1、The significance of age,Lecturer: Dr. Qun Yang Email: ,Age and Happiness,Conceptions of Age,Chronological age : the number of years that have elapsed since birth.,Age has been conceptualized not just as chronological age but also as biological age, psychological age, and social age (Hoyer & Roodin,
2、2009).,According to some life-span experts, chronological age is not very relevant to understanding a persons psychological development (Botwinick, 1978).,Chronological age, is not the only way of measuring age. Just as there are different domains of development, there are different ways of thinking
3、 about age.,Biological age,A persons age in terms of biological health.,Determining biological age involves knowing the functional capacities of a persons vital organs (Westendorp & Kirkwood, 2007),One persons vital capacities may be better or worse than those of others of comparable age. So the you
4、nger the persons biological age, the longer the person is expected to live. True False,Psychological age,An individuals adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age.,Older adults who continue to learn, are flexible, are motivated, have positive personali
5、ty traits, control their emotions, and think clearly are engaging in more adaptive behaviors (Depp, Vahia, Park & Huang, 2010).,The personality trait of conscientiousness (being organized, careful, and disciplined, for example) predicted lower mortality (frequency of death) risk from childhood throu
6、gh late adulthood (Martin, Friedman, & Schwartz, 2007).,Social age,Social roles and expectations related to a persons age.,In predicting a 30 year-old adult womans behavior, which do you think would help you collect more information? A Her chronological age B Her social role as the mother of a 3-yea
7、r-old child,Summary,Life-span expert Bernice Neugarten (1988) argues that in U.S. society chronological age is becoming irrelevant. chronological age has become a less accurate predictor of the life events in our society. From a life-span perspective, an overall age profile of an individual involves not just chronological age but also biological age, psychological age, and social age.,Assignment,Reflect on yourself:How old would you be if you didnt know how old you were? How do you evaluate your own age?,
