Aging, Time Horizon & Meaning in Life: Thoughts and Experiences of Older Adults
Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: According to the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), people tend to assess their remaining\nlife span, as being either limited or expansive. SST theorizes that perceived time in life shapes goal\npursuits, preferences, and emotional well-being. In detail, older adults who have perceived time as\nlimited focus on immediate need gratification, not in future investments, and are also very much\nfocused on their emotional wellbeing. According to the psychosocial development theory,\naggregated changes in social roles bring about different life goals that individuals strive to achieve\nto promote development. I investigated meaningful goals that older adults hope to achieve before\nthey die. I also explored the meanings that older adults attach to life during later stages in their\nlife.\nData were collected through personal interviews after selecting my informants through\nconvenience sampling techniques. Results showed that older adults are very conscious of the time\nhorizon. However, the length of a time horizon is very subjective to the individual. The findings\nof the study also showed that the meanings people attach to the time horizon is very subjective,\nand may be influenced by individual goals and aspirations, culture, religious believes and the\nenvironment in which one finds himself/ herself.
Author: Maria Hecimovic
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3210201580