Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

The Final Chapter409Even for an older adult who is not very socially active, it’s still importantto have at least one confidant. Sometimes the confidant is simply a veryclose friend. For older men, the confidant is often the spouse. The socialsupport provided by the confidant yields important psychological benefitsfor the older adult, such as higher morale, better mental health, and betterpsychological well-being. A confidant can also provide an important bufferfor the older adult in coping with stressful events, such as health problemsor the deaths of friends or family members.Along with satisfying social relationships, the prescription for psychologicalwell-being in old age includes achieving what Erik Erikson calledego integrity—the feeling that one’s life has been meaningful (Erikson &others, 1986). Older adults experience ego integrity when they look backon their lives and feel satisfied with their accomplishments, accepting whatevermistakes or missteps they may have made (Torges & others, 2008).In contrast, those who are filled with regrets or bitterness about past mistakes,missed opportunities, or bad decisions experience despair—a sense of disappointmentin life. Often the theme of ego integrity versus despair emerges as olderadults engage in a life review, thinking about or retelling their life story to others(Bohlmeijer & others, 2007; Staudinger, 2001).The Final ChapterDying and DeathA Lifetime of Experience to Share Likemany other senior adults, Edna Warf ofAsheville, North Carolina, derives greatpersonal satisfaction from her work as avolunteer helping grade-school students.Contributing to their communities, takingcare of others, and helping people bothyounger and older than themselves areimportant to many older adults.Key Theme• Attitudes toward dying and death are as diverse in late adulthood as theyare throughout the lifespan.Key Questions• How did Kübler-Ross describe the stages of dying?• What are some individual variations in attitudes toward death and dying?It is tempting to view death as the special province of the very old. Of course, deathcan occur at any point during the lifespan. It’s also tempting to assume that olderadults have come to a special understanding about death—that they view theprospect of dying with wisdom and serenity. In reality, attitudes toward death in oldage show the same diversity that is reflected in other aspects of adult development.Not all older adults are resigned to death, even when poor health has severelyrestricted their activities (Kastenbaum, 2000, 2005).As psychologist Robert Kastenbaum (1992) wrote, “Everyonelives in relationship to death at every point in the lifespan.” In otherwords, long before encountering old age, each individual has apersonal history of thinking about death. Some people are obsessedwith issues of life and death from adolescence or early adulthoodonward, while others, even in advanced old age, take more of aone-day-at-a-time approach to living.In general, anxiety about death tends to peak in middle adulthood,then tends to decrease in late adulthood (Wink, 2006). At anyage, people respond with a wide variety of emotions when faced withthe prospect of imminent death, such as when they are diagnosedwith a terminal illness.Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1969) interviewed more than 200 terminallyill patients and proposed that the dying go through five stages.The Last Lecture People vary greatly in howthey cope with impending death. At theage of 45, Dr. Randy Pausch, a computerscience professor at Carnegie MellonUniversity, learned that he had pancreaticcancer and was given just a few months tolive. Pausch reacted by delivering his nowfamous “Last Lecture,” written in responseto the question, “What would you say ifyou knew you were going to die?” TitledReally Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,Pausch’s lecture was upbeat, humorous, andinspirational, and has since been viewed bymillions on YouTube. Pausch died about tenmonths after giving his speech.