Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Importance of generativity for healthy aging in older women

  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article reviewed increasing evidence that remaining physically, cognitively, or socially active confers health benefits by delaying or preventing the onset of disease and disability in older adults. The desire to be generative, or to make a difference, has long been considered an important developmental objective in later years in order to give meaning to one’s life, and may provide the necessary impetus for older women to initiate and maintain health-promoting activities. Because the prevalence of disability is greatest in older women, it is critical to find ways to maximize their opportunities for generative activity to promote healthier life-styles. Unfortunately, those who stand to gain most from the promotion of generative roles face many limiting factors, including low education, financial dependence and poverty, primary care-taking responsibilities, social isolation, and low self-efficacy. These obstacles may be too difficult and pervasive for an individual to overcome by oneself. Rather, these challenges need to be addressed through progressive changes in social programs that acknowledge the contributions that older adults can make in later years. Decreasing the structural lag between current social and demographic realities of older women’s roles with increasing age will become ever more critical as a growing proportion of older women and men transition from a job outside the home to retirement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Erikson E.H.: Childhood and Society, 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Erikson E.H.: Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues Monograph, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Keyes C.L.M., Ryff C.D.: Generativity in adult lives: Social structural contours and quality of life consequences. Genera-tivity and Adult Development, 227–263, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Riley M.W., Kahn R.L., Foner A.: Society’s failure to provide meaningful opportunities in work, family, and leisure. Age and Structural Lag, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Glass T.A., Seeman T.E., Herzog A.R., Kahn R.L., Berkman L.F.: Change in productive activity in late adulthood: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. J. Gerontol. 50B: S65–S76, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Herzog A.R., House J.S., Morgan J.N.: Relation of work and retirement to health and well-being in older age. The American Psychological Association 6: 202–211, 1991.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Fried L.P.: Older Women: Health Status, Knowledge, and Behavior. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1996, pp. 175–204.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cumming E., Henry W.E.: Growing old: The process of disengagement. New York, Basic Books, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Buhler C.: Der menschliche Lebenslauf als psychologisches Problem (The human life course as psychological problem). Hirzel, Leipzig, Germany, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ryff C.D.: Successful aging: A developmental approach. Gerontologist 22: 209–214, 1982.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Baltes P.B.: Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On dynamics between growth and decline. Dev. Psychol. 23: 611–626, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Baltes P.B., Staudinger U.M., Lindenberger U.: Life span psychology: Theory and application to intellectual functioning. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 50: 471–507, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Smyke P.: Women and health. Zed Books Ltd., London, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Longino C.F. Jr, Kart C.S.: Explicating activity theory: A formal replication. J. Gerontol. 37: 713–722, 1982.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Jorm A.F., Jolley D.: The incidence of dementia: A meta-analysis. Neurology 51: 728–733, 1998.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Manton K.G., Corder L., Stallard E.: Chronic disability trends in elderly United States populations: 1982-1994. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 94: 2593–2598, 1997.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Seeman T.E., Charpentier P.A., Berkman L.F.: Predicting changes in physical performance in a high-functioning elderly cohort. J. Gerontol. 49: M97–M108, 1994.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Fried L.P., Bandeen-Roche K., Williamson J.D., Prasada-Rao P.: Functional decline in older adults: Expanding methods of ascertainment. J. Gerontol. 51A: M206–M214, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Fried L.P., Guralnik J.M.: Disability in older adults: Evidence regarding significance, etiology, and risk. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 45: 92–100, 1997.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Katz S., Branch L.G., Branson M.H.: Active life expectancy. N. Engl. J. Med. 309: 1218–1224, 1983.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Merrill S.S., Seeman T.E., Kasl S.V., Berkman L.F.: Gender differences in the comparison of self-reported disability and performance measures. J. Gerontol. 52A: M19–M26, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Verbrugge L.M.: Recent, present, and future health of American adults. Annu. Rev. Public Health 10: 333–361, 1989.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Leveille S.G., Guralnik J.M., Ferrucci L., Langlois J.A.: Aging successfully until death in old age: opportunities for increasing life expectancy. Am. J. Epidemiol. 49: 654–664, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Rahman O., Strauss J., Gertler P., Ashley D., Fox K.: Gender differences in adult health. Gerontologist 34: 463–469, 1994.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Rowe J., Kahn R.: Human aging: Usual and successful. Science 237: 143–149, 1987.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Branch L.G.: Health practices and incident disability among the elderly. Am. J. Public Health 75: 1436–1439, 1985.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Bruce M.L., Seeman T.E., Merrill S.S., Blazer D.G.: The impact of depressive symptomatology on physical disability: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Am. J. Public Health 84: 1796–1799, 1994.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Ensrud K.E., Nevitt M.C., Yunis C.: Correlates of impaired function in older women. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 42: 481–489, 1994.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Ettinger W.H. Jr.: Physical activity, arthritis, and disability in older people. Clin. Geriatr. Med. 14: 633–640, 1998.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kaplan G.A., Strawbridge W.J., Camacho T., Cohen R.D.: Factors associated with change in physical functioning in the elderly. Journal of Aging and Health 5: 153, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. LaCroix A.Z., Guralnik J.M., Berkman L.F., Wallace R.B., Satterfield S.: Maintaining mobility in late life: Smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and body mass index. Am. J. Epidemiol. 137: 858–868, 1993.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Mor V., Murphy J., Masterson-Allen S.: Risk of functional decline among well elders. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 42: 895–904, 1989.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Strawbridge W.J., Shema S.J.: Antecedents of frailty over three decades in an older cohort. J. Gerontol. 53B: S9–S16, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Rejeski W.J., Ettinger W.H. Jr, Schumaker S., James P., Burns R., Elam J.T.: Assessing performance-related disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 3: 157–167, 1995.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Rogers R.L., Meyer J.S., Mortel K.F.: After reaching retirement age physical activity sustains cerebral perfusion and cognition. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 38: 123–128, 1990.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Dustman R.E., Emmerson R.Y., Ruhling R.O.: Age and fitness effects on EEG, ERPs, visual sensitivity, and cognition. Neurobiol. Aging 11: 193–200, 1990.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Glass T.A., Mendes de Leon C., Marottoli R.A., Berkman L.F.: Population based study of social and productive activities. BMJ 319: 478–483, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Buchner D.M., Cress M.E., de Lateur B.J., Esselman P.C., Margherita A.J., Price R., Wagner E.H.: A comparison of three types of endurance training on balance and other fall risk factors in older adults. Aging Clin. Exp. Res. 9: 112–119, 1997.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Evans D.A.: Estimated prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease in the United States. Milbank Q. 68: 267–289, 1990.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Ryan E.B.: Beliefs about memory changes across the adult life span. J. Gerontol. 47: P41–P46, 1992.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. McFarland C., Ross M., Giltrow M.: Biased recollections in older adults: The role of implicit theories of aging. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 62: 837–850, 1992.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Light L.L.: Memory and aging: Four hypotheses in search of data. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 43: 333–376, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Albert M.S., Jones K.: Predictors of cognitive change in older persons: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Psychol. Aging 10: 578–589, 1995.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Hess T.M., Pullen S.M.: Memory in context. In: Blanchard-Fields F., Hess T.M. (Eds.), Perspectives on cognitive change in adulthood and aging. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1996, pp. 387–417.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Kliegl R., Mayr U.: Commentary. Human Development 35: 343–349, 1992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Baltes P.B., Willis S.L.: Plasticity and enhancement of intellectual functioning in old age: Penn State’s Adult Development and Enrichment Project (ADEPT). Aging and Cognitive Processes 353–389, 1982.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  47. Gribbin K., Schaie K.W., Parham I.A.: Complexity of life style and maintenance of intellectual abilities. Journal of Social Issues 36: 47–61, 1980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Schooler C., Mulatu M.S., Oates G.: The continuing effects of substantively complex work on the intellectual functioning of older workers. Psychol. Aging 14: 483–506, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Wilson R.S., Bennett D.A., Beckett L.A.: Cognitive activity in older persons from a geograghically defined population. J. Gerontol. 54B: 155–160, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Gould E., Beylin A.: Learning enhances adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal formation. Nature Neuroscience 2: 260–265, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Praag H., Kempermann G., Gage F.H.: Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus. Nature Neuroscience 2: 266–270, 1999.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Baltes M.M., Lang F.R.: Everyday functioning and successful aging: The impact of resources. Psychol. Aging 12: 433–443, 1997.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Carlson M.C., Xue Q.L., Bandeen-Roche K., Fried L.P.: Intensity of cognitive activity and the maintenance of cognitive function in community-dwelling older women (submitted for publication, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  54. Carlson M.C., Fried L.P., Xue Q.L., Bandeen-Roche K., Zeger S.L., Brandt J.: Association between executive attention and physical functional performance in community-dwelling older women. J. Gerontol. 54B: S262–S270, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Lokk J., Theorelle T., Arnetz B., Eneroth P.: Physiological concomitants of an “Autonomous Day Programme”. Scand. J. Rehabil. Med. 23: 41–46, 1991.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Strawbridge W.J., Cohen R.D., Shema S.J., Kaplan G.A.: Successful aging: Predictors and associated activities. Am. J. Epidemiol. 144: 135–141, 1996.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Vogt T.M., Mullooly J.P., Ernst D., Pope C.R., Hollis J.F.: Social networks as predictors of ischemic heart disease, cancer, stroke, and hypertension: Incidence, survival and mortality. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 45: 659–666, 1992.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Emery C.F., Gatz M.: Psychological and cognitive effects of an exercise program for community-residing older adults. Gerontologist 30: 184–188, 1990.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Hoyt D.R., Kaiser M.A., Peters G.R., Babchuk N.: Life satisfaction and activity theory: A multidimensional approach. J. Gerontol. 35: 935–941, 1980.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Cerhan J.R., Wallace R.B.: Change in social ties and subsequent mortality in rural elders. Epidemiology 8: 475–481, 1997.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Jylha M., Aro S.: Social ties and survival among the elderly in Tampere, Finland. Int. J. Epidemiol. 18: 158–164, 1989.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Yasuda N., Ohara H.: Associations of health practices and social aspects of life with mortality among elderly people in a Japanese rural area. Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi 44: 1031–1042, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Bassuk S.S., Glass T.A., Berkman L.F.: Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons. Ann. Intern. Med. 131: 165–173, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Antonucci T.C., Fuhrer R., Dartigues J.F.: Social relations and depressive symptomatology in a sample of community-dwelling French older adults. Psychol. Aging 12: 189–195, 1997.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Israel B.A., Antonucci T.C.: Social network characteristics and psychological well-being: A replication and extension. Health Educ. Q. 14: 461–481, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. House J.S., Robbins C., Metzner H.L.: The association of social relationships and activities with mortality: Prospective evidence from the Tecumseh Community Health Study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 116: 123–140, 1982.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Steinbach U.: Social networks, institutionalization, and mortality among elderly people in the United States. The Gerontological Society of America 47: S183–S190, 1992.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Smider N.A., Essex M.J., Ryff C.D.: Adaption to community relocation: The interactive influence of psychological resources and contexual factors. Psychol. Aging 11: 362–372, 1996.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Lang F.R., Carstensen L.L.: Close emotional relationships in late life: Further support for proactive aging in the social domain. Psychol. Aging 9: 315–324, 1994.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Kinsella K.G.: Changes in life expectancy 1900–1990. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 55: 1196S–1202S, 1992.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Dunkel-Schetter C., Folkman S., Lazarus R.S.: Correlates of social support receipt. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 53: 71–80, 1987.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Bandura A.: Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall., 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  73. Moen P.: A life course perspective on retirement, gender, and well-being. J. Occup. Health Psychol. 1: 131–144, 1996.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. Bureau of the Census: Sixty-Five Plus in the United States. Statistical Brief, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  75. Schneider E.L., Guralnik J.M.: The aging of America impact on health care costs. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 263: 2335–2339, 1990.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Kane R.L.: Which outcomes matter in Alzheimer Disease and who should define them? Alzheimer Dis. Assoc. Disord. 11: 12–17, 1997.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. Johnson R.W., Sambamoorthi U., Crystal S.: Gender differences in pension wealth: estimates using provider data. Gerontologist 39: 320–333, 1999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. Choe E.H.: Current and future prospects on problems of aging in the Republic of Korea. Asian Population Studies Series, No. 80, 1987.

  79. Martin L.G.: Living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, April 21–23, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  80. Ogawa N.: Population aging and medical demand: The case of Japan. Economics and Social Implications of Population Aging: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Population Structure and Development. United Nations, New York, 1988, pp. 254–275.

    Google Scholar 

  81. Lee Y-J., Palloni A.: Changes in the family status of elderly women in Korea. Demography 29: 69–87, 1992.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Fried L.P., Freedman M., Endres T.E., Wasik B.: Building communities that promote successful aging. West J. Med. 167: 216–219, 1997.

    CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. Freedman M., Fried L.P.: Launching experience corps. Findings from a two-year pilot project mobilizing older Americans to help inner-city elementary schools. Civic Ventures, Oakland, CA, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Hygiene, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    M. C. Carlson Ph.D

  2. Center on Aging and Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 2024 E. Monument St. SE, Suite 2-600, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    M. C. Carlson Ph.D & L. P. Fried

  3. Division of Geriatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    T. Seeman

Authors
  1. M. C. Carlson Ph.D
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Seeman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. P. Fried
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. C. Carlson Ph.D.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carlson, M.C., Seeman, T. & Fried, L.P. Importance of generativity for healthy aging in older women. Aging Clin Exp Res 12, 132–140 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339899

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339899

Key words

Search

Navigation