decrease in professional and family roles and obligations. After age 70, there is increased room for new self-definitions in such domains as hobbies and personal interests. In advanced old age if individuals face increasing physical declines that put constraints on pursuing hobbies and interests, self-descriptions are often characterized by a life review and reflections about having lived a long life. Thus, the self-descriptions of very old persons may rely on experiences, achievements, and events that happened in the past rather than in the present or the future.
The family represents another important theme in older persons’ self-descriptions. Laura Carstensen’s socio-emotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 1993) suggests that people are increasingly selective with regard to their social partners when approaching the end of life. Whereas social partners become less important for gaining information as one ages, emotion regulation becomes an increasingly important motive for social contact. Family members and relatives, usually long-standing members of one’s social convoy (Antonucci, 1990), might have heightened emotional importance in old age as the number of same-aged friends decrease due to their health-related problems, reduced mobility, or because they have died. Family stories about relationships and changes in relationships are central to the self.
Empirical research is equivocal as to whether self-descriptions change with age. Few if any studies have examined the same individuals longitudinally from early in adulthood into old age. Most research asks if people in different age groups differ, but this cross-sectional design confounds age with cohort effects. That is, it is not possible for researchers to discern whether the changes observed reflect age differences (e.g., maturation processes) or one’s membership in a specific birth cohort (e.g., baby boomer versus member of “greatest generation”). The content of the self-concept (i.e., attitudes, beliefs) of an older person reflects influential social forces when they were younger, together with new themes that that emerge with age. It is not possible to disentangle these two aspects in cross-sectional studies. Lifespan researchers generally reserve the term change to reports of longitudinal evidence and otherwise refer to age-related differences for cross-sectional studies.
McCrae and Costa (1988) found age-related differences in the self-definition of persons between 32 and 84 years of age: With increasing age, themes such as age, health, life events, life situations, hobbies/interests, and attitudes were mentioned more frequently, whereas family roles, social relationships, neuroticism, personality traits, and daily living routines were mentioned less frequently. George and Okun (1985), however, found no significant age-related differences in their cross-sectional comparison of the content of the self-definitions of three age groups (45-54, 55-64, and over 65 years). Likewise, Filipp and Klauer (1986) reported no age differences in a cross-sectional comparison of five male cohorts (born between 1905 and 1945). A longitudinal analysis of the changes in self-definitions over 26 months, however, showed that the themes, social roles, political or religious attitudes, body image, and social style were increasingly reported to be self-defining, while emotionality and autonomy were mentioned less frequently.
Charles and Pasupathi (2003) examined variability in the self-descriptions of adults aged 18 to 94 over the course of a week and asked whether this situational variability was associated with daily mood. Older women showed less day-to-day variability than younger women, especially when they reported being together with the same people. There were no age-related differences between young and older men, and overall, men varied less from day-to-day. Greater variability in self-descriptions was related to more frequent and more intense experience of negative affect. This is one of the few studies of the ways that day-to-day context shapes self-descriptions. The findings point to the value of this methodology as a way to examine the construction of life stories and the self-concept, particularly during periods of the life course associated with transitions in roles and change in family, work, and health contexts.
Freund and Smith (1999) examined the spontaneous self-descriptions of old and very old persons in the context of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE), a heterogeneous sample of old (70-84 years) and very old (85-103 years) adults in Berlin, Germany. Participants included a broad spectrum of themes in their descriptions, but health, personal characteristics and activities, and aspects of life review dominated. The majority of the sample considered current hobbies and interests, social participation, and daily living routines as self-defining domains. There were more similarities than differences between the old (70-84 years) and the very old (85-103 years) in the content of the self-descriptions. As is to be expected, very old participants generally did not mention outdoor activities that require good health and physical mobility, but instead discussed their health. Participants over 85 years also mentioned themes about family/relatives and interpersonal style less frequently than the younger age group (70-84 years).
Although family was one of the most salient themes, the very old persons (85-100+ yrs) referred to it less frequently. One possible explanation of this finding is that extremely close social partners, such as a husband or wife, might be highly integrated into one’s self in very old age. This integration of close family members into one’s self might take place to such a degree that they are perceived as part of oneself rather than “external” social partners who deserve a special mention. Widowed, divorced, and single older adults, however, did mention other social partners not belonging to their family (i.e., friends, acquaintances) more frequently than married persons. Not being married in old age might make relationships with other social partners more important.
These descriptive analyses of the content of the self-descriptions offer insights into the age-specific topics and challenges that face midlife and older adults. The analyses of life narratives collected using more open-ended methods provide additional insight into themes, including outcomes of life review, explanations for personal transitions, perceived “second chances” in life, and stories of personal redemption (e.g., Birren and Schroots, 2006; McAdams, 2006). Comparison of life narratives over time also offers a window on the process of constructing and reorganizing the self-concept. Birren and Schroots (2006), for example, suggest that the process of life review late in life is particularly important for the integration of self-knowledge. Life review may be a means by which individuals are able to face the inevitable aspects of physical dependency in very old age with pride and dignity.
Age Identity and Perceptions of Aging
One theme of particular interest to lifespan developmental psychologists and life course sociologists is the individual’s perception and evaluation of their own aging process. Sociological theory views physical appearance as a cue to social categorization (e.g., gender, race, age). Although there is much research on gender and racial identity, until recently there has been relatively little about the effects of physical aging on age identity and change in self-concept. Some research, however, considers stereotypes about physical attractiveness and physical appearance in old age and individuals’ perceptions about the personal meaning of “getting older.”
Subjective age is a multidimensional construct that indicates how old a person feels and into which age group a person categorizes him or herself (e.g., Settersten and Mayer, 1997). After early adulthood, most people say that they feel younger than their chronological age and the gap between subjective age and actual age generally increases as one ages. On average, for example, 90-year-olds in relatively good health report feeling between 12 and 20 years younger (Bakes and Smith, 2003). Age identity has several distinctive features. Unlike many other social categories (e.g., race, gender), all middle-aged and older adults were previously members of the categories child, adolescent, and young adult. As people get older, their knowledge and expectations about the characteristics of members in the category of seniors or older adults may or may not be renewed. Whereas some aspects of age identity may be positively valued (e.g., acquiring seniority in a profession or becoming a grandparent) others may be less valued depending on societal context. Perceived physical age (i.e., the age one looks in a mirror) is one aspect that requires considerable self-related adaptation in social and cultural contexts that value young bodies. In contemporary western society, older women more frequently describe inconsistencies between their subjective age and the image of their body reflected in a mirror than do older men.
Asking people how satisfied they are with their own aging captures an evaluative component of age identity. A large survey on the perceptions of aging in Americans over the age of 65 found that 87% were satisfied with life in general, yet considerably fewer people (64%) reported that getting older was better than they had expected, and 46% indicated that they felt old and tired. Feeling younger and being satisfied with one’s own aging are expressions of positive self-perceptions of aging. They reflect age identity and the operation of self-related processes that enhance well-being. Psychologists suggest that positive self-perceptions of aging might sustain levels of social activity and engagement, enhance self-esteem and well-being, and boost bio-physiological functioning. Levy (2003) found that older individuals who are able to adapt to and accept changes in their appearance and physical capacity in a positive way evidenced higher well-being, better health, and longer life spans.
Evaluation and Structure of the Self
Two aspects of the self are considered essential for positive well-being and for maintaining a sense of overall personal continuity and cohesion. The first is the extent to which individuals consider their own attributes and life stories to be good or bad (positive or negative), and the second is the level of multifacetedness or differentiation of the self-concept.
Obviously, whether or not individuals believe that they have positive qualities is very important for their general sense of self-worth and emotional well-being (Epstein, 1990; Swann, Rentfrow, and Guinn, 2003). The majority of individuals in all age and cohort groups report a global sense of positive self-esteem (cf., Bengtson, Reedy, and Gordon, 1985; Crocker, 2004). Indeed, feeling worthless as a person over an extended time is a sign of pathological change, especially depressive illness.
Multifacetedness refers to the number of self-defining themes in an individual’s self-concept and the richness and depth of information in these themes. Several researchers argue that having a multifaceted self-concept means that an individual has multiple alternatives available to them to compensate for potential loss (e.g., Leary and Tangney, 2003). For example, if a person indicates that helping others is an important feature of their self-concept but mentions only one example (“I often volunteer at my club”), this self-defining theme might be vulnerable if going to the club becomes impossible due to declining physical health. If, however, the theme “helping others,” apart from active volunteer work, contains additional aspects such as helping the neighbor, giving advice, organizing the volunteer efforts of others from home, or helping family members, then the theme can be maintained in the self-concept. Similar to proposals about multifacetedness, some scholars suggest that the self becomes more integrated and that this integration involves increases in cognitive and emotional complexity (Diehl, Hastings, and Stanton, 2001).
Using cross-sectional data from the Berlin Aging Study, Freund and Smith (1999) found that multifaceted self-descriptions guarded against late-life depression, but did not bolster positive emotional well-being if the older person was physically frail. One interpretation of this finding is that multifacetedness might also be associated with the compartmentalization of the self-concept (e.g., Showers and Zeigler-Hill, 2003; see also Diehl, et al, 2001). For example, with increasing age, those themes and aspects that were previously highly salient to the self, but for some reason became obsolete, are not deleted entirely but rather separated from current themes. Over time, this process of compartmentalizing personal themes and aspects of self-knowledge could have both positive and negative effects on well-being. If the personal value placed on the category of past themes outweighs the perceived importance of present themes, then despite a general sense of life satisfaction, very old individuals will nevertheless experience a sense of personal loss. They are no longer the person that they were. The challenge of maintaining a positive view of life in very old age is daunting (Baltes and Smith, 2003).
Processes that Support, Enhance, and Protect the Self
Many processes associated with enhancing, supporting, and protecting the self are proposed in the sociological and psychological literature. These processes include:
- Maintaining self-esteem by carefully selecting activities and social partners that verify one’s sense of mastery and competence;
- avoiding contexts that threaten self-esteem;
- comparing interests and performance with social peers;
- regulating mood and emotional experiences to maximize positive and minimize negative feelings;
- engaging in satisfying personal projects;
- and working on personal goals that are compatible with one’s self-concept (Leary and Tangney, 2003).
Research suggests that although all of these processes are present throughout adulthood, there are often subtle changes associated with increasing age (e.g., Brandtstädter and Lerner, 1999). The projects, goals, and hobbies that individuals pursue are reorganized and new priorities are established throughout the life course. The diagnosis of a chronic illness, for example, often contributes to new priorities and new goals. Such goals might range from giving up smoking, exercising more, or reducing work stress to focus on family life. In addition, people adjust the standards that they strive to achieve to accommodate changes in their physical capacity. Levels of aspiration thus tend to decrease with age. Instead of striving to run a marathon in three and a half hours, for example, the goal is to be capable of jogging a few miles three times per week and to avoid injury.
Strategies of comparison (social and temporal) used to evaluate oneself may also change with age in order to protect the self. Rather than compare one’s self with people who are better off (i.e., upward comparison), older adults instead prefer to make downward comparisons with those who are not doing as well as themselves. This strategy can serve to bolster a sense of well-being in many contexts. For example, even though a person might be in the hospital, there may be fellow patients who are not seen as recovering as quickly as oneself. Some older adults who complain that they see themselves as being slower at doing math or reading than they remember from their earlier years, nevertheless gain comfort by comparing their own ability to some of their peers with mild dementia.
The strategies used to cope with difficulties also tend to become more emotion-focused than problem-focused with age. Individuals find ways to cope that prioritize emotional well-being over finding a concrete solution to the problem. This is similar to the proposals of Carsten-sen’s socioemotional selectivity model (1993; Carstensen, Isaacowitz, and Charles, 1999). Cross-sectional studies show that older adults focus on emotionally meaningful goals (such as contact with others close to them), whereas young adults are more likely to pursue goals that expand their horizons or generate new social contacts. Carstensen and colleagues suggest that these changes in preferences are linked to perceived time left in life. Because future time is inevitably limited in old age, young and older adults are motivated to select different goals.
Possible Selves
Possible selves are highly personalized, hoped-for and feared images of the self that function as incentives for action (Markus and Herzog, 1991). As temporal extensions of the self-concept, they guide decisions about what goals to work on, where to invest time and effort, what to avoid or resist, and what to abandon. Possible selves also reflect an individual’s motivation to try to control the direction of her or his future life: motivations such as self-improvement, self-maintenance, and efforts to minimize loss and maximize well-being (Baltes and Carstensen, 1991; Cross and Markus, 1991; Hooker, 1999; Markus and Herzog, 1991; Ryff, 1991). People change and recalibrate their possible selves in response to changes in life circumstances, specific life events (e.g., widowhood, diagnosis of illness), and social expectations.
Although most research on possible selves, as conceptualized by Markus and colleagues, has been undertaken with college students and adolescents, this aspect of the self-concept in old age has received some attention because it offers an important window on the adaptive capacity and motivational system of older individuals (Dunkel and Kerpelman, 2006; Hooker and McAdams, 2003). Theories about the aging self suggest differences in the number, content, and dynamics of possible selves between the middle-aged, young old, and oldest old (e. g., Markus and Herzog, 1991). Lifespan psychologists suggest that, for the majority of the oldest old, declining health and losses in life quality are inevitable and that this places strong constraints on achieving new goals (Baltes and Smith, 2003). Life course sociologists point to the social expectations associated with transitions and life events in midlife and old age. These transitions heighten awareness of personal constraints (e.g., health, financial) and the closeness of one’s own death. This influences the types of personal goals and projects selected and the temporal extension of these goals (e.g., Carstensen, Isaacowitz, and Charles, 1999). The awareness of a limit to the personal time left to live is reflected in the overall temporal focus of the self-concept and this is reflected in an individual’s possible selves.
The Content of Possible Selves in Old Age. Whereas concerns about the social, interpersonal, and occupational self are prominent domains in the future scenarios of young and middle-aged adults, in later life the domain of health becomes more salient (Hooker, 1992; 1999). Cross and Markus (1991), however, reported that while the fears of 60-year-olds were about health and lifestyle constraints (e.g., becoming physically dependent), their hoped-for selves were about personal characteristics. Similarly, in interviews with men and women aged over 85 years, Troll and Skaff (1997) found that perceived changes in personality characteristics (and especially positive changes) were mentioned more often than changes in physical health, everyday competence, and lifestyle. Other researchers suggest that strivings for satisfying interpersonal relationships are important in old age (e.g., Antonucci, 1990; Carstensen, et al., 1999).
Smith and Freund (2002) examined data from the Berlin Aging Study and found that the possible selves of adults aged 70 to 103 years were highly personalized and varied. Contrary to suggestions that late adulthood is a period of disengagement from making future plans in favor of life review, participants in BASE generated varied future scenarios that covered a range of domains. Possible selves associated with personal characteristics, health, and social relationships predominated. The majority of participants had at least one matched possible self (i.e., a hope-for and a feared scenario for the same theme).
Hopes and fears about health and personal characteristics were mentioned more than ones about family and social relationships. Furthermore, participants ages 80 years and older reported fewer hopes related to their social relationships, compared to the 70-79 year olds. In current self-descriptions, Freund and Smith (1999) found that BASE participants frequently mentioned their activities and interests. In the possible selves scenarios of the same participants, however, this domain was less prominent and was rarely mentioned as a feared self. Given the realistic constraints associated with declines in health, activities and interests may be things that people are prepared to abandon (or to leave out of their future-self images) because they can gain esteem from memories of past acts and present achievements. Although concerns about cognitive functioning (memory, dementia) are often thought to occupy the minds of older adults, this domain was mentioned rarely in the future-self images of BASE participants.
Research on subgroups of older adults with specific illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease (Cotrell and Hooker, 2005) and Parkinson’s disease (Frazier, Cotrell, and Hooker, 2003), suggests that health-related changes in objective life circumstances play a significant role in the content and functioning of possible selves. While the central late-life task of dealing with declining health represented a focal domain in the possible selves of the majority of participants in these studies, a wide range of other domains also are evident, especially those associated with identity (personal characteristics) and attachment (social relationships, positive contacts with family and friends). Hoped-for selves were not just expressions about avoiding undesirable outcomes or maintaining the current status: Expressions of desires to experience something new or experience something again predominated. As in younger age groups, the possible selves of many individuals also showed a degree of motivation for change.
The Dynamics of Possible Selves. Possible selves are a dynamic part of the self concept in very old age. Several theorists (e.g., Hooker, 1999; Markus and Herzog, 1991) propose that possible selves are acquired, maintained, transformed, and given up over time. In longitudinal studies, researchers find evidence of both stability and change in the profile of domains included in possible of selves over time. Whereas individuals’ concerns about long-term projects associated with family well-being or health maintenance may be stable over time, their specific hopes and fears about short-term issues may change considerably. Changes in health status and life circumstances play a role in giving up possible selves linked to activities and interests and those older adults who lose social partners may reduce their hopes and fears about social relationships. Over time, older individuals may also be less motivated to strive for maintenance and instead focus managing their losses.
A further aspect relates to the extent to which the structure of possible selves in old age changes over time. Is there, for instance, a trend toward more integrated or compartmentalized possible selves? A trend toward a highly integrated (dedifferentiated) structure might involve the addition or maintenance of matched hopes and fears over time or a restriction of matched possible selves to highly salient late-life domains like health. A trend toward compartmentalization (differentiation), in contrast, might involve the addition or maintenance of more fears than hopes or the increased domination of possible selves by fears.
Smith and Freund (2002) examined the dynamics of the possible selves of participants in the Berlin Aging Study over four years. They found that some images were stable while others were added and deleted over time. The large majority of BASE participants showed some aspects of change in their future possible selves. New hopes and fears were added; other aspects were lost over time. They also observed changes in the extent to which hopes and fears within a domain were matched, and a progression toward adding matches in the domain of health.
Theory suggests that hoped-for possible selves organize and energize the adoption of behaviors (Cross and Markus, 1991; Hooker, 1992; Hooker and Kaus, 1992; Whaley, 2003). This reflects another aspect of the dynamics of possible selves. For example, individuals who want to be good grandparents might have a possible self in the domain of social relations that motivates them to think about different ways of participating in the lives of their grandchildren. This simulation may facilitate a decision to engage in relevant activities (e.g., babysitting) and fuel long hours of continued patience with energetic grandchildren. In contrast, researchers propose that feared possible selves disorganize behavior and cause inaction because they provide the individual with a vivid undesired image without necessarily specifying means and strategies of how to avoid it (Hooker, 1992).
Hoppmann, Gerstorf, Smith, and Klumb (2007) examined whether possible selves in three salient life domains (health, cognition, and social relationships) are associated with the performance of daily activities in those domains. Using time-sampling information from 83 participants of the Berlin Aging Study, they demonstrated that domain-specific possible selves translate into daily behavior and are related with concurrent affective experiences and subsequent mortality hazards in old and very old age. Hopes in the domains of health and social relations were positively associated with the performance of health-related and social activities. Although participants with health-related hopes reported lower overall levels of positive affect, in general the performance of possible self-related activities in daily life was associated with elevations in concurrent positive affect. Older adults who report hopes appear to have elaborate images of what to do in the service of their desired future selves and this helps them to actually perform domain-specific activities (Cross and Markus, 1991; Hooker, 1992; Whaley, 2003). In contrast, older adults who report feared possible selves may feel trapped by vivid images of undesired situations and lack the means and strategies to avoid them. In addition, older adults may perceive low control over feared outcomes particularly in the domains of health and cognition (Hooker, 1992). This might apply less to the domain of social relations. Alternatively, older adults may successfully avoid situations that are related to their feared selves.
Hoppmann and colleagues found no association between hopes and daily activities in the cognitive domain. One reason for this finding might be that by the time individuals reach old age, they can draw on life-long experiences to help them decide how to stay in good health (e.g. physical activity, medical check-ups) and maintain satisfying relationships (e.g. calling friends, solving social conflicts), but have little experience with cognitive decline. For most persons, cognitive decline accumulates slowly over many decades and usually does not constrain everyday functioning unless pathological change also occurs. For this reason, possible selves about cognitive functioning in general may be less effectively implemented. Alternatively, many older adults may perceive little control over cognitive decline.
The Function of Possible Selves Psychologists typically consider the motivational and evaluative functions of possible selves in old age. For example, they ask whether possible selves a) indicate desires for self-improvement (gain), self-maintenance, or efforts to minimize or prevent losses; b) indicate the individual’s preferences about what to approach and avoid in the future; and c) contribute to a positive sense of well-being (Cross and Markus, 1991; Markus and Herzog, 1991). Discrepancy-reducing theories of mood, for example, propose that engaging in activities that are instrumental in either minimizing the distance between an actual and a desired situation or maximizing the perceived distance from a feared scenario contributes to experiences of positive affect.
Some researchers suggest that whereas middle-aged adults focus on achieving hoped-for selves (e.g., acquiring material possessions), older adults are more concerned with ensuring predictability (i.e., maintenance) and preventing or avoiding feared selves such as illness and dependency. Markus and Ruvolo (1989) proposed that when a domain gains in personal salience, an individual develops countervailing hopes and fears in that domain. Hopes are linked to strategies outlining what to do to attain domain-specific goals and the matched fears offset or balance these hopes with images of what could happen if the desired states were not realized. Matched hopes and fears in a domain indicate a high level of motivational control in that domain and the availability of means and strategies for working on future goals (Markus and Ruvolo, 1989). Knowing in which domains older adults have hopes and fears and in which domains matched possible selves are constructed can therefore tell us much about the operation of the system.
Which characteristics (content and structure) of possible selves are linked to well-being in late life? Cross and Markus (1991) found that at all ages persons who reported low life satisfaction generated more hopes about personal characteristics (i.e., indicating a desire to change present self characteristics), compared with those high in life satisfaction who generated more hopes in the occupational, family, and health domains. Smith and Freund (2002) found that hopes were less related to well-being than were feared self images. Developing and maintaining balanced possible selves, particularly in old age, might also serve as a resource for well-being.
Older adults who prioritize health in their current and future self-descriptions may be vulnerable to losses in well-being. The maintenance of matched hopes and fears about health, for example, might reflect chronic worry and rumination rather than a motivational force. This interpretation is analogous to a report by Niedenthal, Setterlund, and Wherry (1992). They suggested that a large number of highly interrelated possible selves (matched hopes and fears can be viewed as a special case of interrelated possible selves) may have detrimental emotional consequences when individuals are confronted with negative events. Similarly, Showers and colleagues (2003) found that the compartmentalization of positive and negative self images (and especially an increased focus on positive images) in the context of stressful life changes minimized the impact of negative life events on well-being.
A working self concept that includes future guides for bolstering self-esteem and a sense of past and present mastery is an important aspect of the self in later life. While individuals may gain esteem from past feats in some domains (e.g., skills, family), other aspects of the self require continuous input (I’m still a nice person and accepted by others). For most older adults, health becomes self-defining. Those individuals who suffer from debilitating illnesses or lack well-functioning support networks to assist them to cope with poor health are at risk. The dynamic interplay of possible self content in relation to new challenges associated with changes in life circumstances and the relationship between current self-descriptions and future scenarios remains to be investigated. Such studies will further a current understanding of the role of future-oriented motivational systems in the maintenance of identity and well-being in very old age.