Self-serving appraisal as a cognitive coping strategy to deal with age-related limitations: an empirical study with elderly adults in a real-life stressful situation.
Elderly people are often confronted with stressful events that threaten psychological homeostasis. Nevertheless, the lack of a general age-related drop in life satisfaction remains intriguing. The objective of this study was to analyze the basic mechanisms of perceived control and self-protective processes. Eighty-four elderly adults who underwent a fitness-to-drive evaluation were asked how they appraised their performance in a driving simulation task and were classified as over-estimators versus people who estimated their performance correctly and people who didn't overestimate their performance. Decreased physical resources were related to self-serving appraisal and less depressive feelings. The results are in line with theories on self-immunizing processes and provide support for the use of cognitive therapies in dealing with age-related limitations.
De Raedt
Rudi
R
Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Rudi.DeRaedt@UGent.be
Ponjaert-Kristoffersen
I
I
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001530:Belgium; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis