earlier in life? Is old age becoming but an extension to or the tale-end of midlife? Or does lifelong growth imply a constant effort to overcome old habits and change our view of what offers meaning in life—perhaps by composing a new version of our life story (Bateson, 2011)? These questions have no easy answers but are important to consider.
Thinking Critically: Meaning in Later Life
What gives your life purpose and meaning? Has your sense of purpose and meaning changed over time? Are there activities or pursuits that were important to you earlier in life that are no longer important to you? When you imagine your future older self, are there sources of purpose and meaning that are important to you now that will continue to be important to you in the future? Do you imagine that you will discover new sources of purpose and meaning when you are an older person?
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Activity or Reflection?
The previous discussion initially looked at two classical theories of aging—disengagement and activity. We saw how both theories implicitly appeal to deeply held values but point in opposite directions. When we think about the question of whether old age has meaning, we come back, over and over again, to two fundamental alternatives: on the one hand, continuation of midlife values into old age, and on the other hand, discovering some new or special challenge or purpose that belongs to the last stage of life.
In the following readings, we begin with a selection by Simone de Beauvoir that offers the view of a philosopher who rejects traditional ideals of old age as a time of tranquility or disengagement. On the contrary, she believes that only continued activity on behalf of new goals will give our lives meaning, whether in old age or at any other time of life. Along these lines, John Rowe and Robert Kahn’s strategy of “successful aging” represents a way of preserving meaning by adapting ourselves to diminished reserve capacity. Rowe and Kahn believe that “success” is best defined by optimizing capacity for continued engagement with the activities of life.
Erik Erikson, writing with Joan Erikson and Helen Kivnick, shares this endorsement of engagement but takes a different approach. Erikson sees each stage of life as a period with its own purpose or psychological task to be achieved. Old age is different from other stages because it offers a kind of culmination to life as a whole. Erikson believes that, through concern for the welfare of future generations, older people find a sense of meaning in later life. In the personal journal of Florida Scott-Maxwell, we find an echo of Carl Jung’s belief that advanced age is a time for turning inward for deeper reflection. Her rich reflections prove that even when outer activity is cut off, it is still possible to find deep meaning in the last stage of life (Berman, 1986).
Modernization has made it possible for people to live a greater portion of their lives in old age than ever before in history. At the same time, the distinctive stance of postmodern culture tends to preclude finding any special meaning or purpose for the last stage of life. Whether modernization has reduced the power of the old seems debatable. Public spending for old-age benefits suggests that just the opposite may be true. But there is no doubt that modernization has helped to erode traditional ideas about fixed stages of life that were once based on shared meaning (Gruman, 1978). The result is a sense of openness or uncertainty about the meaning of old age. Such openness to new ideas and to contradictory answers is disconcerting to some and exhilarating to others. However, the future of an aging society will be shaped by all of us because, in the end, the old are simply our future selves.
Focus on Practice
Reminiscence and Life Review
As people grow older, it is not unusual for them to reminisce about the “good old days.” Feelings of both nostalgia and regret are commonly part of this attitude toward the past. A stereotypical response to reminiscence is to assume that older people are interested only in the past or, still worse, to see those who dwell on past memories as showing signs of escapism or even mental impairment. But late-life reminiscence may be a normal form of life review, which Robert Butler (1963) defined as a natural, even universal process stimulated by awareness of approaching death. He also wrote:
The life review is characterized by a progressive return to consciousness of past experience, in particular the resurgence of unresolved conflicts which can now be surveyed and integrated…. If unresolved conflicts and fears are successfully reintegrated they can give new significance and meaning to an individual’s life. (Butler, 1974, p. 534)
Butler’s view is similar to that of Erik Erikson, who sees the psychological task of late life as achieving ego integrity, a reintegration of all aspects of the individual’s life. Both Erikson and Butler based their psychological theories on the importance of finding meaning in the last stage of life. But do the facts support their theories? Just how important is reminiscence in old age?
Some studies have shown that older adults actually do not spend much more time daydreaming about the past than do people of other ages (Gambria, 1977), so it may be a mistake to see life review as a universal process. However, regardless of frequency, reminiscence may have adaptive value; that is, it may promote better mental health in old age. One early study of reminiscence found that people who spend time thinking about the past are less likely to suffer depression (McMahon & Rhudick, 1967). Some psychologists who have studied life review feel it may be a psychological defense mechanism that helps some people adjust to memories of an unhappy past. In that sense, reminiscence could be described as an adaptive feature of old age (Coleman, 1974), which is something to be encouraged (Brennan & Steinberg, 1983–1984).
Reminiscence and life review appear to help some older people bolster their self-image. By recalling the past, older adults can improve self-esteem and establish solidarity with others of their own generation. We might interpret older people’s interaction with the young as a way to help them maximize perceived power or status, just as the exchange theory of aging predicts. When activity is the preferred style, older people are likely to downplay reminiscence in favor of talking about present or future events. But when disengagement is the preferred style, older people may emphasize past accomplishments.
Some gerontologists recommend that reminiscence and life review can have great value for older people who can no longer remain active (Haight & Haight, 2007). For that reason, reminiscence groups have been encouraged as a form of therapy among some nursing home residents and senior center participants. Guided autobiography is a method used as a basis for education in the later years (Birren & Cochran, 2001). Spiritual autobiography groups have played a similar role in religious congregations.
All these methods can be useful for practitioners who work with older people, but techniques to encourage reminiscence as a form of practice must not divert us from a basic question: Is reminiscence or life review the best way of achieving a sense of meaning in old age? The response to that question cannot be purely scientific, but depends on basic values and philosophy of life. For example, if we follow philosopher Simone de Beauvoir’s view, then activity and future orientation are the best approaches to finding meaning in old age. She would therefore discourage people from spending time reminiscing about the past, unless past memories can somehow contribute to improving the world. Psychologist Carl Jung, in contrast, would see great value in inwardness or interiority in old age. The purpose or meaning of old age, in his view, is not necessarily to be active, but to know ourselves better and to accept ourselves as individuals (Sawin, Corbett, & Carbine, 2014). If life review can promote that goal, then Jung would encourage it, and Florida Scott-Maxwell, for example, follows along the lines suggested by Jung.
Do the reminiscence and life review by older people have meaning for people of other ages? Clearly, there is something special about old age precisely because it is the final stage of life. The last stage includes
