Contributions of longitudinal research to a cognitive theory of adjustment to aging

Abstract

In agreement with Costa and McCrae (1992), the principle of ‘multiple uses’ of longitudinal studies is stressed based on a comparative review of the history of the Berkeley longitudinal studies and their different uses, and of those of the Bonn Longitudinal Study on Aging (BOLSA). Of the many uses of BOLSA, its contribution to the testing of a cognitive theory of aging is discussed. A selection of the findings of BOLSA and other studies of the Bonn Department of Psychology and the Institute of Gerontology, University of Heidelberg, is reported. These findings support three postulates of this theory: ( 1 ) the perceived rather than the objective situation directs behaviour; (2) perceptions of situations are related to dominant concerns of the person; and (3) adjustment to aging is achieved when a balance between the cognitive and motivational systems of the person has been attained.

Individual and social resources predicting well-being and functioning in the later years: Conceptual models, research and practice

“…Furthermore, the appraisal or evaluation of the event as desirable versus undesirable, as challenging versus threatening, as controllable versus not controllable will determine whether there will be a lasting influ-ence (Krause, Jay & Liang, 1991;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Considering the appraisal of past events is consistent with Thomae's (1980Thomae's ( , 1992 cognitive theory of adjustment to aging. According to this theory, the perception of life events is essential for understanding adaptation.…”

What Predicts Older Adults’ Adjustment to Aging in Later Life? The Impact of Sense of Coherence, Subjective Well-Being, and Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, and Health-Related Factors

“…With this in mind, we believe that this study may provide fresh data on the understanding of AtA, and that it is an important contribution to the underdeveloped potential of AtA in older populations (Jopp & Rott, 2006;Thomae, 1992). Firstly, this study contributes with an integ rated model that encompasses a broad range of factors including not only sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle ones, but also SWB and SOC.…”

“…AtA was initially defined by Cattell (1950) as the goodness of internal arrangements by which an adaptation is maintained. Thomae (1992) suggested that AtA is achieved when a balance between the person's cognitive and motivational systems has been attained. Furthermore, a model that represented the nature of development and aging-with the focus on adjustment-was developed in more recent years (Baltes & Baltes, 1990;Baltes & Carstensen, 1996).…”

Selected Contemporary Challenges Of Ageing Policy

“…In the theory of personality in the process of ageing and old age by Neugarten (1964) and the cognitive theory of personality and ageing by Thomae (1992), it is old people that build the image of their old age. In the assumption accepted by Neugarten, the type of adaptation to old age draws the direction of the old person's activeness.…”