An Overview of Aging and Existing Cultural Differences Essay

doctor, then what are they to do? They can not just sit at home and

These stereotypes, however, are very far from the truth about what occurs during the late adulthood stage. They stem from a form of prejudice referred to as ageism (Berger, 2008). Gerontologists define ageism as “A form of prejudice used to categorize and judge individual based on their chronological age only” (Berger, 2008, p. 615). The issue of ageism can promote patronizing treatment toward persons in the late adulthood stage and even foster discrimination. For example, people in the West unconsciously process

Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my

Late Adulthood is a time in people’s lives when they come to terms with their lives and reevaluate what they have done or accomplished in the lieu of what they still would like to accomplish for the remainder of their lives. During this stage of life adults around the ages of 65 begin to experience a variety of changes in their physical appearance and a decline in their health. The process of aging in an individual occurs at different speeds and during this stage older adults are being treated as second-class citizens especially by younger adults. The skin begins to wrinkle at an

Erikson’s (1968, 1980, 1982) psychosocial stages of development provide a framework for the different stages of development throughout the human lifespan. These stages of development begin at birth and continue until death, and separate the lifespan into eight stages based on chronological age. Within these eight different aging stages are corresponding psychosocial stages. Each of these psychosocial stages represent a conflict between two characteristics of development for that particular time period in a person’s life.

We all will one day face the reality of growing older. There are many aspects of this change that will affect us in a large way. According to the Merck Manual of Health and Aging, 1.5% of Americans are 85 or older. This research states that the number of people 100 years or older could rise from 1 out of 5,578 in the year 2000, to 1 out of 472 in the year 2050. It brings out that women have a longer life expectancy than men, among people aged 65 and older in the year 2000, there were 70 men for every 100 women. For people aged 85 and older the figure was 41 men for every 100 women. The site goes on to say that approximately 11% of Americans aged 65 and older are below the poverty line. (The Merck Manual of Health and Aging:

There is a perceived notion that Eastern societies view aging in a positive aspect, while Western societies view aging in a negative light. Although there is much emphasis on respect for elders on the Confucian societies, however, does East Asia’s treatment of the Elderly really differ from North America’s treatment? In the Perceptions of Aging in Two cultures: Korean and American views on Old Age, the authors are able to prove their thesis that through previous studies by Harwood et al that countries such as South Korea, Philippines and Hong-Kong do not necessarily hold positive views on of old age. In this study, to better understand beliefs and perceptions of aging, Koreans were expected to have a greater fear of old people, worry more about their physical appearance, and show greater levels of anxiety over aging more than their American counter parts. Although American women were expected to show more anxiety towards their physical appearance more than their male counterparts. Such perceptions on older people have an effect on the mental, physical and emotional health of elderly people. The many negative stereotypes about seniors affect how seniors see themselves and how society views them. These stereotypes are usually “regarding their physical and cognitive abilities”. Although these stereotypes may seem harmless, they hold serious ramifications to which affects the elderly participation in activities which may improve their physical or cognitive abilities. These

Improved quality of life, quick and easy access to health care along with medical advances help Japan’s aging population enjoy an increased life expectancy, so much so that the Japanese older population is outnumbering the younger

This stage in the life span is considered the time when a person moves from the childhood stage into the adulthood stage. During this time there are many physical, cognitive, and personality developments that affect the

Social aging is referring to the changes in individual’s roles and relationship in the society as they age. There are many different theories concerning sociological aging. Social theories on aging examine the relationship between individual experiences and social institutions e.g., aging and retirement; aging and institutional care; aging and government policy etc (Barkan 2012). All have limitations, and some can be considered more than others when attempting to understand social changes in aging. Also individuals move through life surrounded by social support system. Some theories of aging such as, role theory, activity theory, modernization, etc. consist of different ways older adults transition through life such as, networks of relatives, friends, and organization that help provide emotional support and help in managing activities in daily living.

As aging is a stage of development that cannot prevented, the question of “can one’s aging be more successful than another?” is posed my many. Researchers continually consider the differences between aging successfully, and aging unsuccessfully. As researchers work to complete their studies, many find a reoccurring basis of successful aging. A basis of successful aging can be set including: physical health disease free, chronic illness free, mental health disease free, among many others. The only problem with this basis is the difference from person to person in terms of what makes aging successful. As individuals age, their mental state is a large predictor of how the person will age. A positive mental state about aging, will have a more positive effect on a person’s aging process. Many factors may influence the positivity of aging, such as negative aging stereotypes and discrimination because of older age. These negative aging stereotypes include but are not limited to: older adults are not as smart, older adults are angry all the time, older adults are bad drivers, older adults are isolated and never socialize. In adult aging and development, having a positive outlook on aging will lead to better mental and physical aging.

From adolescence to late adulthood, our lives change drastically. Our goals, achievements and conceptions of life differentiate as we mature. As we grow older, we no longer concern ourselves with self-identity or the opinions of others, but instead we focus on our accomplishments and evaluate our life (if we lived a meaningful life). From adolescence to late adulthood, we experience different developmental tasks at a particular place in our life span.

Knowing and having an understanding of what ageing stands for, remains an important step, growing-up or growing older and ageism are theories about older individuals. Ageism includes preconceptions that elderly are categorized for their age and perceived as weak, and incapable of performing tasks and needy of others (Quadagno, 2014). Another view about elderly individuals is the way they are looked down on by the younger society, i.e. elderly are not as intelligent as their younger competitive working force. People fear what they do not know and do not understand. Age transpires as something that must be lived through in order to understand what ageing means; looking back on one’s life and seeing accomplishments made,

There are numerous ways to define successful aging. The word “aging” usually has a negative connotation. However, when putting the word success behind it introduces positive aspects that can essentially promote a long-term developmental outcome for an individual. Happening around midlife and late adulthood, successful aging is simply when an individual has complete development and maintenance of control throughout life, has achieved in the selection of goals and purposes, as well as maximization of gains and compensations of failure. This is the complete and ultimate goal for those in their late adulthood and is quite fascinating to developmental scientist. Those who engross themselves with attempting to achieve a successful aging will most likely have characteristics which in turn encourage and advocate for things such as health, growth, and vitality, maintaining social encounters and productive activities, and lastly maintaining high physical and cognitive functioning. Two developmental scientist, Vaillant & Mukamal, have discovered the factors that predict satisfaction of life are those an individual is able to control. These factors include are health habits, marital stability, years of education, and coping strategies. On the other hand those factors that are out of an individual 's control can not predict the level of happiness or satisfaction with life. These include the length of life of a family member, early health status, parental SES, and family warmth in

Aging causes structural and functional changes in brain. As aging population has become a burden, it is essential to study aging brain aiming to maintain cognitive integrity. Previous studies indicated that young blood improves the function of stem cells in organs including brain by heterochronic parabiosis model. However, data is lacking whether regeneration or beyond occurs by this model. The authors Villeda et al., hypothesized that aged animal exposed to young blood can counteract aging process and rejuvenate brain cognitive function. Therefore, the authors conducted research to examine within molecular, structural, functional, and cognitive aspects.