The Self and Society in Aging Processes

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The Self and Society in Aging Processes

Editors

Carol D. Ryff, PhD

Victor W. Marshall, PhD

This volume focuses on the experience of growing old as it is linked to societal factors. Ryff and Marshall construct this "macro" view of aging in society by bridging disciplines and brining together contributors from all the social sciences.

The book is organized into three sections: theoretical perspectives, socioeconomic structures, and contexts of self and society. Leading psychologists, anthropologists, gerontologists, and sociologists present theoretical and empirical advances that forge links between the individual and the social aspects of aging. It is must reading for researchers in all gerontologic specialties, and a valuable text for graduate courses in human development, psychology of aging, and other social aspects of aging.

Contents

Part 1: Theoretical Perspectives on Self and Society Linkages

Linking the Self and Society in Social Gerontology: Crossing New Territory via Old Questions, Carol D. Ryff, Victor W. Marshall, and Philippa J. Clarke
Social Perspectives on the Self in Later Life, Linda K. George
Neoteny, Naturalization, and Other Constituents of Human Development, Dale Dannefer
Continuity, Theory, Self, and Social Structure, Robert C. Atchley
Identity and Adaptation to the Aging Process, Susan Krauss Whitbourne
Self-Development in Adulthood and Aging: The Role of Critical Life Events, Manfred Diehl

Part 2: Socioeconomic Structures and the Self

Practical Consciousness, Social Class, and Self-Concept: A View from Sociology, Jon Hendricks
Educational Attainment and Self-Making in Later Life, Melissa M. Franks, A. Regula Herzog, Diane Holmberg, and Hazel R. Markus
Forging Macro-Micro Linkages in the Study of Psychological Well-Being, Carol D. Ryff, William J. Magee, Kristen C. Kling, and Edgar H. Wing
Income and Subjective Well-Being Over the Life Cycle, Richard A. Easterlin and Christine M. Schaeffer

Part 3: Contexts of Self and Society: Work and Family

Structure and Agency in the Retirement Process: A Case Study of Montreal Garment Workers, Julia A. McMullin and Victor W. Marshall
Gender and Distress in Later Life: The Importance of Lifelong Employment and Familial Experiences, Lorraine Davies
The Caregiving Context: The Intersection of Social and Individual Influences in the Experience of Family Caregiving, Marsha Mailick Seltzer and Jan S. Greenberg
Linking Social Structure and Self-Concept: Variations in Sense of Mastery, Marilyn McKean Skaff
Intersections of Society, Family, and Self Among Hispanics in Middle and Later Life, Sonia Miner and Julian Montoro-Rodriguez
The Social Psychology of Values: Effects of Individual Development, Social Change, and Family Transmission Over the Life Span, Robert E.L. Roberts and Vern L. Bengtson

Authors

Carol D. Ryff, PhD, is Director of the Institute on Aging and Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Victor Marshall is Director of the UNC Institute on Aging, Professor of Sociology and Adjunct Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also directs the Institute's NIH-funded doctoral and post-doctoral training program.

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