title: Life-history related differences in possible selves in very old age.
abstract: The impact of early life events that take place under specific historical and societal circumstances on adult development have rarely been investigated in old age. We examined whether having started a family in young adulthood was related to the contents of possible selves generated by women aged 85 to 100+ in the Berlin Aging Study (N = 129; M age = 93 years). Health-related possible selves dominated in the entire sample. However, mothers (n = 79) and lifetime childless women (n = 50) differed in their endorsement of family- and friend-related possible selves. Contrary to expectations, childless women mentioned more family-related themes, while mothers addressed more friendship-related themes. Despite these differences both groups of women reported equally high levels of well-being. These findings indicate that starting a family in young adulthood still has an influence on the self up until very old age and that these distinct pathways can still lead to similar aging success.
authors: School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332-0170, USA. ch295@mail.gatech.edu
authors: Christiane
authors: C
authors: Hoppmann
authors: Jacqui
authors: J
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001604:Berlin; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D009013:Morale; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D019455:Self Psychology; D012847:Single Person / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health