Ageing as Future:
Changing Time and Age Structures in
Modern Societies
Conference Program
26th - 28th July 2016 in Nuremberg, Germany
www.geronto.fau.de/ageingasfuture-conference
Content
1
Conference Schedule
4
Keynote Speakers
6
8
9
11
12
14
Conference Sessions
1 – Thinking Across Adulthood
2 – Age Discrimination
3 – Paradoxes of Ageing
4 – Managing Time in Everyday Life
5 – Views on Ageing
6 – Preparation for Late Life and End of Life
16
Poster Session
18
Index of Speakers
20
How to get to …
Ageing as Future:
Changing Time and Age Structures in
Modern Societies
The conference addresses issues in the realms of views on ageing, time
management, and provision making and with regard to possible
relationships and interactions between the societal level of changing time
and age structures, and individual levels of action-related perceptions,
interpretations, and orientations.
The conference presents new findings from diverse fields of research related
to these issues.
The conference also reflects and presents findings from the international
collaboration project “Ageing as Future” funded by the Volkswagen
Foundation.
As the project is progressing, you are invited to join members of the
research group and of the international research community in the historic
city of Nuremberg, Germany.
Be part of a conference where the project findings and complementary
research are illustrated and discussed to shed a new and more
differentiated light on views on ageing, age-related time management and
provision making.
Organizers:
Prof. Dr. Frieder R. Lang
Prof. Dr. Stephan Lessenich
Prof. Dr. Klaus Rothermund
Sponsored by:
Conference Schedule
Tuesday, 26th July
Reception
18:00 – 19:30
Venue: Krakauer Turm
Wednesday, 27th July
Opening
9:00 – 9:15
9:15 – 10:00
Intertemporal Thought Across the Adult Life Span
Future Thinking Across Adulthood
Chair: Helene H.
Fung
Is Future Time Limitation Good or Bad for Well-Being?
Helene H. Fung
Future Time Perspective and Developmental Timing Across
Adulthood: Is there a Domain-Specific Adaptation of
Personal Deadlines?
Felix-N. Müller
Associations Between the Dimensional Structure of the
Future Time Perspective Scale, Cognition, and Wellbeing in
Old Age
Christiane Hoppmann
Future Time Perspective Across Adulthood: A ThreeComponent Model of Adaptive Temporal Cognition
Frieder R. Lang
Lunch Break
12:00 – 13:30
1
Keynote: Corinna
Löckenhoff
Coffee Break
10:00 – 10:30
Session 1
10:30 – 12:00
Frieder R. Lang
13:30 – 14:15
Prescriptive Age Stereotypes: Individual, Interpersonal,
Institutional, International and Intergenerational
Keynote: Michael
North
Session 2
14:15 – 15:45
Age Discrimination
Chair: Klaus
Rothermund
Challenges Associated with the Assessment of Ageism
Liat Ayalon
Who Wants to Work in Retirement? Individual and
Organizational Determinants
Anne Marit
Wöhrmann
Drivers of Age Discrimination at Employment
Franciska Krings
Perceived Individual and Societal Level Resources in Old
Age as Predictors of Perceived Age Discrimination
Peggy Voss
Conference Schedule
Wednesday, 27th July (continued)
15:45 – 16:15
Session 3
16:15 – 17:45
19:30
Coffee Break & Poster Session
Paradoxes of Ageing
Chair: Stephan
Lessenich
What Makes the Concept of Active Ageing so Successful? –
Active Ageing as a Strategy of Management of Population,
Professional and Individual Capital
Jaroslava Hasmanová
Marhánková
The Paradox of Time
Torbjörn Bildtgård
Later Life as an Arena of Change for Older Men and
Masculinities
Miranda
Leontowitsch
„Being the Grey Gay Guy in the Corner“ – How Elder Gay
Men integrate Ageism and Homophobia into their SelfConcepts
Lea Schütze
Conference Dinner
Venue: Hirsvogel Saal
Thursday, 28th July
9:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:30
Session 4
10:30 – 12:00
12:00 – 13:30
Ageing, Frailty and the Restructuring of the Divisions of
Later Life
Keynote: Paul Higgs
Coffee Break & Poster Session
Managing Time in Everyday Life
Chair: David Ekerdt
Is Longevity a Human Value?
David Ekerdt
Time Perception in Old Age: Can Older Adults Experience a
Freeze in Time?
Angel Yee-lam Li
The Dog that Didn‘t Bark: Investigating Social Time
Orientation of Older Adults in Germany, Hong Kong, and
the US
Stephan Lessenich
Between Implicitness and Moral Obligation. Individual
Patterns of Action and Interpretation Among Older Male
Caregivers
Anne Münch
Lunch Break
2
Conference Schedule
Thursday, 28th July (continued)
Session 5
13:30 – 15:00
15:00 – 15:30
Session 6
15:30 – 17:00
17:00
3
Views on Ageing
Chair: Thomas Hess
The Relationship Between Perceptions of the Future and
Views of One‘s Own Aging
Thomas Hess
Changing Images of Aging
Susanne Wurm
How Do Older Adults‘ Views of Aging Influence Their SelfPerceptions and Performance?
Alison Chasteen
Family Context and Social Changes: Experiences and SelfPerceptions of Aging in Taiwan
Han-Jung Ko
Coffee Break & Poster Session
Preparation for Late Life and End of Life
Chair: Frieder R. Lang
Will I Need Care? – The Role of Subjective Beliefs and
Personal Experiences on Planning and Preparing for Future
Care Needs
Margund K. Rohr
Interventions to Enhance Planning for Late Life
Silvia Sörensen
Preparation for Age-Related Changes across the Life Span:
Assessment, Individual Differences, and Determinants
Klaus Rothermund
Inquiry into Terminal Decline: Concepts, Pitfalls, and
Prospects
Denis Gerstorf
Conference Closing
Keynote Speakers
Corinna Löckenhoff
Cornell University, USA
Intertemporal Thought Across the Adult Life Span
Perceptions and conceptions of time play a key role in reconstructing the past, interpreting the
present, and anticipating the future, and they have implications for health, wealth, and happiness
across the adult life span. Research suggests that time perceptions differ systematically by age. Early
inquiries emphasized variations in global time horizons, tracking an individual’s perceived position
within the life span as a whole. Emerging evidence suggests that age groups also vary in perceptions
of the future and the past relative to the present moment. This presentation aims to integrate these
divergent research streams towards a comprehensive understanding of age-related variations in
intertemporal thought.
Michael North
New York University, USA
Prescriptive Age Stereotypes: Individual, Interpersonal, Institutional, International,
and Intergenerational
Today’s older population represents the most sizeable, visible, healthy, and active one in modern
history. Nevertheless, these apparent benefits conceal a related potential cost: an intensification of
prescriptive expectations (“shoulds”) for older adults to step aside and pass along certain resources
to younger generations. Across individual, interpersonal, institutional, and international levels, I
show how these expectations are inherently intergenerational—endorsed most strongly by the
young, and targeting the old. I discuss the implications of these subtle, intergenerational tensions for
both psychological theory and practical arenas of management and policy.
4
Keynote Speakers
Paul Higgs
University College London, United-Kingdom
Ageing, Frailty and the Restructuring of the Divisions of Later Life
This paper concerns the social divisions of later life, particularly that between the ‘fit’ and the ‘frail’.
Research has tended to see this separation as an outcome of those other social divisions. This paper
challenges this assumption by arguing that corporeality creates a very important line of fracture
in later life. In doing so it prefigures a return to the nineteenth century categorisation of those
impotent ‘through age’ who constituted an abject class. Improved living standards and pensions saw
such impotence decline in significance. In the late 20th century demographic ageing and the
expanding cultures of the third age gradually undermined the homogeneity of retirement leading to
greater diversity. Frailty – the corporeal representation of ‘unsuccessful’ ageing – now divides this
group from those able to participate fully in the opportunities of later life and in so doing creates a
profound social division in the structuring of later life.
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Session 1 – Future Thinking Across Adulthood
Is Future Time Limitation Good or Bad for Well-being?
Angel Yee-lam Li & Helene H. Fung
Socioemotional selectivity theory argues that perceived time limitations with age motivate
individuals to reprioritize their goals to maintain or enhance well being. As such, perceived future
time limitations should be adaptive. However, the empirical literature has been mixed regarding
whether future time limitations are positively related to well being. This study aimed at assessing
the moderating roles of different definitions of future time perspective, age and culture in the
relationship between future time limitations and life satisfaction. 819 Germans, 557 US Americans
and 481 Hong Kong Chinese, aged 26 – 95 years, completed a survey on their openness (e.g., "I have
clear future-related goals that I pursue") and domain-specific future-selves and life satisfaction of
eight different domains. Among them, 66 US Americans and 212 Hong Kong Chinese also reported
their future time perspective (e.g., “My future seems infinite to me”). Findings revealed that in the
health domain, people, regardless of age, had a higher level of satisfaction when their future selves
in this domain were more positive than less positive; however, openness moderated this
relationship, such that those with a higher level of openness could attain high satisfaction in this
domain even when their future selves were less positive. Such buffering effects also occurred at
some other domains, such as family, friend, religion and finance, although the magnitude of the
relationships differed depending on age and culture. Future time perspective generally served a
compensatory function with openness, such that when one was low, the other had to be high to
attain a high level of satisfaction in a given domain.
Future Time Perspective and Developmental Timing Across Adulthood: Is there a
Domain-Specific Adaptation of Personal Deadlines
Felix-Nicolai Müller & Frieder R. Lang
Subjective aging experience and future time perspective may conjointly determine domain-specific
developmental timing across adulthood. In this research, we explore in what ways personal
deadlines change with chronological age and with current perceived position in life. In total, 1160
adults (61% female) aged 18-90 years from three cultures, Germany (n = 502), the US (n = 303) and
Hong Kong (n = 355) completed an online questionnaire on subjective aging, personal deadlines in
life and domain specific timeframes for late-life preparation. Regression analysis (controlled for
culture, employment status, marital status, primary level of education) was conducted for the
“personal deadlines” and the “timeframe” to best start with a domain specific preparatory activity.
We discuss if preparatory time windows and deadlines on when to best start preparatory work may
be domain specific. Findings are in accordance with socioemotional selectivity theory suggesting that
personal deadlines and timeframes for preparation are adapted to perceived future time limitations.
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Session 1 – Future Thinking Across Adulthood
Associations Between the Dimensional Structure of the Future Time Perspective
Scale, Cognition, and Wellbeing in Old Age
Christiane Hoppmann
Future time perspective is typically conceptualized as a uni-dimensional construct that – when
perceived as limited – is associated with higher well-being. Both of these claims, however, have
recently been challenged. Initial evidence suggests that future time perspective is instead a multidimensional construct, though no consensus has been reached as to the exact number of dimensions
or their unique contributions to well-being. Furthermore several studies have shown that an openended future time perspective can be associated with high well-being. We hypothesized that the
dimensionality of future time perspective likely varies from sample to sample in part due to
individual differences in cognitive functioning. Data collected in the Berlin Aging Study II (M age = 71
years; range 60 – 88 years; 51% women) support this hypothesis by showing that across cognitive
tasks, participants who performed better on cognitive tests tended to display a four-factor solution,
whereas those who performed lower displayed a three-factor solution. Further, when well-being
was predicted with a four dimensional conceptualization of future time perspective both an openended and a limited perspective were significantly associated with higher well-being. Specifically the
three dimensions titled opportunities, limitations and planning each relate to higher well-being
when perceived as open, whereas the dimension titled time relates to higher well-being when
perceived as limited. We take our findings to suggest a more fine-grained conceptualization of future
time perspective, with differences in the number and nature of underlying dimensions, sensitivity to
participants’ level of cognitive functioning, and dimension-specific associations with either higher or
lower well-being.
Future Time Perspective Across Adulthood: A Three-Component Model of
Adaptive Temporal Cognition
Frieder R. Lang, Margund K. Rohr & Helene H. Fung
Future time perspective (FTP) is known to be associated with a variety of phenomena in cognition,
motivation and behavior across adulthood. Recently, it was put into question whether FTP reflects a
unidimensional construct, and what are possible other dimensions of future-related experience.
Based on a large, heterogeneous sample from different cultures, it is shown that FTP reflects a
unidimensional construct that entails three subcomponents of Extension, Openness, and Constraint.
The three components prove invariant across cultures. It is suggested that FTP reflects specific risks
and challenges in the aging process, and that adaptive temporal everyday experiences may protect
against the detrimental effects of FTP. It is discussed in what ways FTP may be differentiated from
other dimensions of future related thought related to pace of future time or valence of future time.
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Session 2 – Age Discrimination
Challenges Associated with the Assessment of Ageism
Liat Ayalon
Ageism is the complex and often negative perception of old age. Past research has shown that
ageism is more prevalent than sexism and racism. Nevertheless, research has focused mainly on the
latter two "isms," with research on ageism only beginning to emerge. This presentation will discuss
some of the challenges associated with the assessment of ageism. A particular focus will be on the
multi-level nature of ageism, the potential role of social desirability in response to ageism questions
and a lack of uniform definition of ageism. Results from national and international studies will be
utilized to demonstrate both the potential and challenges associated with the assessment of ageism.
Who Wants to Work in Retirement? Individual and Organizational Determinants
Anne Marit Wöhrmann
Due to low birth rates and increasing life expectancy, population structures in many countries
change. This poses challenges on society, organizations, and individuals. One option to address these
challenges could be work activity of retirees. The current talk will shed light on individual and
organizational determinants of the planning of and participation in post-retirement work. While
research has shown gender and education to predict engagement in post-retirement work, we
investigated individual and organizational determinants beyond socio-demographic aspects. Thus,
the results of several qualitative and quantitative studies on post-retirement work based on
different samples will be presented. Amongst others, our findings revealed that especially outcome
expectations play an important role in the planning of post-retirement work. Further, facilitating
factors such as approval from the social environment and pre-retirement working conditions such as
physical demands and social support in the work place determine post-retirement work planning.
Drivers of Age Discrimination at Employment
Franciska Krings
International employee surveys show that workers experience age discrimination more often than
other forms of discrimination (e.g. based on gender). Moreover, despite the fact that European
legislation has outlawed age discrimination at work, many Europeans see age discrimination as a
pressing problem in their country. Therefore, understanding what drives age discrimination and how
to reduce it, is crucial. Drawing on models of stereotype content and of impression formation, we
investigate drivers of age discrimination at employment, in a series of experiments. Results
demonstrate the role of warmth and competence stereotypes associated with older (and younger)
applicants. Moreover, they demonstrate the existence of another potent driver of age
discrimination, namely impressions of fitness that are derived from applicants’ faces. Finally, results
provide insights in how to effectively reduce age discrimination.
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Session 2 – Age Discrimination
Perceived Individual and Societal Level Resources in Old Age as Predictors of
Perceived Age Discrimination
Peggy Voss, Anna E. Kornadt & Klaus Rothermund
In contrast to individual experiences of age discrimination that are related to the victims’ health and
well-being, group-based perceptions of discrimination have consequences for trust in policy making
and law enforcement and can be the basis for promoting social change. Using data from the
international Aging as Future study conducted in the USA, Germany, and Hong Kong, we assessed
group-level perceptions of age discrimination in a large age-heterogeneous sample. The results show
differences in perceived group-level age discrimination between countries and age groups:
Participants in Germany and older participants reported lower levels of perceived discrimination of
older people. As ageism based on intergenerational tension will potentially increase with changing
demographics, we conducted additional analyses in order to investigate the effects of perceived
available resources at individual and societal levels on group-level age discrimination.
Session 3 – Paradoxes of Ageing
What Makes the Concept of Active Ageing So Successful? – Active Ageing as a
Strategy of Management of Population, Professional and Individual Capital
Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková
This paper highlights the need to analyze the popularity of the concept of active ageing with respect
to the possibilities that such approach to ageing opens up to social policy, social work and to seniors
themselves. It analyzes active ageing as a strategy of management of ageing population – i.e. as a
form biopolitics, which encourages elderly people to use various self-management practices to
manage the “risk” of individual ageing and simultaneously a kind of “therapy” for society, which has
to challenge demographical ageing. At the same time the idea of active ageing is transformed to a
form of professional capital that enables gerontology to extend its sphere of action. Finally, the
prominence of the idea of active ageing gave rise to a new form of individual capital that uses the
active life-style as a new platform for the (re)construction of inequalities in old age.
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Session 3 – Paradoxes of Ageing
The Paradox of Time
Torbjörn Bildtgård
In this presentation I argue that an existential condition of old age in large parts of the Western
world characterized by an institutionalized retirement age, and a relatively long and healthy life
span, is the paradoxical situation of having, on the one hand, plenty of free time available in
everyday life but, on the other hand, little time left in life. This existential structure has tremendous
impact on how older people reason regarding their late life choices. In the presentation I will be
using empirical examples from my and Peter Öberg’s research about new intimate relationships in
later life, showing how older people’s attitudes towards initiating new relationships as well as their
experiences of their relationships are permeated by an awareness of this paradox of time. And I will
argue that the paradox is likely relevant also for other late life concerns.
Later Life as an Arena of Change for Older Men and Masculinities
Miranda Leontowitsch
Research on the lives of ageing men has undergone something of a renaissance in the past fifteen
years. This has meant taking on new approaches and new themes, including opening up a broader
understanding of roles and activities that are central to older people’s lives in contemporary
societies (e.g. grandparenting, voluntary work). This has encouraged me to review my own research
on the experiences of early retirement among a group of senior male managers in the UK. The focus
of this talk will be on the analyses of the first set of interviews with the retired senior managers as
well as the second set of interviews conducted with parts of the sample eight to ten years later.
Experiences of retirement and later life shaped by health, grandparenting, self-improvement as well
as notions of generativity appear as key factors in shifting ageing masculinities.
„Being the Grey Gay Guy in the Corner“ – How Elder Gay Men Integrate Ageism
and Homophobia into their Self-Concepts
Lea Schütze
In the mainstream of ageing studies, it is still the heterosexual elder who is the unquestioned ma(i)n
figure when looking at ageing processes and their gender related aspects.
Beside the focus on ‚normal‘ biographies and ageing, research about elder gay men in Germany
shows that members of this group often have to deal with lifelong discrimination as well as a lack of
social and financial support for example when in need of care. Whilst the ageing process, they are
not only confronted by forms of homophobia, but also by ageism coming from subcultural scenes as
well as from all spheres of society. Presuming that there is no social figure that implies a common
way of ageing for gay men, they have to deal with this identitarian challenges when growing older.
Focusing on qualitative interview data conducted with men (60 – 90 years old) who identify
themselves as gay, I will point out how they integrate discursive patterns about age, ageing and
homosexuality into their self-concepts.
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Session 4 – Managing Time in Everyday Life
Is Longevity a Human Value?
David J. Ekerdt
Population longevity is a measure of nations’ progress and development; individually, it has been
the sign of a favored life. But is living long a personal goal? In cross-national interviews with older
adults, they typically say that, yes, they would like to live longer (up to some age or for some reason)
but only if they could retain their current health and function. This qualification on the hope for
longer life suggests that more time is desirable so long as it occurs in the “third age.” Subjectively,
future time is not a continuum, but rather has categorical stages, one wanted and one not.
Time Perception in Old Age: Can Older Adults Experience a Freeze in Time?
Angel Yee-lam Li, Minjie Lu, Michael C. H. Chan, and Helene H. Fung
As people age, they are more likely to be aware of the inevitability of death and sense that time,
which is perhaps the most important resource in life, is limited. The Socioemotional Selectivity
Theory (SST) predicts that compared with young adults, older adults, who typically have less time
ahead of them, have a greater tendency to focus on the present instead of the past and the future.
However, few research studies have examined qualitatively how older adults experience the
limitation of time. This study recruited 30 older adults (53% female; mean age = 71 years) from Hong
Kong to complete an individual interview and share their views on the limitation of life, their future
and the provision they made for it. As predicted by the SST, most participants adopted a presentoriented lifestyle. More specifically, 80% of the participants centered their lives exclusively on the
present and rarely spent time thinking about or preparing for what might happen in their future,
including death. For this group, they perceived the future as a theoretically infinite extension of the
present in its current form. It was as if they experienced a freeze in time. This study further
investigated whether this form of time perception, namely Time Freeze, could be adaptive and
whether the Chinese cultural conceptualization of time could have contributed to its development
and maintenance.
The Dog that Didn't Bark: Investigating Social Time Orientations of Older Adults in
Germany, Hong Kong, and the US
Stephan Lessenich
The paper addresses the problem of cultural proximity - or of the researchers' "lifeworld bias" - in
qualitative cross-cultural research. Making use of empirical findings on the social time orientation of
older adults in three countries as generated by the "Ageing as Future"-project, we discuss the
methodological question of how shared identities and taken-for-granted assumptions may bias
qualitative research - and how an interactive setting for cross-cultural research may be a
precondition for detecting and possibly overcome (or at least mitigate) this bias
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Session 4 – Managing Time in Everyday Life
Between Implicitness and Moral Obligation. Individual Patterns of Action and
Interpretation Among Older Male Caregivers
Anne Münch
When asked about retirement, especially older men often report of freedom and their plans how to
catch up with things they couldn’t do during work life. Thus first associations with life in retirement
are usually pretty positive. But what does it look like if the individual plans for retirement cannot be
realized? Apart from factors like a weak financial situation or health problems, it is mainly the
situation of becoming a caregiving relative that can change the life in retirement very strongly. And
while there is already a growing scientific discourse about professional care work in ageing societies
and general gender aspects within this field, so far, only little attention is paid to the situation of
older men whose spouses are in need of care.
This contribution takes up this topic and presents preliminary findings from analyzing individual
patterns of action and interpretation among older male caregivers with regard to the meaning of
gender roles and male identities for their daily care practices. The methodological framework of the
study consists of problem-centered interviews that are analyzed based on Grounded Theory. Even
though the process of iterative theory-development is not finished yet, so far our analyses have
already shown narrative constructions of a certain role-migration older men have to deal with when
starting to care for their spouses. And although the decision to take responsibility for the daily care
practices is often framed as a matter of course, there seem to be specific limits of care that are
connected to gender identity and the role allocations that have been practiced within the relationship
before the wife became in need of care.
Session 5 – Views on Ageing
The Relationship between Perceptions of the Future and Views of One’s Own Aging
Thomas Hess
There is much variability in how individuals view themselves as they get older, and these views have
been shown to have important implications for predicting functioning. For example, subjective age—
reflecting the age that one feels that they are—has been shown to be predictive of well-being, health,
and functional status independent of chronological age. Using data from the Aging as Future study,
we report the results of studies that examine variations across individuals, cultures, and domains in
perceptions of aging and the factors that determine such variation. We focus specifically on different
manifestations of subjective age, and how one’s beliefs about one’s own aging, stereotypes of aging,
and preparations for aging influence these measures.
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Session 5 – Views on Ageing
Changing Images of Aging
Susanne Wurm, Ann-Kristin Beyer & Julia K. Wolff
Previous studies have shown impressively that individual views on aging (VoA) are more often
negative than positive, in particular in older adults, and have detrimental effects on health, wellbeing and longevity. Against this background we wanted to know whether VoA have changed in
Germany between 1996 and 2014. Findings based on data from the German Ageing Survey (n =
20,715; 42 to 83 years) show that VoA became more positive during this period, but not for all age
groups equally. More positive changes were found for older adults compared to middle-aged adults
which lead to convergence of their VoA. In addition, based on an intervention study with
randomized group design (n = 89; 65 to 88 years), we tested whether VoA can be changed
intentionally. Participants were randomly allocated to an exercise program with (n=51) or without
(n= 38) VoA-intervention. Results from latent change score models showed that participants with
VoA intervention held more positive VoA after the program than participants in the control group.
Together, the studies suggest that images of aging have changed in the society and can be changed
intentionally, which can contribute to health, well-being and longevity in later life.
How Do Older Adults' Views of Aging Influence Their Self-Perceptions and
Performance?
Alison Chasteen
There is growing evidence that the memory performance of older adults is significantly influenced by
subjective beliefs regarding aging. In this talk I will extend this literature by introducing a more
general class of implicit theories that may affect memory function in older adults. Specifically, I will
present work from our lab that demonstrates that older adults’ implicit theories regarding the
fixedness (entity theory) or malleability (incremental theory) of memory in particular and abilities in
general predicts their memory performance. I will also discuss related work that establishes
connections between older adults’ views of aging, their self-perceptions of hearing and memory
ability, and their hearing and memory performance. Taken together, these studies suggest that
individual differences in how older adults view aging may represent a key influence on their
cognitive function.
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Session 5 – Views on Ageing
Family Context and Social Changes: Experiences and Self-Perceptions of Aging in
Taiwan
Han-Jung Ko
The hypothesis that East Asian cultures hold more positive attitudes towards aging than Western
cultures was mostly based on that the former cultures highly respect older adults in family and
societal contexts (Levy & Langer, 1994). In addition to cross-cultural comparisons in our prior studies
(Allen, Ko, & Hooker, 2015), we examined specifically how Taiwanese older adults reflected on their
aging experiences that may influence their attitudes towards aging in the midst of generational
changes in the realms of family and society. A total of 175 community older adults were surveyed
(Mage = 73.18, SD = 6.35; 58% female). Fifteen of them were interviewed. Findings suggested
Taiwanese older adults held positive self-perceptions of aging and felt respected by society;
however, at the same time they felt distanced from younger generations due to economic and
technological changes over time.
Session 6 – Preparation for Late Life and End of Life
Will I Need Care? – The Role of Subjective Beliefs and Personal Experiences on
Planning and Preparing for Future Care Needs
Margund K. Rohr & Frieder R. Lang
Future care planning has been associated with better well-being and health outcomes. Nevertheless,
few adults actually do plan and prepare themselves for the case of needing care (e.g, talking with
one’s relatives, contracting additional insurances). In this study, we examine the role of subjective
beliefs and personal experiences on the perceived likelihood of needing care and the subjective
controllability of future care planning. Finally, we test whether these aspects predict actual planning
behavior. In a web-based study, we asked 232 younger, middle-aged, and older adults about their
potential care needs within the next year as well as the perceived controllability of this topic. We
also assessed potential determinants such as subjective benefits and risks of planning behavior, prior
care experiences, and subjective health. Results indicate that perceptions of self-related benefits
(e.g., retaining autonomy and independence) and prior care experience were associated with
controllability, while perceived risks (e.g., restricting oneself in daily live) were linked to the
subjective likelihood of needing care. Furthermore, whereas higher controllability increases actual
planning behavior, this was not the case for perceived likelihood of future care needs. Implications
for practitioners as well as future research are discussed.
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Session 6 – Preparation for Late Life and End of Life
Interventions To Enhance Planning For Late Life
Silvia Sörensen
Planning for late life, especially for the need for help with everyday tasks, is often avoided by older
adults. I will I will discuss the barriers to future planning that older adults encounter, followed by an
overview of past and existing programs to encourage planning for late life. Then I will present the
results of a randomized trial of an intervention to enhance future planning among people with vision
loss.
Preparation for Age-Related Changes across the Life Span: Assessment, Individual
Differences, and Determinants
Klaus Rothermund, Anna E. Kornadt, & Peggy Voss
Preparation for old age and age-related changes is of utmost importance for well-being and
adjustment in later life. We will present findings from a large longitudinal study indicating that (a)
preparation is a multifaceted phenomenon that refers to specific domains (e.g., finances,
emergency, health, fitness, housing, leisure), (b) preparation for old age starts already early in
adulthood and increases across the life span, (c) preparation is determined by individual views on
aging, with more positive views on aging fostering preparation, and (d) levels of preparation and age
trends in preparation differ markedly between countries (Germany, US, and Hong Kong), indicating
that individual preparation is regulated by societal factors (e.g., social security systems,
institutionalized forms of preparation for old age). In sum, our findings identify preparation as a core
process of developmental self-regulation that translates conceptions about aging (age stereotypes,
views on aging) into developmental outcomes.
Inquiry into Terminal Decline: Concepts, Pitfalls, and Prospects
Denis Gerstorf
Research on terminal decline has long documented that the last years of life are often accompanied
by steep decrements across a variety of functional domains, including physical health and cognitive
abilities as well as quality of life and well-being. Of prime importance for such deterioration is not so
much the chronological age people are in, but how close people are to death. Using well-being as
sample case, Denis Gerstorf will in a first step provide an overview of conceptual notions and
empirical results of the general picture and individual differences in levels of late-life functioning,
the onset of decline, and the rate of decline. In a second step, relevant factors that contribute to the
often vast between-person differences will be highlighted. These include individual factors of health,
perceived control, and social orientation as well as context factors of historical time and regional
characteristics. In a final step, Gerstorf highlights routes of current and future inquiry, including the
utility of data about the last months of life obtained from proxies and in health care settings and
possible insights to be gained from study designs that allow bridging lab and real life.
15
Poster Session
The Future of Driving: Autonomous Vehicles and Aging Attitudes
Jennifer A. Bellingtier, Hallie E. Clark, Shevaun D. Neupert & Jing Feng
Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, USA
[email protected]
Who Stays Physically Active in Old Age? The Interplay of Individual Views on Ageing and
Subjective Residual Life Expectancy
Ann-Kristin Beyer, Maja Wiest & Susanne Wurm
Institute of Psychogerontology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
[email protected]
Linking Social Ecology and Future Time Perspective to Social Network Characteristics and
Life Satisfaction
Yang Fang ¹, Liman M.W. Li ² & Helene H. Fung ¹
¹ Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
² Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
[email protected]
Mitigating Age Discrimination in Selection Interviews: The Role of Impression Management
Tactics
Irina Gioaba & Franciska Krings
Faculty of Business and Economics, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
[email protected]
Age-Related Difference in Processing of Emotional Pictures: Does Valence or
Meaningfulness Matter more?
Xianmin Gong & Helene H. Fung
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]
The Effect of Motivated Engagement on Well-Being in a Cross-Cultural Sample
Claire M. Growney & Thomas M. Hess
Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, USA
[email protected]
Social Comparison and Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults: The Moderate Effects of
Physical Health and Cognitive Ability
Tingting Huang & Dahua Wang
Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China
[email protected]
The Influence of Candidates‘ Facial Age Appearance on Selection Decisions
Michèle Céline Kaufmann, Franciska Krings, Sabine Sczesny & Leslie A. Zebrowitz
Faculty of Business and Economics, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
[email protected]
Is the Age-Related Positivity Effect in Attention a Selection for Positivity or Relevance?
Jenny Lee, Nhi Ngo, Helene H. Fung & Derek M. Isaacowitz
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]
16
Poster Session
A Tranquil Life after Retirement: Cases in Rural Communities of Tainan
Shyhnan Liou
Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
[email protected]
Age Moderates the Impact of Attitudinal Ambivalence on Intergroup Behaviors
Minjie Lu & Helene H. Fung
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]
Views on Aging and their Correlates in the Czech Republic
Jana Nikitin & Sylvie Graf
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
[email protected]
Sensitivity to Differing Future and Past Time Durations: Age Effects
Joshua L. Rutt¹ & Corinna E. Löckenhoff²
¹ Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
²Department of Human Development, Cornell University, USA
[email protected]
The Impact of Attitude toward Aging on Associate Memory under
Social Comparison among Older Adults
Dahua Wang & Lei Yan
Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China
[email protected]
The Influence of Age on Experiencing Shame and Embarrassment
Hao Wang & Helene H. Fung
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]
Spouse’s Subjective Socioeconomic Status as a Predictor for Older Adult‘s
Mental Health
Fan Zhang ¹, Timothy Kwok ¹, Helene H. Fung ²
¹ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, ² Department of Psychology,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]
Attitudes toward Older Adults: A Matter of Cultural Values or Personal Values?
Xin Zhang, Cai Xing, Yanjun Guan, Xuan Song, Robert Melloy, Fei Wang & Xiaoyu Jin
Department of Psychology, Peking University, China
[email protected]
17
Index of Speakers
Ayalon, Liat
School of Social Work,
Bar Ilan University, Israel
[email protected]
Bildtgård, Torbjörn
Department of Social Work,
Stockholm University, Sweden
[email protected]
Chasteen, Alison
Department of Psychology,
University of Toronto, Canada
[email protected]
Ekerdt, David
Gerontology Center,
University of Kansas, USA
[email protected]
Fung, Helene H.
Department of Psychology,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
[email protected]
Gerstorf, Denis
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany
[email protected]
Hasmanová Marhánková, Jaroslava
Department of Sociology,
University of West Bohemia,
Czech Republic
[email protected]
Hess, Thomas
Department of Psychology,
North Carolina State University, USA
[email protected]
Higgs, Paul
Faculty of Brain Sciences,
University College London,
United Kingdom
[email protected]
Hoppmann, Christiane
Department of Psychology,
University of British Columbia, Canada
[email protected]
Ko, Han-Jung
Department of Human Environmental
Studies, Human Development and Family
Studies,
Central Michigan University, USA
[email protected]
Krings, Franciska
Department of Organizational Behavior,
Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
[email protected]
Lang, Frieder R.
Institute of Psychogerontology, FriedrichAlexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg,
Germany
[email protected]
Leontowitsch, Miranda
Department of Interdisciplinary Science of
Aging, Goethe University Frankfurt,
Germany
[email protected]
Lessenich, Stephan
Institute of Sociology,
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
[email protected]
18
Index of Speakers
Li, Angel Yee-lam
Department of Psychology,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
[email protected]
Löckenhoff, Corinna
Cornell College of Human Ecology, Cornell
University, USA
[email protected]
Voss, Peggy
Department of General Psychology II,
University of Jena, Germany
[email protected]
Müller, Felix-N.
Institute of Psychogerontology, FriedrichAlexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg,
Germany
[email protected]
Wöhrmann, Anne Marit
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (BauA), Germany
[email protected]
Münch, Anne
Institute of Sociology,
Friedrich Schiller University Jena,
Germany
[email protected]
Wurm, Susanne
Institute of Psychogerontology, FriedrichAlexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg,
Germany
[email protected]
North, Michael
Stern School of Business,
New York University, USA
[email protected]
Rohr, Margund K.
Life-Span Psychology Research,
Leipzig University, Germany
[email protected]
Rothermund, Klaus
Department of General Psychology II,
University of Jena, Germany
[email protected]
Schütze, Lea
Institute of Sociology, Ludwig Maximilian
University of Munich
[email protected]
19
Sörensen, Silvia
Warner School for Education and Human
Development and Center for Community
Health,
University of Rochester, USA
[email protected]
How to get to …
…to the reception in the Krakauer Turm on Tuesday, July 26th
Hintere Insel Schütt 34, 90403 Nürnberg
…to the conference dinner in the Hirsvogelsaal on Wednesday, July 27th
….Hirschelgasse 9-11, 90403 Nürnberg
20
Institute of Psychogerontology
Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Chair: Prof. Dr. Frieder R. Lang
Kobergerstr. 62
90408 Nuremberg
Germany
www.geronto.fau.de/en