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Improving mastery of complex intellectual operations analysis and synthesis, theoretical generalization and abstraction and proof. For boys and girls, the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships, systematicity, stability and criticality of thinking, and independent creative activity become characteristic. An age-related feature is the rapid development special abilities, often related to the chosen professional field (mathematical, technical, pedagogical, etc.) Later in youth, intellectual development involves reaching a qualitatively new level associated with the development creativity and implying not just the assimilation of information, but the manifestation of intellectual initiative and the creation of something new: we are talking about the ability to see a problem, pose and reformulate questions, and find non-standard solutions.

In early adolescence, the process of personality formation is not yet completed; it actively continues, but outside of school. However, much of what a person as an individual acquires during his school years remains with him throughout his life and largely determines his destiny.

1) The need for self-determination;

2) Readiness for personal and professional self-determination;

3) Life plans;

4) Sustainable self-knowledge;

5) Identity;

6) Value orientations;

7) Worldview is the internal position of a man (or woman).

Crisis of transition to adulthood (18 - 20 years old)

"Severance from parental roots."

8. Adulthood: youth and maturity (Early adulthood (youth, “entry into maturity”) - 20 - 30 years.Average adulthood (maturity) - 30 - 60 years

Adulthood as a psychological period

The period of adulthood is the longest period of ontogenesis (in developed countries it accounts for three quarters of human life). There are usually three subperiods, or three stages of adulthood:

Early adulthood (youth,

Middle adulthood

Late adulthood (aging and old age).

In the theory of E. Erikson maturity- this is the age of “committing acts”, the most complete flowering, when a person becomes identical to himself. The main lines of development of a middle-aged person are: generativity, productivity, creativity (with things, children and ideas) and restlessness - the desire to become the best parent possible, to achieve a high level in one’s profession, to be a caring citizen, a loyal friend, and a support for loved ones. The period of adulthood, the main stage of human life, deserves to clearly formulate its own social and psychological tasks for the development of this particular period.

The problem of periodization of adulthood

One of the first periodizations belongs to S. Buhler, who identified five phases of adult development based on the implementation self-determination.

- The first phase (16 - 20 years) - precedes one's own self-determination.

The second phase (from 16 - 20 years to 25 - 30 years) - the phase of trial and search (profession, life partner, etc.)

The third phase (from 25 - 30 to 45 - 50 years) is the time of maturity: a person finds his own business in life, starts a family. By the age of 40, a person’s self-esteem is established, which reflects the results of life’s journey as a whole.

Fifth phase (over 70 years old) - old person: turning to the past and desire for peace.

Lower limit of adulthood associated by anthropologists and physiologists with ages of 17 years (D. Birren), 21 years (D. B. Bromley), 20 years for women and 21 years for men (according to the international classification), 25 years (V. V. Bunak) and etc.

Characteristics and time boundaries are even more uncertain middle aged, or middle adulthood: from 20 to 35 years (D. Wexler), 25 - 40 (D. B. Bromley), 25 - 50 (D. Birren), 36 - 60 years (according to the international age classification).

Upper limit of maturity and the beginning of old age vary even more in different periodizations in a huge range: these are 55 years (V.V. Bunak V.V. Ginzburg), 60 years (G. Grimm and most demographers), 75 years (D. Birren).

Social situation of development and leading activities during the periodhmaturity

The social situation of development presupposes the active inclusion of a person in the sphere of social production, in the sphere of labor activity, as well as the creation of his own family and raising children. Awareness of personal responsibility for one’s life and the life of loved ones and the willingness to accept this responsibility is a key experience in the social situation of the development of maturity.

During adulthood, the leading type of activity is work. From the perspective of acmeology, it is clarified that the leading activity is not just inclusion in the productive life of society, but maximum realization of essential human powers during such activities. Thus, we are talking about the desire for the highest human achievements in different areas - physical, moral, professional.

Communication during adulthood

1) Social circle related to professional activities;

2) Mastery and implementation of marital and parental relationships.

Normative crises of maturity

The crisis of the 30th anniversary is the correction of the life plan, the creation of a more orderly structure of life both in professional activity and in the family;

40th birthday crisis (mid-life crisis) - awareness of the loss of youth; doubts about the correctness of the life lived as a central problem of age;

Crisis of 50 years - unresolved crisis experiences, refusal of renewal activity;

The crisis of 60 years - there is a change in all motivation in connection with preparation for the retirement period of life.

Psychological neoplasmsperiod of adulthood

1) Building a life strategy;

2) Acme phenomenon (multidimensional state, variant and changeable; “peak in development” of an adult);

3) Meaningful life decisions;

4) A new level of intellectual development (the ability to formulate problems oneself, dialectical thinking);

5) Maternity/paternity.

9. Adulthood: Aging and old age. Old age (aging) - 60 - 75 years.Old age - 75 - 90 years.

Old age as a biosociopsychological phenomenon

Late adulthood, old age as a psychological age, is the final period of life, which includes a change in a person’s position in society and plays its own special role in the life cycle system. Old age is seen as difficult biosociopsychological phenomenon. As a biological phenomenon, old age is associated with an increase in the body's vulnerability and an increase in the likelihood of death. As a social phenomenon, old age is usually associated with retirement, with a change in social status, with the loss of important social roles, and with a narrowing of the social world.

Social situation of development and leading activities in old age

N. S. Pryazhnikov proposed highlighting the specifics of self-determination and activity at different stages of old age:

I. Elderly, pre-retirement age(from approximately 55 years of age until retirement) is primarily an expectation, and at best, preparation for retirement. In general, the period is characterized by:

1.

Waiting for pension;

2. Leading activities:

The desire to “have time” to do what has not yet been done, as well as the desire to leave a “good memory” of oneself at work;

When grandchildren appear, people of retirement age seem to be “torn” between work, where they want to realize themselves to the fullest, and raising their grandchildren, who are no less important to them;

Choosing an occupation in retirement.

II. Retirement period(the first years after retirement) is, first of all, the development of a new social role, a new status.

1. Social development situation:

Mainly contacts with close people and relatives;

Retired friends gradually appear;

Raising grandchildren;

2. Leading activities:

An ever-increasing desire to “educate” or even “shame” younger people;

For some pensioners, the first time in retirement is to continue working in their main profession;

III. The period of old age itself(several years after retirement and until health deteriorates), when a person has already acquired a new social status.

1. Social development situation:

Communication mainly with the same elders;

Communication with family members who either exploit the old man’s free time or simply “look after” him;

Some retirees find new contacts through social activities;

2. Leading activities:

Leisure hobby;

For some older people during this period, the leading activity may be preparation for death;

Communication

1) Narrowing the circle of contacts;

2) Relationships with adult children and grandchildren;

Psychological neoplasms during old age

Acceptance of your life;

Life wisdom;

Happy old age;

Integration, wholeness.

Crisis of individual existence

Death as the last critical event in life;

Attitude towards death.

Conclusion

1) Crisis of trust and mistrust (during the first year of life);

2) Autonomy as opposed to doubt and shame (around 2 - 3 years of age);

3) The emergence of initiative as opposed to feelings of guilt (from approximately 3 to 6 years);

4) Hard work as opposed to an inferiority complex (ages 7 to 12 years);

5) Personal self-determination as opposed to individual dullness and conformism (from 12 to 18 years);

6) Intimacy and sociability as opposed to personal psychological isolation (about 20 years);

7) Concern for raising a new generation as opposed to “immersion in oneself” (between 30 and 60 years);

8) Satisfaction with life lived as opposed to despair (over 60 years old).

Stages of development of human subjectivity:

1) Revival;

2) Animation;

3) Personalization;

4) Individualization;

5) Universalization.

Used Books

1) R. S. Nemov, Psychology, part 1, Vlados Publishing House, Moscow, 2007

2) A. V. Petrovsky, General psychology, Publishing house "Enlightenment", Moscow, 1986.

3) V. I. Slobodchikov, Psychology of Personality Development, School Press Publishing House, Moscow, 2000.

4) S. L. Rubinstein, Fundamentals of General Psychology, Publishing House “Soviet Science”, Moscow, 1946.

5) Ya. L. Kolominsky, “Man: psychology.”

6) A. G. Maklakov, “General Psychology”, Publishing House “Prosveshcheniye”, Moscow, 2006.

7) L. Hewell, D. Ziegler, “Theories of Personality.”

8) R.S. Nemov, “Psychology of Education”, Publishing House “Soviet Science”, Moscow, 1978.

9) Editor-in-Chief A. M. Prokhorov, Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary, Publishing House “Soviet Encyclopedia”, Moscow 1986.

10)B. S. Mukhina, Developmental psychology, Asadema Publishing House, Moscow, 2000.

11) I. V Shapovalenko, Developmental psychology, Gardariki Publishing House, Moscow, 2005.

12) R. S. Nemov, Psychology, part 2, Vlados Publishing House, Moscow, 1998

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Psychology of adulthood, aging and old age

Youth (from 20-23 to 30 years old)

Social development situation. Choosing a life partner and starting a family is one of the aspects of the developmental situation in youth. The activity corresponding to this situation is one of the main aspects of life. The second side of the social development situation during this period is mastery of the chosen profession. In youth, a person establishes himself in his chosen field and acquires professional skills. In youth, professional training is completed, the terms of which, due to scientific and technological progress, have now been significantly expanded. Central age-related neoplasms This period can be considered family relationships and a sense of professional competence.

Leading activity. Leading activity is professional. With a successful choice of life path, already in youth a person achieves a fairly high level of skill in his profession and its objective recognition.

Personal development. With all options for successful professional self-determination, along with mastery, a sense of professional competence is acquired, which is extremely important for personal development in youth. Development along this line is especially beneficial when the chosen profession corresponds to one’s calling and becomes an essential connection with the world.

Communication and interpersonal relationships. An important aspect of life in youth is also the establishment and development of friendships. Friendship during this period, like love, reaches a new qualitative level. Friendship, unlike simple friendly relationships, presupposes some kind of spiritual closeness.

Love usually acts as a more complete essential connection with the world; it completes the entire integrity of the personality, making a person more himself as a whole.

Crisis 30 years. The problem of the meaning of life. The crisis is expressed in a change in ideas about one’s life, sometimes in a complete loss of interest in what was previously the main thing in it, in some cases even in the destruction of the previous way of life. The crisis of 30 years arises due to the unrealization of life plans. If at the same time there is a reassessment of values ​​and a revision of one’s own personality, then we are talking about the fact that the life plan turned out to be wrong in general. Only in this case can development be “fettered” by family, profession, and habitual way of life. If the path of life is chosen correctly, then attachment to a certain activity, a certain way of life, certain values ​​and orientations does not limit, but, on the contrary, develops his personality. After all, with a successful choice of life path, other opportunities are less responsive to the characteristics of a person and his personal development.

The search for the meaning of existence is usually associated with the crisis period of 30 years. This quest marks the transition from youth to maturity.

Maturity (from 30 to 60-70 years)

Social situation of development. In adulthood, as in youth, the main aspects of life are usually professional activities and family relationships. However, the social development situation that determines them changes significantly: if in youth it included mastering the chosen profession and choosing a life partner, i.e. If there was a situation of organizing the creation of the relevant aspects of life, then in maturity this is a situation of self-realization, full disclosure of one’s potential in professional activities and family relationships.

Personal development. The most important feature of maturity is the awareness of responsibility for the content of one’s life to oneself and to other people. A mature person must contribute to the enhancement of the human culture he has perceived and its transmission to future generations; The development of the personality of a mature person requires getting rid of unjustified maximalism, characteristic of adolescence and partly youth, a balanced and multifaceted approach to life’s problems, including issues of one’s professional activity. The central age-related new formation of the period of maturity can be considered productivity, understood following Erikson as an integral education: professional productivity and contribution to the development and establishment in the life of the future generation. When the crisis of 40 years manifests itself, we can talk about another important new development of maturity: adjustments to the life plan and associated changes in the “I-concept”.

In the early and middle periods of maturity, the first phase continues - the phase of progressive development of the general properties of functions. However, there is a second phase of progressive development associated with the specialization of mental functions in the process of professional activity. It partially overlaps the first, but reaches its highest development in the later periods of maturity, as a result of which the combination of the involution of general properties of functions with the progressive development of its specialization is often distinguished. Technical and other types of special thinking, creative imagination, professional memory, etc. may continue to develop progressively.

Communication and interpersonal relationships. Relationships with growing children develop differently for parents, depending on various circumstances. One of the most important, often decisive, is what is the emotional basis of the relationship of each parent to the child. In psychology, three options are usually considered. The emotional basis can be unconditional love, conditional love and rejection of the child. The relationship between parents and children also depends on the child and his personal characteristics.

Crisis 40 years. It’s like a repetition of the crisis of 30 years, the crisis of the meaning of life. As during the crisis of 30 years, a person acutely experiences satisfaction with his life, the discrepancy between life plans and their implementation.

In addition to problems associated with professional activity, the crisis of 40 years is often caused by aggravation of family relationships. At this time, children usually begin to live an independent life, some close relatives and other close people of the older generation die. Such a loss, the loss of a very important common aspect of the life of the spouses - direct participation in the lives of children, daily care for them - contributes to the final understanding of the nature of the marital relationship. And if, apart from the children of the spouses, nothing significant binds them both, the family may fall apart.

In the event of a crisis at the age of 40, a person has to once again rebuild his life plans and develop a largely new “I-concept”. This crisis is associated with many serious changes in life, including changing professions and starting a new family.

When the crisis of 40 years manifests itself, we can talk about another important new formation of maturity: adjustments to the life plan and associated changes in the “I-concept”.

Late adulthood, old age as a psychological age, is the final period of life, which includes a change in a person’s position in society and plays its own special role in the life cycle system.

As a biological phenomenon, old age is associated with an increase in the body's vulnerability and an increase in the likelihood of death. As a social phenomenon, old age is usually associated with retirement; with a change (decrease) in social status, with the loss of important social roles, with a narrowing of the social world.

In its positive version, old age is a generalization of experience, knowledge and personal potential, helping to solve the problem of adapting to the new demands of life and age-related changes.

Late adulthood is the last segment of a person’s life path. If maturity finally reveals the character, the essence of the various lines of ontogenesis, then late maturity sums them up. People with a hedonistic personality lose their physical capabilities and quickly end their existence. The egoistic orientation is characterized by intense psychological aging, associated with a sharp reduction in the psychological future or its complete loss. In the latter case, late maturity turns into survival. For people with a spiritual, moral and essential orientation of personality, the main content of life is often preserved before: the previous psychological age is also preserved. If there is a change in leading activity, it does not lead to fundamental changes in living space.

The direction of the individual largely determines the very end of life, the process of a person’s dying. Idonistic orientation is characterized by despair and fear of death; For people with an egoistic orientation, they are often accompanied by moral suffering, depreciation of what has been achieved, and a feeling of emptiness of the life lived. People with a spiritual, moral and essential orientation are aware of the highest value of the basic content of their lives, which neither physical suffering nor death itself can erase.

Adaptation to old age as a component includes the psychological need for perceptions and reflections about the past.

Aging can affect men and women differently. Having discovered that men allow themselves to show character traits that are more characteristic of women. At the same time, older women become more aggressive, practical and domineering. Some studies have found general trends toward eccentricity, decreased sensitivity, self-absorption, and decreased ability to cope with difficult situations. A person’s individual reaction to aging can determine both the degree of subsequent adaptation to it and the characteristics of personality development in old age.

The crisis at the border of maturity and old age is dated to approximately the age of 55–65 years. Thus, sometimes the senior age crisis is called pre-retirement, thereby highlighting the achievement of retirement age or retirement. Indeed, at the present historical stage, the “objective mark”, the marker event of the beginning of the period of old age, is the onset of the official retirement age. Retirement radically changes a person’s lifestyle, including the loss of an important social role and significant place in society, separation of a person from his reference group, narrowing of his social circle, deterioration of his financial situation, change in the structure of psychological time, sometimes causing an acute state of “resignation shock.”

This period proves difficult for most aging people, causing negative emotional experiences. However, the individual severity and intensity of experiencing the pension crisis vary greatly depending on the nature of the work, its value for the individual, the degree of psychological preparedness of the person, his personal life position that has developed in previous years.

Based on a combination of characteristics (level of activity, strategies for coping with difficulties, attitude towards the world and oneself, satisfaction with life), two main personality types of older people can be distinguished. Older people of the first type bravely cope with retirement, switch to doing new interesting things, tend to establish new friendships, and retain the ability to control their environment. All this leads to them experiencing a feeling of satisfaction with life and even increases its duration. Elderly people of the second type are characterized as passively related to life, experiencing alienation from others. They experience a narrowing of their range of interests, a decrease in intelligence scores on tests, and a loss of self-respect.

Another point of view on the crisis of transition to old age is that it is primarily an identity crisis, an intrapersonal crisis. Its prerequisites are related to the fact that signs of aging, as a rule, are noticed earlier and more clearly by others, and not by the subject himself. The processes of physiological aging, due to their gradualness, are not realized for a long time, and the illusion of the “immutability” of oneself arises. The awareness of aging and old age can be unexpected and painful and leads to various internal conflicts. Sometimes the identity crisis caused by the awareness of old age is compared to adolescence (there is also the task of developing a new attitude towards one’s changed body), but the crisis in later life is much more painful.

Age-related developmental tasks during old age can be summarized as follows:

– adaptation to age-related changes – physical, psychophysiological;

– adequate perception of old age (opposition to negative stereotypes);

– reasonable allocation of time and targeted use of the remaining years of life;

– role reorientation, abandonment of old ones and search for new role positions;

– opposition to affective impoverishment associated with the loss of loved ones and isolation of children;

– maintaining emotional flexibility, striving for affective enrichment in other forms;

– the desire for mental flexibility (overcoming mental rigidity), the search for new forms of behavior;

– the desire for internal integrity and comprehension of the life lived.

Social situation of development and leading activities in old age. The central characteristic of the social situation of development in old age is associated with a change in social position, with retirement and removal from active participation in productive labor.

Preparation for retirement, considered as developing readiness for a change in social position, is a necessary moment of mental development in old age.

On the threshold of old age, a person decides for himself the question: should he try to maintain old ones, as well as create new social connections, or move on to life in the circle of interests of loved ones and his own problems, i.e. move on to life as a whole individual. This choice determines one or another adaptation strategy - preserving oneself as an individual and preserving oneself as an individual.

In accordance with this choice and, accordingly, the adaptation strategy, the leading activity in old age can be aimed either at preserving a person’s personality (maintaining and developing his social connections), or at isolating, individualizing and “surviving” him as an individual against the background of the gradual decline of psychophysiological functions . Both types of aging obey the laws of adaptation, but provide different quality of life and even its duration.

The “closed loop” adaptation strategy is manifested in a general decrease in interests and claims to the outside world, egocentrism, decreased emotional control, a desire to hide, a feeling of inferiority, irritability, which over time gives way to indifference to others. Approximately this model of aging is spoken of when describing passive aging behavior such as “egoistic stagnation” and loss of social interest.

The alternative is to maintain and develop diverse connections with society. In this case, the leading activity in old age may be the structuring and transfer of life experience. Options for age-appropriate types of socially significant activities may include continuing professional activities, teaching, raising grandchildren, students, and social activities.

Preserving oneself as an individual presupposes the ability to work hard, have diverse interests, try to be needed by loved ones, and feel involved in life.

N.S. Pryazhnikov proposed to highlight the specifics of self-determination and activity at different stages of old age

1. Elderly, pre-retirement age (from about 55 years of age until retirement) is primarily an expectation, and at best, preparation for retirement. In general, the period is characterized by:

1. Social development situation:

– anticipation of retirement: for some, retirement is perceived as an opportunity to “start resting as soon as possible,” for others – as the end of an active working life and the uncertainty of what to do with their experience and the considerable remaining energy;

– the main contacts are still more of a production nature, when, on the one hand, colleagues can expect a given person to leave work as soon as possible (and the person himself feels this), and on the other hand, they do not want to let the person go and he himself secretly hopes that retirement for him will come later than for many of his peers;

– relationships with relatives, when, on the one hand, a person can still largely provide for his family, including grandchildren (and in this sense he is “useful” and “interesting”), and on the other hand, a premonition of his imminent “uselessness” when he stops earning a lot and receives his “pathetic pension”;

– the desire to educate and prepare for oneself a “worthy replacement” at work;

2. Leading activities:

– the desire to “have time” to do what has not yet been done, as well as the desire to leave a “good memory” of oneself at work;

– the desire to pass on one’s experience to students-followers;

– when grandchildren appear, people of pre-retirement age seem to be “torn” between work, where they want to realize themselves as much as possible, and raising their grandchildren, who are no less important to them;

– towards the end of the pre-retirement period (especially if the probability of leaving a given job is very high), there is a desire to choose an occupation in retirement, to somehow plan your future life.

Retirement period(the first years after retirement) is, first of all, the development of a new social role, a new status. In general, this period is characterized by the following:

1. Social development situation:

– old contacts (with work colleagues) are still preserved at first, but later they become less and less pronounced;

– mainly contacts with close people and relatives (accordingly, relatives require special tact and attention to still “inexperienced” pensioners);

– pensioner friends or even other, younger ones gradually appear (depending on what the pensioner will do and with whom he will have to communicate);

– usually relatives and friends strive to ensure that the pensioner, “who already has a lot of time,” is more involved in raising his grandchildren, so communication with children and grandchildren is also the most important characteristic of the social situation of pensioners.

2. Leading activities:

– first of all, this is a “search for oneself” in a new capacity, this is a test of one’s strength in a variety of activities (raising grandchildren, in the household, in hobbies, in new relationships, in social activities, etc.) – this is self-determination by method "trial and error"; in fact, a pensioner has a lot of time, and he can afford it (however, all this happens against the background of the feeling that life is getting smaller and smaller every day);

– for some pensioners, the first time in retirement is to continue working in their main profession (especially when such an employee receives a pension and basic salary together); in this case, the working pensioner’s sense of self-worth increases significantly;

– an ever-increasing desire to “educate” or even “shame” younger people;

The period of old age itself(several years after retirement and until a serious deterioration in health), when a person has already mastered a new social status, is characterized approximately by the following:

1. Social situation:

– communication mainly with the same elders;

– communication with family members who either exploit the old man’s free time or simply take care of him;

– some retirees find new contacts in social activities (or even in ongoing professional activities);

– for some pensioners, the meaning of relationships with other people changes.

2. Leading activities:

– leisure hobbies (retired people often change one hobby after another, which somewhat refutes the idea of ​​their “rigidity”; they still continue to search for themselves, to look for meaning in different activities). The main problem of such a search is the disproportion of all these activities in comparison with previous (“real”) work;

– the desire to confirm one’s self-esteem in every possible way, according to the principle;

– for some old people during this period (even when health is still quite good and there is no reason to “say goodbye to life”) the leading activity may be preparation for death, which is expressed in joining religion, in frequent visits to the cemetery, in conversations with loved ones about will.

Longevity in conditions of a sharp deterioration in health differs significantly from old age without any special health problems. Therefore, it makes sense to highlight the features of this particular type of old age.

1. Social situation:

– mainly communication with family and friends, as well as with doctors and roommates (if the elder is in hospital treatment);

– these are also roommates in nursing homes.

2. Leading activities:

– treatment, the desire to somehow fight diseases;

- the desire to comprehend one’s life. Very often this is a desire to embellish one’s life; a person seems to “cling on” to all the best things that happened (and didn’t happen) in his life. In this state, a person wants to leave behind something very good, significant, worthy and thereby, as it were, prove to himself and others: “I did not live in vain.” Or repent of something unworthy.

Longevity in relatively good health (after about 75–80 years or older) may be characterized by:

1. Social situation:

– communication with loved ones and relatives who even begin to be proud that a real centenarian lives in their family. To some extent, this pride is selfish: relatives believe that there is good heredity in the family and that they will also live a long time. In this sense, a centenarian is a symbol of the future long life of other family members;

– a healthy centenarian may have new friends and acquaintances;

– since a long-liver is a rare phenomenon, a variety of people, including representatives of the media, seek to communicate with such an old man. Therefore, the circle of acquaintances of a long-lived person may even expand somewhat.

2. Leading activities:

– it largely depends on the inclinations of a given person, but in any case it is a fairly active life (sometimes even with excesses characteristic of a healthy mature person). Probably, for maintaining health, not only doctor’s prescriptions are important, but also the very feeling of one’s health (or “feeling of life”).

Personality characteristics in old age. Among a number of factors that determine the social and psychological status of an elderly person, an important place is occupied by the factor of physical health and physical activity, the value of which is higher the older one is.

Physical condition and well-being largely determine the place of an elderly person in the family and in society. With pronounced forms of physical decline, decrepitude, pronounced age-related changes in the musculoskeletal system, and blindness, the position of the old man approaches that of a somatic patient. The painful nature of physical decline determines the form of mental aging and mental life in general. At the same time, everything that makes up the content of the experience of aging itself, a new relationship with others, recedes into the background.

Limitation of physical capabilities and feelings of malaise are considered a signal of the onset of aging. The physiological changes that occur are experienced and realized by the person. Particularly typical for the first stages of aging is increased attention to age-related changes in physical condition. The first signs of fading (loss of teeth, the appearance of excess weight) cause a desire to discover the cause of unpleasant phenomena and get rid of them with the help of medications. In the human mind, old age (as a biological process) is reflected primarily as a physical illness, a painful condition. Essentially, aging is a state of constantly experiencing physical illness, sometimes expressed to a greater or lesser extent. Age-related decline in physical strength and mobility underlies the familiar and familiar appearance of an old person.

Physical ill-being is an important reason for dissatisfaction with life in old age. Frequent consequences of this are impoverishment of feelings, callousness, progressive loss of interest in the environment, changes in relationships with loved ones, and a decrease in all types of self-esteem.

However, the attitude towards one’s own aging is an active element of mental life in old age. Moments of awareness of the fact of physical and mental age-related changes, recognition of the naturalness of feelings of physical illness constitute a new level of self-awareness. An elderly person’s tolerance or intolerance to limitations in physical strength and capabilities, to physical weakness with painful sensations reflect their attitude towards their own aging.

The strategy of active coping with difficulties reveals a conscious attitude towards age-related changes that continue to emerge over the years. This new position largely depends on the person himself.

Indifference to sick and painful sensations is considered as evidence of a deep decrease in vitality.

Motivational-need sphere. It was discovered that the list and nomenclature of needs in old age is largely the same as in previous periods of life. The structure and hierarchy of needs is changing: the need to avoid suffering, the need for safety, the need for autonomy and independence, the need to project one’s mental manifestations onto others can be traced to the center of the need sphere, and at the same time there is a shift to more distant plans of the needs for creativity, in love, in self-actualization and a sense of community.

In late life, there is a general change in the time perspective of life. As the past lengthens, the future appears more limited and less real. Life in the present and memories of the past are now more important than the future. The phenomenon of older people turning to memories of the past, their special emotional coloring, is an essential moment in the mental life of the elderly. Many old people begin to live “one day at a time,” filling each day with concerns about health and household chores.

Reducing the “future axis” and emphasizing the significance of everyday activities (including to maintain a sense of being busy, needed, useful for oneself and others) rebuilds the experience of psychological time. The phenomenon of accelerating the movement of time is described, when years and decades subjectively pass faster and faster. On the other hand, “time dilation” is detected, when some small event (visiting a clinic or store) emotionally fills the entire day.

Good physical health, moderate general age-related changes, longevity, maintaining an active lifestyle, high social status, the presence of a spouse and children, and material wealth are not a guarantee or guarantee of understanding old age as a favorable period of life.

Features of the self-concept. Regarding the characteristics of the self-concept in late life, the opinions of researchers differ.

On the one hand, there is information about negative characteristics of self-awareness, a pronounced decrease in self-esteem and life satisfaction in many people. In others, the opposite facts are found.

Personality typologies in old age. Several longitudinal studies suggest that important aspects of personality remain unchanged across the transition from middle to late adulthood. Constancy refers, for example, to such personality characteristics as the level of neuroticism (anxiety, depression, impulsivity), the ratio of extraversion and introversion, and the level of openness to experience.

According to a number of authors, in old age a new life position is rarely developed. Rather, it is a sharpening and modification of an existing life position under the influence of new circumstances. The personality of the old man still remains itself.

In an empirical study by American psychologists, retired or part-time men were examined. Five main types of personality traits have been identified:

1. Construction type- characterized by internal balance, a positive emotional attitude, self-criticism and tolerance towards others. An optimistic attitude towards life persists after the end of professional activity. The self-esteem of this group of elderly and old people is quite high; they make plans for the future and count on the help of others.

2. Dependent type– also socially acceptable and well adapted. It is expressed in subordination to a marital partner or child, in the absence of high life and professional claims.

3. Protective type– characterized by exaggerated emotional restraint, some straightforwardness in actions and habits, the desire for “self-sufficiency,” and reluctant acceptance of help from other people. The motto of people with a defensive attitude toward advancing old age is activity even “through force.” Regarded as a neurotic type.

4. Aggressive-accusatory type. People with this set of traits strive to “shift” blame and responsibility for their own failures onto other people, are explosive and suspicious. They do not accept their old age, drive away the thought of retirement, think with despair about the progressive loss of strength and death, and are hostile to young people and to the whole “new, alien world.” Their idea of ​​themselves and the world were classified as inadequate.

5. Self-accusatory type Passivity, resignation in accepting difficulties, a tendency to depression and fatalism, and lack of initiative are revealed. A feeling of loneliness, abandonment, a pessimistic assessment of life in general, when death is perceived as deliverance from an unhappy existence.

I.S. Kon uses the focus of activity as a criterion for identifying socio-psychological types of old age

Positive, psychological types of old age:

1) continuation of social life after retirement, active and creative attitude;

2) organization of one’s own life - material well-being, hobbies, entertainment, self-education; good social and psychological adjustment;

3) applying strength in the family for the benefit of its other members; more often these are women. There is no blues or boredom, but life satisfaction is lower than in the first two groups;

4) the meaning of life affects the improvement of health; more typical for men. This type of organization of life provides a certain moral satisfaction, but is sometimes accompanied by increased anxiety and suspiciousness regarding health.

Negative types of development:

1) aggressive grumblers,

2) disappointed in themselves and in their own lives, lonely and sad losers, deeply unhappy.

The phenomenon of assessing the quality and meaning of life at this age stage is complex and insufficiently studied. It is possible that the factors that determine life satisfaction in old age are different from the factors that determine dissatisfaction with life. The emotional experience of life satisfaction in old age is associated with older people’s assessment of the meaning of their lives for others, with the presence of a life goal and a time perspective connecting their present, past and future. Dissatisfaction with life as a total experience is associated with an assessment of external and internal living conditions and consists of preoccupation with one’s deteriorating health, appearance, lack of material resources, the current lack of physical and moral support, and actual isolation. Together with life wisdom, the central psychological new formation of old age is the ability to live in the deeper layers of the soul, but this is only a possibility, the implementation of which depends on the person.

Cognitive sphere during aging. A decrease in mental tone, strength and mobility is the main age-related characteristic of mental response in old age. The main thing that characterizes aging is a decrease in mental activity, expressed in a narrowing of the scope of perception, difficulty concentrating, and a slowdown in psychomotor reactions. In older people, reaction time increases, the processing of perceptual information slows down, and the speed of cognitive processes decreases.

In relation to favorable forms of mental aging, it is important that, despite these changes in strength and mobility, the mental functions themselves remain qualitatively unchanged and practically intact. Changes in the strength and mobility of mental processes in old age turn out to be purely individual.

Memory. There is a widespread idea of ​​memory impairments as the main age-related symptom of mental aging; fixation on memory impairments is typical for old people themselves.

The general conclusion of numerous studies in recent years regarding the effects of aging on memory is that memory does decline, but it is not a uniform or unidirectional process. A large number of factors not directly related to age (size of perception, selectivity of attention, decreased motivation, level of education) affect the quality of performance of mnemonic tasks.

It is stated that older people seem to be less efficient at organizing, repeating and encoding memorized material. However, training with careful instruction and a little practice significantly improves performance, even in the oldest (those around 80 years old).

Different types of memory - sensory, short-term, long-term - are affected to varying degrees. The “core” amount of long-term memory is retained. In the period after 70 years, mechanical memorization mainly suffers, and logical memory works best. Research into autobiographical memory is of great interest.

Intelligence. Within the framework of a hierarchical approach to considering intelligence when characterizing cognitive changes in old age, they distinguish " crystallized intelligence" And " fluid intelligence"Crystallized intelligence is determined by the amount of knowledge acquired throughout life, the ability to solve problems based on available information (give definitions of concepts, explain why stealing is wrong). Fluid intelligence implies the ability to solve new problems for which there are no usual methods. The assessment of general intelligence is composed from a set of assessments of both crystallized and fluid intelligence.

There is evidence that crystallized intelligence is more resistant to aging compared to mobile intelligence, the decline of which, as a rule, is expressed more sharply and at an earlier time. It is emphasized that the time factor is of great importance when assessing intelligence: limiting the time allocated to solving intellectual problems leads to a noticeable difference in the results of elderly and young people even on tests of crystallized intelligence. At the same time, there is an age-related variation: a decrease in even mobile intelligence does not occur in everyone.

Characteristic psychophysiological changes during normal aging:

1. Slowing down of reactions with greater and faster fatigue.

2. Deterioration of the ability to perceive.

3. Narrowing the field of attention.

4. Reduced attention span.

5. Difficulties in distributing and switching attention.

6. Decreased ability to concentrate and focus

7. Increased sensitivity to extraneous interference.

8. Some reduction in memory capabilities.

9. Weakening of the tendency towards “automatic” organization of the person being remembered.

10. Difficulties in reproduction.

Development of mental functions. Most mental skills are not affected by aging. However, the speed of mental and physical tasks may decrease. But such changes can be attributed to deteriorating health, social isolation, lack of education, poverty and lack of motivation. In addition, in old age there is some deterioration in secondary memory, especially in terms of remembering new information. Learning processes are practically unaffected by age-related changes, as well as sensory memory, primary memory or memory for remote events.

Older adults may perform well on memory tests if the information does not seem meaningless to them, if they have received detailed instructions on how to sort and organize material in their memory, or if they have developed strategies for themselves to combat forgetting. However, they may perform worse than younger adults under similar testing conditions.

Topic 11. Psychology of old age

1. Physical and mental development in old age.

1. Physical and mental development in old age

Chronological framework (age boundaries). Old age (aging) – 60 – 75 years. Old age – 75 - 90 years. Longevity - over 90 years.

Physical development. There is a fading of functions at the molecular level, at the level of functional systems. Negative changes also occur in the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, nervous and other systems during the process of involution of the body. A decrease in energy potential due to a weakening of the intensity of energy generation (tissue respiration and glycolysis) occurs in parts of the brain at different rates.

Social situation: readiness for retirement; adaptation to a new social status; search for new forms of employment.

Leading activities: professional activities in adapted forms; structuring and transferring life experience; a hobby appears; ancestry; gradual cessation of activity.

Mental development: Hearing sensitivity decreases, various types of color sensitivity decrease. Verbal and non-verbal intelligence undergoes changes.

Memory. Mechanical memorization suffers; logical memory is best preserved. Figurative memory weakens more than semantic memory, but is preserved better than mechanical imprinting. Short-term memory is impaired; perception and memorization are not accompanied by the organizing function of speech. Emotional memory continues to function. Marked weakening of the mechanical component of memory. Relatively good preservation of the components of logical-semantic memory. Extremely sharp weakening of short-term (working memory).

This age period is characterized by the appearance of sanogenic thinking - it helps to improve the mental health, relieve internal tension in it, eliminate old grievances, complexes and much more.

Personal development. W. Henry divides old people into three groups, depending on the amount of psychic energy they have. First group includes those who feel sufficiently cheerful and energetic, continue to work, etc. Second group includes those who are engaged in their own business - a hobby. Third group– people with weak mental energy, not busy with anything or busy only with themselves.

Recognizing oneself as old is the strongest psychological factor of aging. The correct feeling of your own age is the correct manner of behavior and communication.

British psychologist D. Bromley singled out five types of adjustment to old age: constructive attitude, dependence attitude, defensive attitude, hostility attitude; an attitude of hostility directed towards oneself.

In old age, not only the changes that occur to a person are important, but also the person’s attitude towards these changes. In typology F. Giese There are three types of old people and old age: the negative old man, the extroverted old man (in the typology of C. G. Jung), the introverted type.

No less interesting is the classification of socio-psychological types of old age I.S. Kona, built on the basis of the dependence of the type on the nature of the activity with which old age is filled: active, creative old age; old age with good social and psychological adjustment; “female” type of aging; old age in caring for health (“male” type of aging).

Communication. Narrowing your social circle. Lack of contact with society causes emotional changes in old people: discouragement, pessimism, anxiety and fear of the future.

An old person quickly gets tired of intense social contacts. An older person often wants to be alone, to “take a break from people.” The social circle of an elderly person is most often limited to immediate relatives and their acquaintances and a few close-living friends. Relationships with adult children and grandchildren become closer (experience is transferred, a psychological atmosphere is maintained, etc.).

Engagement in communication inevitably decreases with age, which exacerbates the problem loneliness. Women, on average, maintain more social contacts due to the fact that they have more social roles; They often have more friends than men. Old people with a healthy psyche and somatic health are more willing and longer to try to preserve and maintain existing social connections, often giving them the character of a ritual (for example, nightly phone calls, etc.).

Neoplasms. K. Rogers identifies the following personal new formations: uncontrollable desire for risk; high sensitivity to social orders addressed to him and readiness to fulfill them in the shortest possible time; high level of development of the intuitive sphere of personality. All these personal new formations are the result of a person’s integration activity or holistic experience of his life.

A sense of belonging to a group or groups, personal comfort in interacting with people, integration with them. A sense of community with other people, faith in others, the courage to be imperfect, optimism, acceptance of your life.

Life wisdom is the main new formation of old age (E. Erikson).

Happy old age. Integrity is the integrity of the individual.

A crisis. The retirement crisis is affected by a violation of the regime and way of life, there is a lack of demand, general health deteriorates, the level of some mental functions decreases, and can be complicated by the loss of loved ones.

Tasks for independent work

1. Give answers to the following questions:

1. What is the essence of the crisis of individual life in old age?

2. What are the patterns of human development in old age?

3. What typologies of old age do you know? What are their criteria?

2. Get acquainted with modern research on the problem. Complete the list.

1. Petrovskaya L.A. On the question of the uniqueness of adult socialization // World of Psychology. – 1999. ‑ No. 2. ‑ P. 29 -32.

2. Semenov I.N. Repetsky Yu.A. Personal self-determination as a key factor in adult education // World of Psychology. – 1999. ‑ No. 2. ‑ P. 32 – 38.

1. Antsiferova L.I. Late period of human life: types of aging and possibilities of progressive personality development // Psychological Journal. – 1996.‑ No. 6.

2. Sapogova E.E. Psychology of human development: textbook. – M.: Aspect Press, 2001. –4 60 p.

3. Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Fundamentals of psychological anthropology. Psychology of human development: Development of subjective reality in ontogenesis: Textbook for universities. – M., 2000.

4. Tolstykh A.V. Age of life. – M., 1998. Shakhmatov N.F. Psychological aging: happy and painful. – M., 1996.

5. Livehud B. Life crises - life chances. Kaluga, 1994.

6. Kanungo M. Biochemistry of aging. - M.: Mir, 1982.

7. Karandashev V.N. Live without fear of death. - M.: Smysl, Academic Project, 1999.

8. Burlier F.A. Aging and old age. - M.: Mir, 1962.

9. Ananyev B.G. On the problems of modern human science. - M.: Nauka, 1977.

This textbook is intended for 5th year undergraduate and graduate students in the training profile “Psychological support of FC and S”. The manual is compiled in accordance with the State Standard GSE.F.07. (psychology and pedagogy) and with the regulations on master’s training (magistracy) in the system of multi-level higher education in Russia.

The manual includes five main sections: general psychology, developmental psychology, occupational psychology, social psychology and sports psychology.

The purpose of the manual is to: familiarize students with the main sections of psychological science and help them in determining the choice of scientific direction for research in coursework and theses in the discipline of psychology, as well as when working on a master's thesis.

Book:

Sections on this page:

2.6. Psychology of late adulthood (old age)

The period of late adulthood is often called gerontogenesis, or the period of aging. Most researchers believe that this time in a person's life begins at 60 years of age. Some authors believe that for women the period of late adulthood begins at 55, and for men at 60 years. People who have reached this age are divided into three subgroups: elderly people, senile people and centenarians (Rean, 2003).

There are other age classifications. For example, I. Burnside et al. (1979) divided this age into four subperiods: 60–69 years – presenile; 70–79 – senile; 80–89 – late senile; 90 years and older – frailty. In this reference book, the time of onset of late adulthood (old age) is taken to be 60 years.

The main feature of late adulthood is aging - a genetically programmed process accompanied by certain physiological and psychological changes (Malkina-Pykh, 2004).

In society, there is a stereotypical perception of old age, on the one hand, as a period of rest, on the other, decline and, perhaps, even half-existence. Therefore, the very phrase “development in old age” may seem strange. However, late adulthood plays a specific role in the human life cycle system, since only during this period can one understand and explain the life of a given person as a whole, its meaning and value for previous and subsequent generations (Ermolaeva, 2002).

From the point of view of E. Erikson’s theory, the final stage of the life cycle is the psychosocial conflict “integrity versus despair” (Erikson, 1996). The main need in this period is to be convinced of the value of the life lived. A person must look back and reconsider his achievements and failures. Accordingly, the focus of attention should shift from the future to the past. This becomes possible only when the previous stages have been successfully completed. Late adulthood is characterized by the achievement of a new, complete form of ego identity and integrity. A person’s achievement of integrity is based on summing up his past life and realizing it as a single whole, in which nothing can be changed. If a person cannot bring his past actions into a single whole, he ends his life in fear of death and in despair from the impossibility of starting life again.

Erikson's theory was later expanded by R. Peck. In his opinion, to achieve “successful old age,” a person must solve three main tasks, covering three dimensions of his personality.

Firstly, this is differentiation, that is, transcendence versus absorption in roles. In the course of professional activity, a person is absorbed in the role dictated by the profession. When he retires, he must define for himself a whole set of meaningful activities so that his time is completely filled. If a person defines himself only within the framework of his work or family, then the absence of work and the departure of adult children from home will cause such a surge of negative emotions that the individual may not be able to cope with.

Secondly, there is transcendence of the body versus preoccupation with the body, a dimension that has to do with the individual's ability to avoid becoming overly focused on the increasing ailments, pains, and physical ailments that accompany aging. According to Peck, older people must learn to cope with deterioration in health, distract themselves from painful sensations and enjoy life primarily through human relationships. This will allow them to “step” beyond their preoccupation with their body.

Third is ego transcendence versus absorption. The ego is a dimension that is especially important in old age. Older people should understand that although death is inevitable and may not be too far away, they will feel better if they know that they have contributed to the future through raising their children, through their deeds and ideas. People should not indulge in thoughts of death (or, as R. Peck puts it, should not plunge into “ego night”). According to Erikson's theory, people who face old age without fear or despair overcome the imminent prospect of their own death through participation in the younger generation - a legacy that will outlive them.

Like Erikson's stages, none of Peck's dimensions are limited to middle age or old age. Decisions made early in life act as the building blocks from which all adult decisions are made, and middle-aged people are already beginning to resolve the problems of coming old age (Craig, 2003).

The question of leading activity during late adulthood remains open for discussion and study. A. Leaders (1998) believes that the leading human activity during late adulthood is a special “inner work” aimed at accepting one’s life path. An elderly person comprehends not only his current life, but also his entire life. A fruitful, healthy old age is associated with accepting your life path. For an older person, the possibilities for major changes in his life path have practically been exhausted, but he can endlessly work with his life path internally, in an ideal way.

N.S. Pryazhnikov (1999) examined the problem of the social situation of development and leading activity in late adulthood, focusing not so much on chronological development, but on the socio-psychological specifics of each of the identified periods.

Elderly, pre-retirement age(from approximately 55 years of age until retirement) is, first of all, anticipation, or, at best, preparation for retirement.

Social development situation:

Waiting for pension. For some, retirement is perceived as an opportunity to quickly begin to relax, for others - as the end of an active working life and the uncertainty of what to do with their experience and the considerable remaining energy.

The desire to educate and prepare a worthy replacement at work.

The production nature of the main contacts. Moreover, in some cases, colleagues may expect a given person to leave work as soon as possible, and the person himself feels this; in others, they don’t want to let the person go, and he himself secretly hopes that retirement will come later for him than for many of his peers.

Relationships with relatives. On the one hand, a person can still provide for his family, including his grandchildren, to a large extent (and in this sense he is “useful” and “interesting”); on the other hand, he anticipates his imminent “uselessness” when he stops earning a lot and will receive his “pathetic pension.”

Leading activities:

The desire to have time to do what has not yet been done (especially professionally), to leave a good memory of oneself at work.

The desire to pass on my experience to students and followers.

When grandchildren appear, people of pre-retirement age seem to be “torn” between work, where they want to realize themselves as much as possible, and raising their grandchildren, who are no less important to them as a continuation of their family.

Towards the end of the pre-retirement period (especially if there is a high probability of leaving work), there is a desire to choose an activity in retirement, to somehow plan your future life.

Retirement period(the first years after retirement) is, first of all, the development of a new social role, a new status.

Social development situation:

Old contacts with colleagues are still preserved at first, but later they become less and less pronounced.

Mainly contacts are maintained with close people and relatives. Accordingly, they require special tact and attention to still “inexperienced” pensioners. Gradually, retired friends or even other, younger people appear - depending on what the pensioner will do and with whom he will have to communicate. For example, retired social activists immediately find new areas of activity for themselves and quickly acquire new “business” contacts.

Usually, relatives and friends want the pensioner, “who already has a lot of time,” to be more involved in raising his grandchildren, so communication with children and grandchildren is also the most important characteristic of the social situation of pensioners.

Leading activities:

First of all, it is a search for oneself in a new capacity, a test of one’s strength in a variety of activities (raising grandchildren, housekeeping, hobbies, new relationships, social activities, etc.). A pensioner has a lot of time, and he can afford to spend it searching for self-determination through trial and error (although this happens against the backdrop of the feeling that “life is getting smaller and smaller every day”).

For many pensioners, the first time in retirement is to continue working in their main profession (especially when such an employee receives a pension and basic salary together); in this case, the working pensioner’s sense of self-worth increases significantly.

An ever-increasing desire to lecture or even shame younger people.

The period of old age itself(several years after retirement and until a serious deterioration in health), when a person has already mastered a new social status.

Social situation:

Communication is mainly with the same old people.

Communication with family members who either exploit the old man’s free time or simply “look after” him.

Some retirees find new contacts through social activities (or even ongoing professional activities).

For some retirees, the meaning of relationships with other people is changing. Some authors note that many connections that were previously close to the old man gradually lose their former intimacy and become more generalized.

Leading activities:

Leisure hobby. Pensioners often change one hobby after another, which somewhat refutes the idea of ​​their “rigidity”: they still continue to search for themselves, to search for meaning in different types of activities. The main problem of such a search is the “disproportion” of all these hobbies compared to the previous (“real”) work.

The desire to confirm one’s sense of self-worth in every possible way according to the principle: “As long as I do at least something useful for others, I exist and demand respect for myself.”

For some older people during this period (even when health is still quite good and there is no reason to “say goodbye to life”), the leading activity may be preparation for death, which is expressed in joining religion, in frequent visits to the cemetery, in conversations with loved ones about will.

Longevity in the face of a sharp deterioration in health significantly different from old age without any special health problems. Therefore, it makes sense to highlight the features of this particular type of old age.

Social situation:

Mainly – communication with family and friends, as well as with doctors and roommates (in hospital treatment or in a nursing home).

Leading activities:

Treatment, the desire to somehow fight diseases.

The desire to comprehend, often to embellish, one’s life. A person seems to cling to all the best things that happened (and didn’t happen) in his life. In this state, a person wants to leave behind something good, significant, worthy and thereby prove to himself and others: “I did not live in vain” or to repent of something unworthy.

Longevity with relatively good health(over 75-80 years old).

Social situation:

Communication with loved ones and relatives who even begin to be proud that a real long-liver lives in their family. To some extent, this pride is selfish: relatives believe that their family has good heredity and that they will also live a long time. In this sense, a centenarian is a symbol of a future long life for other family members.

A healthy centenarian may have new friends and acquaintances. Since a centenarian is a rare phenomenon, a variety of people, including representatives of the media, seek to communicate with such an old man, so the circle of acquaintances of a centenarian may even expand somewhat.

Leading activities:

A fairly active life (sometimes even with excesses characteristic of a healthy mature person). The forms of manifestation of activity depend on the individual characteristics of a given person. Probably, for maintaining health, not only the doctor’s instructions are important, but also the feeling of health itself (or the “feeling of life”).

On the one hand, in late adulthood it is very important to realize the need to work to complete what can be completed, and on the other hand, to feel the boundaries of the possible and accept the imperfection of both oneself and the world around us. From this situation follows the most important task of old age - the fulfillment of those life tasks (family or social functions) that were not performed or were not performed well enough during the previous life (Slobodchikov, 2000).

The most difficult task of this period can be called the implementation of internal work in the life-death system. Aging acts as a connecting mechanism between life and death (Novik, 1992). An elderly person feels the presence of imminent death, and the experience of this presence is deeply personal and contributes to the feeling of loneliness of old people. Indeed, loneliness in old age is often caused not by the objective absence of loved ones, but by the inability to share with them the presence in one’s consciousness of an imminent death. For many, the fear of death intensifies, which manifests itself either in the categorical avoidance of the topic of death by older people, or in the constant appeal to it in the form of “I wish I could die soon, I’m already tired of living,” etc. It can be assumed that it is old age that should disrupt a person’s existing stereotype of death denial, i.e. the desire to live as if you will live forever. As J. Rainwater (1992) noted, when a person accepts the inevitability of his own death, then the fear of death disappears by itself. She, however, added that it is necessary for a person of any age to realize this fact, since our attitude towards death determines our attitude towards life.

Thus, the period of late adulthood is the result of a person’s entire life course. During this period, the effect of ontogenetic laws of heterochrony, unevenness, and stadiality intensifies, which leads to an increase in contradictions in the development of various substructures in the human psyche. Along with involutionary processes, changes and new formations of a progressive nature occur at all levels of human organization, which make it possible to prevent or overcome the destructive manifestations of old age. Many factors contribute to active longevity. The leading psychological factors can be considered the development of an elderly person as a socially active person, as a subject of creative activity and a bright individuality (Gamezo et al., 1999).

The period of late adulthood is characterized by specific changes in the emotional sphere of a person: an uncontrolled increase in affective reactions, a tendency to causeless sadness, and tearfulness.

Most older people tend to become eccentric, less empathetic, more self-absorbed, and less able to cope with difficult situations. Older men become more passive and allow themselves to exhibit character traits more common to women, while older women become more aggressive, practical and domineering.

The weakening of the emotional sphere deprives new impressions of color and brightness, hence the attachment of older people to the past, the power of memories. It should be noted that older people experience less anxiety when thinking about death than relatively young people: they think about death often, but with amazing calm, fearing only that the dying process will be long and painful.

One of the most common experiences is aging anxiety. Chronic preoccupation plays the role of a kind of readiness for frustration, and therefore helps to avoid strong emotional outbursts in truly critical situations (Ermolaeva, 2002).

In addition, the experience of preoccupation adds sharpness to the subjective picture of the present, helps to avoid boredom, and is one of the ways of structuring time. In this regard, it is easy to explain the phenomenon of too strong, seemingly inadequate experiences of older people: rather weak stimuli cause acute emotional reactions in them. This is necessary to overcome social or emotional hunger in a situation of sensory isolation.

Emotional detachment, outwardly manifested as indifference, can also be considered as a defense mechanism. Relatives say about such a person: he hears and sees only what he wants. But emotional detachment helps to avoid the deep suffering that old age is especially full of, including such as the death of loved ones.

In addition to the active use of certain protective mechanisms, typical of late adulthood is age-related situational depression - a uniform and persistent decrease in mood. Subjectively, it is experienced as a feeling of emptiness, uselessness, uninterestingness of everything that is happening, an acutely negative perception of one’s own future. A person is increasingly in a depressed, sad mood without objective reasons for this. Sensitivity and anxious suspiciousness increase, and negative emotional reactions to certain troubles become quite protracted (Khukhlaeva, 2002).

At the same time, this condition seems normal to the oldest person, so any help is rejected. The content of age-related situational depression is non-acceptance of one’s own aging, and the main traumatic factor is one’s own age.

N.F. Shakhmatov (1996) identifies three main variants of the manifestation of age-related depression:

Hypochondriacal fixation on painful sensations. A person constantly listens to painful symptoms and vividly discusses them with others. Perhaps an overvalued attitude towards medications and methods of treatment. In this case, the chosen method of healing can be assigned the main content of mental life. To some extent, this is also a protective mechanism, since it allows a person, considering the disease, not to see his own old age. Indeed, when describing their condition, people strive in every possible way to emphasize the dissimilarity of their symptoms with the manifestations of senility: after all, the disease can have a reverse course, i.e., it implies recovery. Accordingly, perceiving the signs of old age as symptoms of illness, a person denies his own aging.

Ideas about oppression. The attitude of others seems unfair. It seems to a person that everyone around him is oppressing him - morally and physically. The main feeling is resentment, and the thought is “everyone wants to get rid of me.” As a rule, it is impossible to rationally prove the absence of harassment due to reduced criticality.

Tendency towards fiction, indicating its special significance. Here the elderly person tends to tell real episodes from his life with an exaggeration of his participation in them or completely invents them.

If senile anxiety, emotional withdrawal and, to some extent, depression perform peculiar protective functions, then the feeling of uselessness contributes to both psychological and biological withering. It is often accompanied by a feeling of insecurity. Unfortunately, these feelings are typical for older people, but often they do not correspond to the person's real life situation. He can have quite caring relatives, live with them, bring them one or another real benefit, but still acutely experience a feeling of uselessness.

There are two possible sources of this feeling. The first is when a person ceases to be needed by himself and projects this feeling onto others. The second is human weakness. He needs constant confirmation of his need in order to feel his existence: “I am needed - that means I exist.” With retirement, the number of ways to be needed decreases due to a decrease in material wealth and physical strength, and this can be perceived as a threat to the integrity of a person’s “I”. As you can see, both sources are interconnected.

According to some data (Petrovskaya, 1996), the level of fears in late adulthood increases because, on the one hand, they accumulate throughout life, and on the other hand, the threat is posed by the approach of the end. It is clear that the main one is the fear of death, which can take various forms: fear of loneliness, illness, the future and even unreal fears (for example, of persecutors).

The fear of death can be projected onto the environment, which in this case is seen in a negative context. At the same time, verbal indications of a desire for death such as “healed already” do not indicate the absence of fear, but precisely the opposite.

The problem of fear of death is quite difficult to discuss. Individual differences in attitudes towards death in older people are determined by their life values, adaptation to life, and state of health. People who have not accepted old age as an inevitable stage of life and are not adapted to it are afraid of death. People tormented by serious illnesses fear dying as a period of increased suffering and helplessness. Some older people who are physically healthy, have plans for the future and feel like they are masters of their own lives, are still worried about death. However, most evidence suggests that people who are psychologically well adjusted and have achieved personal integrity (in E. Erikson's sense) report low levels of fear of death (Craig, 2000).

In late adulthood, as at other ages, people differ in the degree of severity of fears, their sources and methods of overcoming.

Some researchers believe that many of the behaviors traditionally attributed to older people - harsh reactions, rumination, withdrawal, criticism of the environment - can be interpreted as ways to deal with fears and anxiety.

The next important problem, which is closely related to a person’s emotional state, is the problem of psychosomatic diseases. Modern psychosomatics is based on experimental evidence that emotions can decisively influence the functions of organs. Tensions that arise between a person and the outside world are pathogenic factors and cause certain diseases (Khukhlaeva, 2002).

In addition to psychosomatic manifestations, suicide can be a reaction to non-acceptance of one’s own old age. According to data provided by E. Grollman, despite the fact that people over 65 years of age make up only 11% of the total population, this age group accounts for 25% of all suicides. In his opinion, the true incidence of suicide at this age is much higher. “Older people mask their suicidal intentions by literally starving themselves, overdosing, mixing up, or not taking their medication on time” (Badchen and Kagan, 1997). The situation is complicated by the fact that many of the features indicating suicidality are similar to signs of depression, and by the fact that late adulthood is characterized by a decrease in the general background of mood and the predominance of negative emotional states: anxiety, sadness, fear, anger, resentment. The opportunity to enjoy what previously brought happiness is lost. The person becomes overwhelmed by hopelessness, guilt, self-judgment and irritability. People feel unwanted, worthless and come to the conclusion that life has no meaning. Therefore, the problem of recognizing depression in older people and providing them with timely support is especially important.

Old age is the age of loss. Compared with young people, late adulthood experiences more bereavements and loss and less ability to compensate for them. The first loss may be the death of a spouse, close family member or friend. For older people, it becomes obvious that life is not unlimited, it is limited, and there is little time left. Older people are forced to come to terms with the fact that at their age they constantly have to deal with the death of people close to them. In-depth, comprehensive research into the experience of grief in older people has led to the conclusion that, despite the increase in the number of losses and sources of grief, in late adulthood people experience grief less severely than young or middle-aged people (Kalisz, 1997).

In this regard, the problem arises as to whether the cleansing “work of grief” is fully carried out in this case. To describe the grief process, the Kubler-Ross model is often used (cited by Kociunas, 1999) - alternating stages of denial, embitterment, compromise, depression, adaptation. The normal grief reaction is thought to last up to a year. Immediately after the death of a loved one, acute mental pain occurs. In the process of grieving, bitterness sets in. After the first reaction to the death of a loved one - shock, denial, anger - there is an awareness of the loss and acceptance of it. A typical manifestation of grief is longing for the deceased.

Of course, grief patterns vary greatly depending on the person's personality, age, gender, cultural background, and relationship with the deceased. Experiences of grief from the loss of a spouse by an old person do not always manifest themselves in an external acute reaction, but are immersed in the deeper layers of the soul, where the “work of grief” is enriched by the acquisition of new meanings in life - preserving the memory of a loved one for oneself, preserving the memory of him for others and unconsciously ensuring the immortality of the deceased through its continuation in other people (Ermolaeva, 2002).

We cannot ignore the grief experienced by an elderly person who has lost his child. Here the emotional impact is usually very great. The loss of dreams, hopes, and some expectations for an elderly person is incomparable with the loss of children. This seems to mean for him the deprivation of the right to live further. Although such an opinion cannot be explained logically, it is always present in the mind. Old people who have lost children, under the weight of hopelessness and loss, feel deceived by time.

In some cases, older people living separately from their children feel this loss less acutely, especially if they manage to shift their attention to other children or grandchildren.

Loneliness at any age can cause a variety of emotional, behavioral and social problems. It is widely believed that loneliness is more pronounced in old age. However, many studies reject this general belief and find that experiences of loneliness are greater in youth. After reviewing a large number of studies on loneliness, D. Perlman and L. Peplo (Peplo et al., 1989) noted that three ideas were present in all of them.

First: By definition, loneliness is the result of a lack of human relationships. Second: Loneliness is an internal and subjective psychological experience and cannot be identified with actual isolation. Third: Most theories (with the exception of the existential theory) define loneliness as an unpleasant experience, a state of distress from which (at least initially) one strives to get rid of.

Psychodynamic and phenomenological approaches believe that the experience of loneliness is pathological. In contrast, interactive and cognitive approaches consider this condition to be normal.

Thus, loneliness is a controversial concept in late adulthood. It is not connected with life in reclusion. According to the results of American researchers, older people who are able to cope without outside help in everyday life are better adapted to living alone than younger people. The experience of loneliness is associated with people's cognitive assessment of the quality and satisfaction of their social connections (Malkina-Pykh, 2004).

Elderly people who have found an adequate type of activity that interests them, assessed by them as socially significant, are less likely to experience loneliness, since through their work they communicate with their family, a group of people, and even with all of humanity (if we are talking about continuing to work or writing memoirs ).

The heterogeneity and complexity of the feeling of loneliness in late adulthood is expressed in its dual character.

On the one hand, there is a painful feeling of an increasing gap with others, a fear of the consequences of a lonely lifestyle, on the other hand, there is a clear tendency to isolate oneself from others, to protect one’s peace and stability from the invasion of outsiders. This trend can be seen as the only possible way to ensure independence and spiritual comfort. Often these opposing tendencies - the painful experience of loneliness and the desire for isolation - are combined, determining the complex and contradictory feelings of an elderly person. In the gerontological literature, many authors turn to one well-known example, when an old woman, having fenced her home with a high fence and got an angry dog, complained bitterly about her loneliness (Shakhmatov, 1996).

In late adulthood, a person’s identification with his own name may be impaired due to its partial replacement with “grandmother” or “grandfather.” Since even in adulthood the name becomes a bearer of status and social role, through the use of the generalized name “grandmother” (“grandfather”) a person accepts the social status of an old person in its stereotypical expression. On the one hand, this means a decrease in social status, on the other hand, it is a kind of marker of age (Khukhlaeva, 2002). Therefore, social groups in which he is called by his first name or first name and patronymic acquire special significance for an elderly person. Then he himself gains the experience of perceiving himself as a valuable personality.

The claim to recognition retains its significance into late adulthood. However, at this time the number of external sources of recognition decreases. Often it becomes impossible to achieve professional success, appearance and sexual attractiveness change. The social group in which the claim to recognition can be realized is narrowing.

As a defense against persistent deprivation of a claim for recognition, its retrospective nature may appear, based only on the professional or sexual successes of youth, former beauty, etc. Sometimes this manifests itself in the so-called identification with one’s generation, i.e. attributing exaggeratedly high values ​​to it characteristics. As a rule, the presence of only a retrospective claim to recognition indicates an older person’s failure to accept his present. As we have already said, such non-acceptance performs some protective functions.

The issue of the need for self-recognition of older people is interconnected with the problem of choosing an aging strategy. In older people with a constructive aging strategy, the need for self-recognition takes on special importance and has a positive character, since it serves as a stimulus for development. In this case, external assessment may become less significant than one’s own assessment of oneself; the struggle for public recognition ceases, which often provides the opportunity for significant creative growth.

The attitude towards the past and future in old age largely depends on the attitude towards the present. A person’s life balance - the assessment of the life he has lived - no longer depends on real successes and failures in the past, but on the perception of the current life situation (Suslovskaya, 1996). If the current life situation is perceived positively, then the assessment of the life lived will also be positive. Accordingly, the future is seen as bright and joyful only by those older people who experience satisfaction from their present life.

Some researchers believe that people who have developed good adaptive abilities during their past lives are more likely to use active coping methods. There is a relationship between personal characteristics and the success of adaptation to age-related changes. If the criteria for success are good health, long life expectancy and satisfaction with this life, then the “” of a successfully adapted elderly person will be like this (Khukhlaeva, 2002):

Innate high intelligence, good memory.

Love for others and the desire to help, care, and be useful.

Love for life in all its manifestations. The ability to see beauty and feel the joy of life.

Optimism and a good sense of humor.

Continued ability to create.

The ability to introduce new things into your environment.

Freedom from anxiety and concern.

Combining all the phenomena to which it is necessary to adapt in late adulthood, they can be called in one word - loss (Kisker et al., 1999). In women, it begins with menopausal experiences as a kind of loss of sexual identity. This is followed by a loss of sexual attractiveness. For men, especially acute feelings arise in connection with the loss of a job. Along with this, there are losses associated with the deterioration of physical condition, with the death of loved ones, etc. Thus, the essence of adaptation to late adulthood should be in accepting losses, in agreeing to losses if they cannot be avoided.

Currently, there is a widespread opinion about the desexualization of older people, that in many ways they stop following gender roles. However, sexuality itself retains its significance in late adulthood. Sexual activity in late adulthood is not something exceptional. Moreover, there is a correlation between satisfaction with sexual life and satisfaction with life as such, which is also typical for the period of youth. Satisfaction with sexual life not only entails a positive outlook, it is directly related to physical health. And uneradicated sexuality, on the contrary, manifests itself in a higher frequency of diseases.

The self-concept of the period of late adulthood and old age is a complex formation in which information is “recorded” about the multitude of self-images that arise in a person in a variety of variants of his self-perception and self-presentation. This is a selective memory of an individual, reflecting events in such a way as not to violate basic personal positions (Rean, 2003).

Social stereotypes affect a person’s subjective relationship not only to society, but also to himself. They especially influence the self-perception of older people, since the evaluative criterion in their self-concept was formed in other social conditions. However, most older people, due to the age-related characteristics of their psyche, find it difficult to accept a new form of a new social position that is largely unacceptable to them, which affects the system of their relationships with others and leads to a significant change in the self-concept.

Many characteristic features of late adulthood are due to widespread negative stereotypes in society of the perception of old people as useless, intellectually degrading, and helpless people. The internalization of these stereotypes reduces self-esteem, because older people are afraid to refute existing patterns with their behavior (Rean, 2003).

Of course, among the elderly there are many people who have remained active (including socially) thanks to their resilience and fortitude. Apparently, this is due to the general positive sign of their self-concept, with its focus on creative self-affirmation.

Physiological processes occurring in late adulthood can only partially influence the self-concept of an individual, especially when, for some personal reasons, a person’s attention is fixed on such manifestations of his body. To some extent, this may be due to that personal formation, which in modern medical and psychological vocabulary is referred to as the “internal picture of the disease,” but is essentially a psychosomatic aspect of the self-concept.

The self-concept in late adulthood is driven by a person’s desire to integrate his past, present and future, to understand the connections between the events of his life. The conditions that facilitate an individual to effectively integrate his life include: the individual’s successful resolution of normative crises and conflicts, the development of adaptive personal properties, the ability to learn useful lessons from past failures, the ability to accumulate the energy potential of all stages passed.

In late adulthood, a person focuses not only on his inherent attitudes and subjective attitudes towards the world, but also on the manifestation of previously hidden personal properties and positions. Unconditional acceptance of oneself and congruence with oneself allow one to exclude from the personal set many already exhausted and utilized individual defenses (which is the basic principle of ensuring spiritual well-being at any age).

An important condition for a fruitful life in late adulthood is a positive anticipation of the future (a positive self-image of old age can be modeled in youth). A prerequisite for this is the successful resolution of normative crises, life challenges and conflicts in previous life stages.

The continuation of progressive development in late adulthood is also facilitated by the spontaneously manifested productive attitude in older people to evaluate their lives (like everything that happens in the world) according to the criterion of success, achievements, and happy moments. From these optimistic positions, defeats and mistakes are interpreted as painful but necessary life lessons that ultimately lead to victories. At the same time, self-esteem remains positive.

Communication in late adulthood, compared to other age periods, acquires special significance. Many researchers believe that a person’s strong social interest and involvement in broad social connections correlate not only with a slower rate of aging, but also with physical health (Khukhlaeva, 2002).

There is a point of view that in old age a person partially loses the ability to make deep contacts and his social circle necessarily narrows. Communication between older people, on the one hand, is a continuation of the main trends in the communication of youth, on the other hand, it is determined by the success of adaptation to old age, that is, satisfaction with the present. If during his life a person has developed mature contacts with others, then in old age he will retain the ability to satisfy the need for emotional contacts. Those who were unable to achieve close communication in their youth or were involved in frequent conflicts with others are likely to suffer from a lack of communication in late adulthood.

In communication, a pronounced need to realize one’s importance manifests itself. She may be satisfied by the feeling that you are needed by your family, children, grandchildren, the opportunity to serve other people with your professional and life experience, as well as your remaining abilities. This need in its most noble version takes on the character of a creative need, a need for self-realization (Ermolaeva, 2002).

Marital relationships in late adulthood are complex and ambiguous. During this period, marriage begins, to a greater extent than before, to determine the circle of communication, the direction of activity, and serve as a source of consolation, support and spiritual closeness. Spouses are more likely to help each other. In this case, both partners benefit, because both gain love, support, status, receive money and information. On the other hand, increased ambition, “sharpening” of personality traits, deterioration of character in general, and decreased social control complicate communication between older spouses. Their lonely life together, impoverished in impressions, devoid of common goals and concerns, is often overshadowed by mutual grievances, claims to each other, disappointment in the mutual lack of attention and care.

In late adulthood, many people report increased emotional connections with siblings. In difficult times, they often live together, console and support each other, and look after each other during illness. In communication, they revive common memories of childhood and youth - this gives them joy and comforts them in times of loss. However, these relationships are often emotionally unstable and are characterized by the same communication problems as older spouses (Craig, 2003).

Due to heightened sensitivity to manifestations of attention and care in late adulthood, the role of friendship may increase.

The feeling of abandonment, deepened by the loss of many social roles, can be compensated by friendly participation with attention. The increased talkativeness of older people can be explained by a lack of information load and social communication. The latter, however, is largely satisfied in friendship. Friendly communication is supported by a commonality of interests, social status, a common focus on the past and a similar level of communication, which is not always possible to achieve in contacts with family members. Friendship in old age can be a full-fledged emotional relationship that arose either in past joint activities, or during long-term cohabitation and strengthened by a common style of coping with the hardships of old age, common destinies, and a similar cultural level (Granovskaya, 1997).

Many psychological features of late adulthood can be explained by the fact that the loss of activity in older people, who in their youth strictly followed parental scripts, is a consequence of the fact that their parents did not provide a script for old age. A person is now free to choose his own scenarios, but does not know how to do this, maintaining the attitude that choosing for himself is dangerous; therefore, all forms of activity cease, including those leading to communication (Bern, 1999).

Due to objective factors, during late adulthood the importance of intrafamily contacts increases. There is a loosening of the connection between a person and society due to the cessation of work, the passing of friends and relatives, and restrictions on physical activity. If previous life milestones corresponded to a gradual expansion of the circle of friends (kindergarten, school, university, work), now, on the contrary, there is a narrowing of it.

It is intrafamily communication that becomes an important source of satisfying the needs for security, love and acceptance. Through the family, many satisfy their desire for recognition. The family provides a person with the opportunity to express a variety of feelings and helps to avoid emotional monotony, i.e., a situation of sensory deprivation.

Conflicts between generations are becoming common. In those families in which parents have always been only in a parental position and never allowed themselves to leave it, a role change may occur: children will take a parental protective-prohibitive role. “Many older people ask for help to avoid the dictates of grown children” (Satir, 1992). And some adult children are surprised to learn that their parents are not at all willing to follow their advice.

Thus, conflict in communication in late adulthood increases among those people who were not capable of mature intimacy in previous years. They may also experience a lack of communication and loneliness. The rest show a tendency to deepen connections with others, develop a feeling of closeness even to strangers, and a desire to increasingly provide help and support.

The development of the “I” of an elderly person as a family member is associated with the functions of grandparents. The main functions of grandparents can be divided into family - promoting the stability of the family line, and social - accumulating and transmitting fortitude and life values ​​(ethical, social) to the next generation. Thus, the ancestral generation has a special status, determined by the laws of social development of society. However, as mentioned earlier, it receives this status only in fully functioning families. Any family disharmony primarily affects children and the elderly; It deprives the latter of the opportunity to perform normative family and social functions (Khukhlaeva, 2002).

Psychosocial development in late adulthood is greatly influenced by the presence in society of such a social phenomenon as pension, i.e. the possibility of stopping working activity upon reaching a certain age. For all people, retirement is a critical period of development. Upon retirement, a person is faced with the need to solve several important problems. The first is the problem of time structuring. It has already been mentioned earlier. The second is the search and testing of new life roles. Those people who previously identified themselves with social roles may experience a loss of “I” or role confusion. The third is the need to find the sphere of application of one’s own activity. We have already talked about the role of activity in late adulthood. A prerequisite for the successful solution of these problems is that a person agrees to his own old age and uses predominantly active methods of adaptation.

Usually a person tries to prepare for retirement. Some authors believe (cited by Malkina-Pykh, 2004) that this process can be conditionally divided into three parts, in each of which certain motives of human behavior are realized:

Reducing speed. This stage is characterized by a person’s desire to be freed from a number of work responsibilities and the desire to narrow the scope of responsibility in order to avoid a sudden sharp decline in activity upon retirement.

Long-term planning. A person tries to imagine his life in retirement, to outline some plan for the actions or activities that he will engage in during this period of time.

Life in anticipation of retirement. People are overwhelmed by worries about finishing their jobs and getting a pension. They practically already live by those goals and needs that will motivate them to action in the remaining period of their lives.

With retirement, people's positions and roles change. They acquire a new social status. Now, from the group that is conventionally called the generation of leaders, they are moving into the group of people “on well-deserved rest,” which implies a decrease in social activity. For many, this change in social role is one of the most significant events that occurs during late adulthood.

Every person who retires experiences this event differently. Some perceive their retirement as a signal of the end of their usefulness, the irretrievable loss of the main meaning-forming motive of their whole life. Therefore, they try their best to stay in their jobs longer and work as long as they have enough strength. For such people, work is a pursuit of certain goals: from the usual maintenance of material well-being to maintaining and increasing career achievements, as well as the opportunity for long-term planning, which largely determines their desires and needs (Rean, 2003). Lack of work leads such a person to realize that his role in society is weakening, and sometimes to a feeling of uselessness and uselessness. In other words, the transition to retiree life signals a “loss of power, helplessness, and autonomy” (Craig, 2000). In this case, a person concentrates his efforts on maintaining social interest, expressed in a targeted search for those types of activities that give him a feeling of his usefulness and involvement in the life of society. This includes participation in the work of formal and informal public organizations, and ordinary work activities.

For other people who perceived their work as a duty or necessity, retirement means liberation from boring, tedious, routine work, the need to obey superiors, etc. Now they have a lot of free time that can be devoted to their hobbies or concerns about loved ones, helping children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.

The specifics of this crisis are largely determined by the outcome of the crisis, which is experienced, as a rule, at the end of working life. The presence of a “retirement crisis” is confirmed by most researchers in the psychology of late adulthood. During this crisis, a person consciously or unconsciously chooses his aging strategy. In many ways, the origins of this choice lie in earlier ages, and although the crisis of old age provides a person with another opportunity to choose, in reality this opportunity may not be noticed by a person.

The first strategy assumes the possibility of further progressive development of a person’s personality. It is carried out when a person tends to both preserve old and form new social connections, giving him the opportunity to feel his social benefit.

The second is the desire of a person, first of all, to preserve himself as an individual, that is, to make a transition to activities aimed at “surviving” him as an individual against the background of the gradual extinction of psychophysiological functions. The possibility of development with such a strategy is limited (Ermolaeva, 2002).

Behind the choice of aging strategies is the search for meaning and purpose in later life. Old age, with its decrease in life prospects and sharp changes in the social situation, seems to test the strength of a person’s existing structure of the meaning of life - the hierarchy of various life values.

The first, constructive aging strategy will correspond to maintaining the structure of the meaning of life, although the main, leading meaning of the hierarchy may change. This occurs with the harmonious interaction of the main and minor elements of the hierarchical structure. It is important to note that the main component of this hierarchy, although the leading one, is only one of the elements that is influenced by its other components.

The second, destructive strategy of aging is characterized by the so-called decaying structure of the meaning of life, when the structural hierarchy largely ceases to exist, and the main meaning breaks up into a number of small meanings. In this case, the situation may be subjectively perceived as a loss of the meaning of life in general (Chudnovsky, 1992).

The essence of this crisis, in accordance with the theories of E. Erikson and R. Peck, was discussed above.

O.V. Khukhlaeva (2002) identifies two main lines in this crisis. The first is the need to accept the finitude of one’s own existence. The second is the awareness of the possibility of fulfilling those life tasks that remained unfulfilled during the previous life, or the acceptance of the impossibility of fulfilling them.

If the crisis is successfully resolved, older people change their outlook on their own lives during old age. The attitude towards old age as a period of peace and rest disappears. Old age begins to be perceived as a period of serious internal work and internal movement. In this case, the forced decrease in a person’s external activity in old age can be considered as an opportunity to expand and deepen the scope and depth of internal activity.

If a person has not been able to successfully resolve the crisis of facing old age, the need to change his life position, values, attitudes, and behavioral stereotypes is realized with great difficulty. General rigidity increases, and suboptimal forms of coping with life’s problems often become second nature. Successful adaptation to old age is hampered by the skepticism of older people, which is often formed in the process of accumulating life experience. Despite their desire to talk, they tend to be less forthcoming and tend to cling to everyday lies.

Successful adaptation to old age is also hampered by objective difficulties (Khukhlaeva, 2002):

The need to search and try out new life roles. People who previously identified themselves with family or social roles may experience a loss of self or role confusion.

Disruption of communication between a person and society due to leaving work, leaving the lives of friends and relatives, and limiting physical activity. If previous life milestones corresponded to a gradual expansion of the circle of friends (kindergarten, school, university, work), then in old age, on the contrary, its narrowing is observed.

The dynamics of the previous life path were also characterized by a constant expansion of the range of a person’s responsibilities to society. Now society is being placed in the position of what man owes. There is a danger of shifting responsibility for one’s life onto society and adopting the life position “everyone owes me,” which interferes with the mobilization of internal resources for successful adaptation to late adulthood.

Late adulthood is a period of greatest saturation with stressful situations: half of the most stressful life situations - retirement, death of close relatives, job loss, etc. - most often occur during this period. The current attitude in society towards old age as a period of “well-deserved rest” and peace contributes to the fact that an elderly person is not psychologically ready and not trained to experience this kind of stress.

Most people expect weakness, decrepitude, and social uselessness from their own old age. Many people fear their own helplessness.

Crisis states in older people can manifest themselves in different ways. The most difficult thing is to admit into consciousness the thought of the finitude of one’s life, which often manifests itself in rejection of the very fact of the onset of old age, the desire to consider its manifestations as symptoms of a disease, which, like any disease, can disappear. That’s why so much time is spent on treatment and compliance with doctors’ orders. Sometimes the fight against disease becomes the main occupation of a person. In this case, an overvalued attitude towards medications and a hypochondriacal fixation on one’s painful sensations are possible.

During this period, almost half of people experience a specific mood disorder - age-related situational depression. It is characterized by a feeling of emptiness, uselessness, and lack of interest in anything. Loneliness is acutely experienced, which can only be an experience, and not actual loneliness.

The general level of fear in older people increases significantly. There is an intensification of fears associated with increasing helplessness and the processes of withering of the functions of one’s own body. In addition, irrational fears (for example, fears of attack, persecution), moral fears (to give an account of the meaning of one’s own life) appear.

The next thing that can be noted is either the categorical avoidance of the topic of death by older people, or the constant appeal to it in the form of “I wish I could die soon.”

Due to the decline in the foundations of external recognition (social status, material wealth, appearance), a significant aspect of the crisis for many older people is a decrease in claims for recognition. For those people for whom the importance of external indicators of recognition is higher than internal ones, there is a threat of destruction of the “I” and a decrease in self-esteem.

It should also be noted that an elderly person has to organize his time in a new way. Previously, life was largely regulated by external circumstances, especially work. Now a person is left alone with himself, which is difficult and unusual for many.

The problem of the typology of psychological changes in late adulthood is extremely relevant for gerontopsychology. A comparative analysis of various typologies of aging (Glukhanyuk, Gershkovich, 2002) showed that the general determinant of a person’s choice of a constructive or non-constructive aging strategy is his attitude to this process, which develops not only in the later periods of ontogenesis, when old age becomes a fait accompli, but also at a later stage. early stages of life.

The limited and negative nature of the “cultural standards” of old age existing in society and the uncertainty of social expectations regarding an elderly person in the family do not allow us to consider social situation of life an elderly person as a full-fledged development situation. Transforming the social situation of life into a developmental situation is currently the individual personal task of each elderly person (to choose an aging strategy). This choice determines one or another adaptation strategy - preserving oneself as a person and preserving oneself as an individual .

In accordance with this choice and, accordingly, the adaptation strategy leading activity in old age can be aimed either at preserving a person’s personality (maintaining and developing his social connections), or at isolating, individualizing and “surviving” him as an individual against the backdrop of the gradual decline of psychophysiological functions .

Adaptation strategy closed loop type manifests itself in a general decrease in interests and claims to the outside world, egocentrism, decreased emotional control, a desire to hide, a feeling of inferiority, irritability, which over time gives way to indifference to others. Approximately this model of aging is spoken of when describing passive aging, behavior by typeegoistic stagnation, loss of social interest.

The alternative is maintaining and developing diverse connections with society. In this case, the leading activity in old age may be the structuring and transfer of life experience.

Options for age-appropriate species Socially significant activities may include continuing professional activities, writing memoirs, teaching and mentoring, raising grandchildren, students, and social activities.

N.S. Pryazhnikov proposed to highlight the specifics of self-determination and activity at different stages of old age:

Elderly, pre-retirement age(approximately 55 years before retirement) is primarily an expectation, and at best, preparation for retirement. In general, the period is characterized by:

1. Social development situation:

Waiting for a pension: for some, pension is perceived as an opportunity to “start relaxing as soon as possible”, for others - as a cessation of active working life and uncertainty about what to do with their experience and the considerable remaining energy;

The main contacts are still more of a production nature, when, on the one hand, colleagues can expect a given person to leave work as soon as possible (and the person himself feels this), and on the other hand, they do not want to let the person go and he himself secretly hopes that a pension for him it will come later than for many of his peers;

Relationships with relatives, when, on the one hand, a person can still largely provide for his family, including grandchildren (and in this sense he is “useful” and “interesting”), and on the other hand, a premonition of his imminent “uselessness”, when he stops earning a lot and will receive his “pathetic pension”;

The desire to educate, prepare for oneself a “worthy replacement” at work;

2. Leading activities:

The desire to “have time” to do what has not yet been done (especially professionally), as well as the desire to leave a “good memory” of oneself at work;

The desire to pass on your experience to students and followers;

When grandchildren appear, people of pre-retirement age seem to be torn between work, where they want to realize themselves as much as possible, and raising their grandchildren, who are no less important to them (this is also a continuation of their family);

Towards the end of the pre-retirement period (especially if the probability of leaving a given job is very high), there is a desire to choose an activity in retirement, to somehow plan your future life.

P. Retirement period (the first years after retirement) is, first of all, the development of a new social role,

new status. In general, this period is characterized by the following:

1. Social development situation:

Old contacts (with work colleagues) are still preserved at first, but later they become less and less pronounced;

Mainly contacts with close people and relatives (accordingly, relatives require special tact and attention to still ｫinexperiencedｻ pensioners);

Gradually, friends appear - pensioners or even other, younger people (depending on what the pensioner will do and with whom he will have to communicate. For example, pensioners who are social activists immediately find new areas of activity for themselves and quickly acquire new “business” contacts );

Usually, relatives and friends want the pensioner, who already has a lot of time, to be more involved in raising his grandchildren, so communication with children and grandchildren is also the most important characteristic of the social situation of pensioners.

2. Leading activities:

First of all, this is a “search for oneself” in a new capacity, this is a test of one’s strength in a variety of activities (raising grandchildren, in the household, in hobbies, in new relationships, in social activities, etc.) - this is self-determination by method ｫtrial and errorｻ; in fact, a pensioner has a lot of time, and he can afford it (however, all this happens against the background of the feeling that “life is getting smaller and smaller every day...ｻ);

For some pensioners, the first time in retirement is to continue working in their main profession (especially when such an employee receives a pension and basic salary together); in this case, the working pensioner’s sense of self-worth increases significantly;

An ever-increasing desire to ｫeducateｻ or even ｫshameｻ younger people;

III. The period of old age itself ( several years after retirement and until a serious deterioration in health), when a person has already mastered a new social status, is characterized approximately by the following:

1. Social situation:

Communication mainly with the same elders;

Communication with family members who either exploit the old man’s free time or simply “look after” him;

Some retirees find new contacts through social activities (or even ongoing professional activities);

For some retirees, the meaning of relationships with other people is changing. For example, some authors note that many connections that were previously close to an old man gradually “lose their former intimacy and become more generalized.”

2. Leading activities:

Leisure hobbies (retired people often change one hobby after another, which somewhat refutes the idea of ​​their “rigidity”; they still continue to search for themselves, to look for meaning in different activities...). The main problem of such a search is the ｫdisproportionｻ of all these activities in comparison with the previous (ｫpresentｻ) work;

The desire to confirm my sense of self-worth in every possible way, according to the principle: “As long as I do at least something useful for others, I exist and demand respect for myself”;

For some old people during this period (even when health is still quite good and there is no reason to say goodbye to life)

The leading activity may be preparation for death, which is expressed in joining religion, often going to the cemetery, and talking with loved ones about the “will”.

IV. Longevity in conditions of a sharp deterioration in health significantly different from old age without any special health problems. Therefore, it makes sense to highlight the features of this particular type of old age.

1. Social situation:

Mainly communication with family and friends, as well as with doctors and roommates (if the elder is in hospital treatment);

These are also roommates in nursing homes (mostly elderly people are transferred to such homes when they need special care).

Unfortunately, in many homes this care is actually worse than at home.

2. Leading activities:

Treatment, the desire to somehow fight diseases;

The desire to make sense of your life. Very often this is a desire to embellish one’s life; a person seems to “cling on” to all the best things that happened (and didn’t happen) in his life. In this state, a person wants to leave behind something very good, significant, worthy and thereby, as it were, prove to himself and others: “I didn’t live in vain.” Or repent of something unworthy.

V. Longevity with relatively good health (after approximately 75 - 80 years and older) may be characterized by:

1. Social situation:

- communication with loved ones and relatives who even begin to be proud that a real centenarian lives in their family.

To some extent, this pride is selfish: relatives believe that their family has good heredity and that they will also live a long time. In this sense, a centenarian is a symbol of a future long life for other family members;

A healthy centenarian may have new friends and acquaintances;

Since a long-liver is a rare phenomenon, a variety of people, including representatives of the media, seek to communicate with such an old man. Therefore, the circle of acquaintances of a long-lived person may even expand somewhat.

2. Leading activities:

It largely depends on the inclinations of a given person, but in any case it is a fairly active life (sometimes even with excesses characteristic of a healthy mature person). Probably, for maintaining health, not only the doctor’s instructions are important, but also the very feeling of one’s health (or “feeling of life”).