Controversy 1
Does Old Age Have Meaning?
The Meaning of Age
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Humans live in a world full of symbolism and shared
meaning
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Two questions examined in the textbook are:
1.
2.
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“Meaning” is so powerful, it can even be a matter of
life or death
Does old age have a meaning for society?
How do individuals actually experience their lives as
meaningful in the last stage of life?
Social gerontology seeks to answer these questions
by studying to areas of life that provide contrasting
views of activity and disengagement:

Leisure and religion
Leisure Activities in Later Life
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In old age, leisure often begins to take the place of
work, both in terms of having more free time, and
as a way of finding meaning in life
Leisure – defined as an activity engaged in for its
own sake; an end in itself
Stereotypes of “old people’s activities” (e.g.,
shuffleboard, bingo, etc.) are mistaken
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Age alone doesn’t predict what people do with their
leisure time in later life
Old people are not all alike
Individual differences, gender, and SES all play a big part
Changing Leisure Participation Patterns
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People over age 65 continue to engage in the
same activities with the same people as they did in
middle age
Patterns of late-life leisure have important
implications for the economy in an aging society
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Americans over age 50 account for 40% of all consumer
spending
Education and income are the biggest factors in
how older people spend their free time
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Retired people who have more money have more
choices, and are more likely to change their patterns of
activity more often
Religion and Spirituality
Three-quarters of older Americans say that
religion is “very important” in their lives
 Religious involvement in old age tends to
follow a pattern of “multidimensional
disengagement”:
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As people grow older, they may withdraw from
some activities (such as attending church), but
show an increase in personal religious practice
(such as Bible study or listening to religious TV
and radio)
Religious Involvement
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Older Americans continue to display patterns of
religious identification similar to those among
younger age groups:
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65% = Protestant, 25% = Catholic, 3% = Jewish
Older women have higher levels of religious participation
and belief than older men
Churches and religious organizations play many
roles in the lives of older people:
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Formal religious programs
Pastoral care programs
Sponsors or providers of social services
Religious Participation and Well-Being
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Studies have shown a positive correlation between well-being
and religious beliefs among older individuals
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But it’s difficult to define and measure what “religiousness”
actually means in people’s lives
Also unclear whether or not religious involvement actually
promotes physical health
Yet, social scientists theorize that religion helps older adults
cope in many ways:
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Reducing the impact of stress in late-life illness
Providing a sense of order and meaning in life
Offering social networks tied to religious groups
Strengthening inner psychological resources, such as self-esteem
Spirituality and the Search for Meaning
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While habits of religiosity tend to remain stable in later life,
a recent study found that 40% of people who experienced
a distinct change in faith did so after age 50
“Faith stages” – James Fowler’s (1981) theory that
people move from simpler, more literalist idea of religion to
levels where they see themselves in more universal terms
Six dimensions of “spiritual well-being”:
--Self-determined wisdom
--Acceptance of the totality of life
--Self-transcendence
--Revival of spirituality
--Discovery of meaning in aging --Preparation for death
Social Gerontology and the
Meaning of Age
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Gerontology tries to depict the facts of old age as a
way of understanding the meaning of aging
Nearly 90% of people surveyed described their
lives as meaningful
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57% of meaning came from human relationships, 12%
from service to others, as well as religion and leisure
activities
Older people might still be encouraged to maintain
social connections, but this engagement should be
based on a strategy for individual development –
not conformity to social norms or activities
The Meaning of Aging in
the 21st Century
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The life course perspective views “stages of
life” as social constructions that reflect broader
structural conditions of life
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Thus, as conditions change, so will the view of how
people find meaning at different ages
It’s not clear how the meaning of old age will
change in contemporary, post-industrial society

We must distinguish between a meaning that
society ascribes to old age, compared to what
individuals find meaningful in their own lives
Activity or Reflection?
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The question of whether old age has
meaning comes back to two alternatives:
1. continuation of midlife values into old age
or
2. discovering some new or special challenge that
belongs to the last stage of life
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Either way, the future of an aging society
will be shaped by all of us, because we are
all simply “our future selves”