Expectations for Active Ageing: When and How Do They Influence Old-Age Outcomes?

在人口老龄化的背景下，人们越来越期望老年人为自己的健康和福利承担更多责任，并做出富有成效的贡献，以免成为年轻一代的负担。针对老年人的社会期望的这种剧烈变化--从脱离社会到积极参与--几乎没有反映在对老龄化的看法的研究中。许多研究要么关注对老龄化及其后果的描述性观点，要么关注阻碍老年人参与社会活动的年龄歧视规范。在本项目中，我们提出，社会对积极老龄化的期望可能通过内化和体现机制影响老年结果。一些心理社会因素，如社会环境的特点、个人资源、心态和年龄认同，可能会调节对社会期望的暴露，并调节其内化和体现的过程(与抵触和拒绝相反)。我们假设，尽管老年人对社会对积极老龄化的期望的反应是高度个人化的，但可以从关键的背景、个人和情境变量来系统地预测这些反应。此外，我们认为对积极老龄化的感知期望及其对结果的影响是特定领域的。我们的建议结合了两个研究设计：调查和实验。在调查部分，我们将分析两项纵向调查的现有数据，在这两项调查中，对积极老龄化的预期进行了评估：耶拿社会变革和人类发展研究和德国社会经济小组的创新样本。这些调查包括关于潜在缓和因素和结果的丰富信息。在实验部分，我们将对年轻的老年人和老年的参与者进行一系列实验，以测试积极老龄化预期的内化和体现的心理机制，并将其与脱离预期进行对比。在这两个部分中，我们将比较两个选定领域：健康和社会参与的影响。项目结果将为理论和实践提供参考。对于理论来说，他们将带来关于是否以及如何使用基本的心理机制来解释个人对复杂社会现象的感知和反应的知识。具有实际意义的将是关于促进老年人在从事更健康的生活方式和参加社会活动的意愿方面发生理想(或不希望看到的)变化的条件的调查结果。

Against the backdrop of demographic ageing, older adults are increasingly expected to take on more responsibility for their health and welfare and to make productive contributions lest they become a burden for the younger generations. This drastic change in the societal expectations that are directed at older adults – from disengagement to active engagement – has hardly been reflected in research on views on ageing. Many studies focus either on descriptive views on ageing and their consequences or on ageist norms that prevent older adults from participating in societal activities.In the present project, we propose that societal expectations for active ageing may influence old-age outcomes via the mechanisms of internalization and embodiment. A number of psychosocial factors, such as characteristics of social environments, individual resources, mindsets, and age identification, may regulate the exposure to societal expectations and modulate the processes of their internalization and embodiment (as opposed to reactance and rejection). We assume that, although older adults’ reactions to societal expectations for active ageing are highly individual, they may be systematically predicted from key background, individual, and situational variables. Moreover, we argue that perceived expectations for active ageing and their effects on outcomes are domain specific.Our proposal combines two research designs: survey and experimental. In the survey part, we will analyse available data from two longitudinal surveys in which perceived expectations for active ageing have been assessed: the Jena Study on Social Change and Human Development and the Innovation Sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel. These surveys include rich information on potential moderating factors and outcomes. In the experimental part, we will conduct a series of experiments with young-old and old-old participants to test the psychological mechanisms of internalization and embodiment of expectations for active ageing, which will be contrasted to expectations for disengagement. In both parts, we will compare the effects for two selected domains: health and social engagement.Project findings will inform both theory and practice. For theory, they will bring knowledge on whether and how the basic psychological mechanisms may be used to explain individuals’ perceptions of and reactions to a complex societal phenomenon. Of practical relevance will be the findings on the conditions that promote desired (or undesired) changes in older adults’ willingness to engage in a healthier lifestyle and to participate in social activities.