Lifespan Developmental Theory Research Articles

A motivation-based study to explain accommodation choice of senior tourists: Hotel or Airbnb

Senior tourists, traditionally known for using offline methods and staying in hotels, are increasingly using new technologies and opting for alternative accommodation forms. Based on the push and pull theory of motivation, the generational cohort and lifespan development theories, this study fills a gap in the literature and examines senior tourists’ choice between Airbnb and hotels. A random parameter binomial logit applied to data from six European countries finds that the same motivation can act differently in this decision choice process. Rather than assuming that a motivation has an exclusive effect on each accommodation type, we propose the notion of a “differential fulfillment paradigm” to reflect the idea that two accommodation types can relate to the same motivation with different approaches. While both hotels and Airbnb can fulfill a common motivation, they do so through distinct features or attributes, offering consumers diverse avenues to achieve their desired outcome.

Individual differences in goal adjustment: convergence and divergence among three theoretical models.

Individual differences in dealing with unattainable goals or resource-consumptive goal pursuit are conceptualized as goal adjustment processes in three theoretical approaches: accommodative coping (two-process model of developmental regulation), compensatory secondary coping (motivational theory of life-span development), and goal disengagement and goal reengagement (goal adjustment theory). The aim of this paper is to conceptually and empirically analyze convergences and divergences between the three approaches as well as their relationship with indicators of well-being and their intersections with cognitive emotion regulation. The empirical study is based on a cross-sectional online survey (N = 433; M = 28.9 years, SD = 8.4 years; 50% female). The conceptual analysis yields clear convergences, but also differences. Empirically, clear but partially non-redundant relationships between the concepts are found in structural equation models. Accommodative coping showed the strongest correlations with measures of well-being and cognitive emotion regulation. When all goal adjustment measures are included simultaneously as predictors of well-being, accommodation remains as the strongest predictor (and partly goal reengagement as well), while goal disengagement shows opposing relationships with most measures of well-being. We discuss the lessons learnt from these findings and conclude by proposing future avenues to examine goal adjustment processes.

The curvilinear relationships between perceived development human resource practices and both affective commitment and work stress: the moderating effects of age

PurposeThis paper aims to reveal the curvilinear relationships between perceived development human resource practices (DHRPs) and both affective commitment and work stress, and the moderating effects of age on the curvilinear relationships.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses were developed from an employee-oriented contingent view based on the person-job fit theory and lifespan development theories. Methods suggested by Haans et al. (2016) and Dawson (2014) to test curvilinear relationships and related moderations, and a two-wave survey data from 742 Chinese employees were used.FindingsThe results showed that perceived DHRPs related to affective commitment in an inverted U shape and work stress in a U shape. However, age moderated the nature of the relationships such that both the curvilinear relationships only existed under low age while under high age perceived DHRPs related to affective commitment positively and work stress negatively.Originality/valueThis study advances the prevailing linear (positive or negative) thinking on the DHRPs–outcomes relationships by showing that perceived DHRPs relate to both affective commitment and work stress nonlinearly. Moreover, different from existing findings that age moderates the strength of the linear DHRPs–outcomes relationships, the results indicate that age moderates the nature of the relationships between perceived DHRPs and affective commitment and work stress. This implies a refined age-differential approach to use DHRPs to sustain a committed and healthy workforce in the context of workforce aging.

Ihmisen kehityksen tutkimus ja tuntemus

Concepts regarding human development have taken shape slowly. Empirical research of it began in the 19th century, inspired by the natural sciences. Childhood, youth, adulthood, and aging became a developmental continuum in the 20th century within life-span development theories. Human development research is a multidisciplinary task, and its results are applicable in practical work with humans. The article considers the use of research information in terms of its appreciation, expertise, supplementation, application, and dissemination. Knowledge of human development would support well-being and promote cooperation and life on our planet of limited resources, taking care of each other.

The Motivation Theory of Life-Span Development and Its Implications for Career Education

Based on the Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) and control model, the Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development (MTLSD) proposes adaptive development criteria and objectives. It asserts that the pursuit of perpetual development is the primary control and that the life cycle is an action field with an opportunity and constraint structure of time organization. Opportunity is a process characterized by the change processes of escalating and waning and by the adaptation consistency processes of goal participation and goal separation. The MTLSD has endeavored to elucidate how people actively promote their own personal lifelong development throughout its entirety. This provides illumination for China’s career education. The importance of individual initiative in career development, the process of opportunity in the continuity of career education, the difference of career education in different career (major) life cycles, and the fairness of career education during the transitional period of social mobility (opportunity) must be emphasized.

Guiding psychologists through inner and outer worlds: reflections from an academic Levinsonian psychobiography of Joe Slovo

Psychobiography has become valuable within the context of professional psychology training. A recent psychobiography purposively sampled Joe Slovo to uncover, reconstruct and illustrate significant trajectories of his development. Slovo’s (1926–1995) lifelong dedication to the struggle against Apartheid has been widely acknowledged, and he held longstanding leadership positions in various South African liberation movements. Levinson’s theory of lifespan development served as the study’s psychological lens. Alexander’s approaches to data identification and extraction were used, followed by a psycho-historical matrix for data categorisation based on the life cycle theory and significant historical periods throughout Slovo’s life. To fully embrace the Levinsonian understanding that an individual cannot be separated from their social world, consideration was given to significant historical and sociocultural forces and events during the data analysis. Therefore, this study’s findings extend beyond Slovo’s individual development to illuminate the complex ways external forces, such as family dynamics, historical events, political movements, community concerns and cultural and language considerations, influence developmental trajectories, life structures and tasks. The authors reflect on the value of sociocultural and contextual sensitivity in psychobiography to help trainee psychologists venture beyond the subject’s inner psychological life, including understanding their outer worlds.

Investigating determinants of middle-aged and elderly users' video-creating intention on short-video platforms from a lifespan development perspective

PurposeMiddle-aged and elderly users become an important group on short-video platforms, however, the research on determinants of their video-creating intention is limited. Based on lifespan development theories, this study examines the impact of aging experiences on their video-creating intention, considering internal generative motivations as mediators and age as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachTo test this study’s hypotheses, survey data from 321 Chinese middle-aged and elderly short-video users were collected and partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to analyze these data.FindingsMiddle-aged and elderly users' aging experiences of social loss and personal growth are positively related to their video-creating intention. Aging experiences (i.e. physical loss, social loss, and personal growth) are positively related to internal generative motivations (i.e. need to be needed and symbolic immortality), and need to be needed is positively related to video-creating intention. Via the mediation of need to be needed, physical loss and personal growth are indirectly positively related to video-creating intention. Personal growth strengthens the relationship between physical loss and symbolic immortality, but weakens the associations of social loss with need to be needed and symbolic immortality. Age weakens the relationship between symbolic immortality and video-creating intention.Originality/valueThis study is the first wave to introduce and integrate lifespan theories such as selective optimization with compensation model, socioemotional selectivity theory, and generativity theory to explore the impacts of aging experiences on middle-aged and elderly users' video-creating intention by considering generativity motivations as mediators and age as a moderator.

Aging and Burnout for Nurses in an Acute Care Setting: The First Wave of COVID-19.

We examined the relationship between age, coping, and burnout during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic with nurses in Texas (N = 376). Nurses were recruited through a professional association and snowball sampling methodology for the cross-sectional survey study. Framed in lifespan development theories, we expected that nurse age and experience would be positively correlated with positive coping strategies (e.g., getting emotional support from others) and negatively correlated with negative coping strategies (e.g., drinking and drug use). We also expected age to be negatively related to the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization facets of burnout and positively related to the personal accomplishment facet of burnout. Findings were largely supported in that age was positively associated with positive coping and personal accomplishment and age and experience were negatively correlated with negative coping and depersonalization. Age was not, however, associated with emotional exhaustion. Mediation models further suggest that coping explains some of the effect of age on burnout. A theoretical extension of lifespan development models into an extreme environment and practical implications for coping in these environments are discussed.

WHAT ARE WE MISSING? Problems with using generational cohorts in leadership research and suggestions for a better direction.

The rising costs of recruiting and hiring workers and the seismic shift of age demographics in the United States workforce has created much stir around the concept of generational cohorts. Although much has been done by researchers and practitioners alike to attempt a better understanding of each generational group’s leadership preferences, confusing and contradictory results has attracted much criticism. This critique has inspired efforts to look at the concept of leadership and followership preference through an alternative lifespan developmental lens. Because leadership influences are inherently social influences, a person’s overall lifespan development level may potentially provide a deeper perspicacity of the phenomenon than examining it from the more conventional generational cohort perspective. However, specific research into this area is lacking. This paper adds to the literature by uncovering what we are missing in research and practice when we look at age-related leadership phenomena solely from a generational cohort perspective. A review of the contradicting literature on generational cohorts and leadership is offered. Next, specific lifespan developmental theories are examined, and propositions and implications of such research are extended.

Disentangling the interplay of the sense of belonging and institutional channels in individuals' educational trajectories.

Accumulating evidence indicates that students' sense of school belonging has a substantial positive effect on educational attainment. At the same time, life course and life span developmental theories suggest that the benefits of a sense of school belonging could be weakened by the channeling effects of education systems that assign students to distinct educational tracks that lead otherwise similar students to quite different educational destinations. The current study analyzed the extent to which the sense of school belonging predicted educational trajectories in a system that partially channels students into distinct tracks. It assessed educational trajectories as they relate to transitions at two critical junctures of the system-the transition from lower- to upper-secondary education, and from upper-secondary to tertiary (university) education. The study used data from a nationally representative panel survey that followed participants from age 15 to 30 (N = 4,986, 44% male, 12.9% immigrants). Findings indicated that students with a stronger sense of school belonging were more likely to continue in or transition into academic tracks. However, the benefits of students' sense of belonging were bounded by the system's channeling structure. While for students in academic tracks, the sense of school belonging strongly predicted the probability of continuing in academic tracks, it only marginally predicted the probability of moving into academic tracks for those whose educational career began in more vocationally oriented tracks. Hence the sense of school belonging may influence academic trajectories only inasmuch as institutional structures allow it to, because these structures differentially enable and constrain such trajectories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE PERSPECTIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF PERSONALITY

Abstract. The article presents the concept of "life perspective" in different study approaches of this phenomenon. The main authors and theories that most fully reveal the concept of life perspective are noted. The difference in the approach to the study of life prospects in domestic and foreign psychology is determined. The main foreign theories are described, including AAC (assimilative / accommodative coping), MTLD (the motivational theory of lifespan development), SOC (selection, optimization and compensation), SST (socioemotional selectivity theory). The results of the meta-analysis of the basic researches devoted to this construct are noted. The nature of the relationship between time perspective and such phenomenon as sociometric indicators, psychological well-being, behavioral characteristics, responsibility etc. The main internal approaches are indicated. Аmong them are systemic, event and others approches. The basic parameters, functions, features, structure of a time perspective are defined. The main parameters include depth, structure, realism, consistency, duration and optimism. It consists of value-semantic, emotional-evaluative, cognitive and organizational components. The concept of self-design is indicated, the structure of it includes awareness of goals, value-semantic formations, individual-personal opportunities and social conditions. The influence of life aspirations and life plans on the further development of life prospects is indicated.

GOAL ADJUSTMENT CAPACITIES DURING COVID-19: CONTEXT-DEPENDENT BENEFITS FOR EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

Abstract Increased constraints and lost opportunities inherent in the COVID-19 pandemic can threaten important life goals and erode emotional well-being. Theories of lifespan development have identified goal adjustment capacities (goal disengagement and goal reengagement) as core self-regulatory resources that can buffer against declines in well-being. However, little is known about the pandemic-related contextual circumstances under which goal adjustment capacities may become more or less beneficial for well-being. Using longitudinal data from a nationally-representative sample of Americans across the adult lifespan (aged 18-80, n=286), we examined the consequences of goal adjustment capacities for emotional well-being under circumstances when individuals reported lower or higher constraints than normal in their lives. Specifically, multilevel models tested whether the influence of between-person differences in (Level 2) goal disengagement and goal reengagement on well-being were moderated by (Level 1) within-person fluctuations in perceived constraints. Analyses controlled for age, sex, education, and income. We observed cross-level Goal Reengagement x Perceived Constraints interactions for depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and positive affect (bs = -.11 to .07, ps < .05), but not negative affect. Results showed that the benefits of goal reengagement for depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and positive affect were pronounced on occasions when participants reported lower (vs. higher) than average perceived constraints in their lives. Findings point to the moderating role of pandemic-related contextual circumstances and suggest that goal reengagement may be most beneficial when individuals have fewer constraints than usual in their lives and may thus able to capitalize on opportunities to pursue new attainable goals.

INCREASING THE SENSE OF IDENTITY AND INTEGRITY: AN INTERVENTION STUDY OF ACTIVE AGING AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS

Abstract Identity and integrity (i.e., a sense of coherence and wholeness) are important elements for psychosocial development in later stages of life as described in Erikson’s life-span developmental theory. This study aimed to develop an intervention program to increase the sense of identity and integrity among older adults. The program included two types of workshops to examine the combined impact of searching for one’s post-retirement identity and clarifying personal goals and purpose for later life. The first workshop, Introductory of Active Aging, focused on providing the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare for life after retirement. The second workshop, Creating Your Life History, focused on a life review and composing one’s life history using the guided autobiography method developed by Birren. The study used a crossover design with a one-week break interval between the two workshops. Each workshop was conducted weekly with a two-hour session over four weeks. Thirty-eight participants aged 60 to 80 attended both workshops between October and December 2021 at a community center in Tokyo, Japan. The sense of identity and integrity were assessed using the Japanese version of the Erikson Psychosocial Inventory Scale (EPSI) at baseline and after completing both workshops (9th week). The scores of both identity and integrity increased significantly among participants who completed two workshops in sequence. This crossover study showed no statistical difference in the effects of each workshop. Further work is needed to monitor the long-term impact of these workshops in clarifying one’s identity and achieving satisfaction with self in later life.

Occupational Health of Education Personnel—The Role of Job Crafting and Other Control Strategies on Healthy Ageing at Work

This article looks at the strategies that influence healthy ageing at work from the motivational theory of life span development (MTD). It aims to better understand the influence of job crafting as a selective primary control, help-seeking as a compensatory primary control, positive reappraisal as a selective secondary control, and downward social comparison and downgrading expectation as a compensatory secondary control on healthy ageing at work (work engagement, health, and motivation to continue working after retirement). A total of 386 educational personnel participated in the study. This study used hierarchical regression analysis to test incremental validity, supplemented with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling as a solution to solve the potential error problems caused. The results show that job crafting is positively correlated with healthy ageing at work. Positive reappraisal and downward social comparison showed incremental validity in predicting healthy ageing at work beyond job crafting among the middle-aged group (45-65-years-old); in particular, positive reappraisal was the determinant of healthy ageing at work among the middle-aged group. However, both help-seeking and downgrading expectation did not show incremental validity. This study can contribute to the evolution of career development interventions and human resource management focused on supporting older people at work.

Understanding and Addressing Older Adults’ Loneliness: The Social Relationship Expectations Framework

Loneliness is an experience resulting from a perceived discrepancy between expected and actual social relationships. Although this discrepancy is widely considered the “core mechanism” of loneliness, previous research and interventions have not sufficiently addressed what older adults specifically expect from their social relationships. To address this gap and to help situate research on older adults’ loneliness within broader life span developmental theories, we propose a theoretical framework that outlines six key social relationship expectations of older adults based on research from psychology, gerontology, and anthropology: availability of social contacts, receiving care and support, intimacy and understanding, enjoyment and shared interests, generativity and contribution, and being respected and valued. We further argue that a complete understanding of loneliness across the life span requires attention to the powerful impacts of contextual factors (e.g., culture, functional limitations, social network changes) on the expression and fulfillment of older adults’ universal and age-specific relationship expectations. The proposed Social Relationship Expectations Framework may fruitfully inform future loneliness research and interventions for a heterogeneous aging population.

Those who need it the most get it the least: Age specific reciprocal effects between social support and mental strain

Socioemotional selectivity theory and models of lifespan development of resources suggest that older workers may particularly benefit from social resources so as to maintain their well-being throughout their work-life span. However, the age-differential effects of social support at work have been rarely investigated. We hypothesised that age moderates the effects of colleagues' and supervisors' social support on mental strain, with strongest effects for older workers. A two-wave complete panel design (six months' time lag) was used. Self-reports from N = 334 nurses (age: 21–63 years) were gathered with established questionnaires: strain was measured by means of the irritation scale; social support from colleagues and supervisors by using a German adaptation of the social support scales. We proved factorial validity and measurement invariance across time points (CFA) and computed path models (SEM). As expected, age moderated the negative longitudinal effects of colleagues' social support on mental strain. Older nurses (≥45 years) benefited the most from colleagues' social support. However, mental strain in older nurses was associated with reduced social support from colleagues. Surprisingly with middle-aged nurses (35–44 years) an increase in colleagues' social support resulted in higher mental strain. No effects for supervisor support were observed. Results indicate that social support by colleagues is an important resource for older workers, but older workers are less likely to receive social support when mental strain is present. Moreover, the timing of social support across the work lifespan seems to be critical, as it might have detrimental effects in middle-aged workers.

Work Ability Mediates the Relationships between Personal Resources and Work Engagement

Research on job resources suggests strong links with work engagement, but less is known about its association with personal resources and possible mechanisms linking personal resources to work engagement. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and lifespan development theories, we develop and test a model of the indirect relationships between personal resources (i.e., adaptive coping in the form of selection, optimization, and compensation and personal health in the form of subjective health complaints) and work engagement through work ability. To test this model, a sample of employees (n = 520) was recruited from a panel of employed older (i.e., aged 40+) workers. Results suggest that work ability mediates the relationships between selection, optimization, and compensation and subjective health complaints and work engagement.

Age and Work Engagement: Testing Mechanisms and the Roles of Age-related HR Practices

The aging population across the globe is driving substantial changes in workforce demographics. Accordingly, engaging the aging workforce becomes an important mission for organizations. However, empirical findings regarding the age-work engagement relationship remain elusive and theoretical explanations have been equivocal and disjointed, suggesting both age-related advantages and challenges in staying engaged at work. Additionally, it remains unclear how organizations may implement age-related HR practices to leverage the age-related advantages while mitigating the challenges. Guided by lifespan development theories and the workplace aging literature, I take a two-study, multi-method approach to address these research questions in my research. In Study 1 (a meta-analytic study), I examine multiple theory-based countervailing mechanisms (i.e., occupational future time perspective; the use of selection, optimization, and compensation [SOC] strategies; physical health; and age discrimination experience) that simultaneously link age to work engagement. In Study 2 (a field investigation), I propose and test a multilevel research model to probe how these mechanisms are shaped by age-specific HR practices (i.e., older worker-specific HR practices) and age-neutral HR practices (i.e., age-inclusive HR practices). Taken together, my research will further scholarly understanding of the complex and multifaceted nature of aging processes at work and provide implications for organizations to design age-wise HR practices in managing the aging workforce.

Work and personal determinants of mobile-technology adoption and use among community-dwelling older adults: A mixed-methods approach.

Mobile phones play a key role in information and communication technology, as they ease communication and interaction for users. However, older adults are often described as being on the wrong side of the digital divide, as they are less likely to adopt and use such technology. While research abounds on technology adoption and use among older adults, prior research has often examined this demographic as a homogenous group, however inequalities among older adults exist driven by socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, researchers have called for understanding the mechanisms behind technology adoption and use among older adults so that we can start to bridge the digital divide. We sought to address gaps in the current literature by integrating the motivational theory of lifespan development and the theory of digital inequality in examining the inequalities and motivations that drive mobile technology adoption, use, and proficiency. We used a mixed method approach to collect data from 67 community-dwelling older adults that consisted of semistructured interviews and survey assessments. Results suggest that inequalities in income and occupation at/prior to retirement are associated with categories of mobile technology proficiency. Results further suggest that the majority of participants employ compensatory secondary control strategies which facilitate lower levels of mobile technology adoption and use. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Supplemental Material for Work and personal determinants of mobile-technology adoption and use among community-dwelling older adults: A mixed-methods approach.

Mobile phones play a key role in information and communication technology, as they ease communication and interaction for users. However, older adults are often described as being on the wrong side of the digital divide, as they are less likely to adopt and use such technology. While research abounds on technology adoption and use among older adults, prior research has often examined this demographic as a homogenous group, however inequalities among older adults exist driven by socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, researchers have called for understanding the mechanisms behind technology adoption and use among older adults so that we can start to bridge the digital divide. We sought to address gaps in the current literature by integrating the motivational theory of lifespan development and the theory of digital inequality in examining the inequalities and motivations that drive mobile technology adoption, use, and proficiency. We used a mixed method approach to collect data from 67 community-dwelling older adults that consisted of semistructured interviews and survey assessments. Results suggest that inequalities in income and occupation at/prior to retirement are associated with categories of mobile technology proficiency. Results further suggest that the majority of participants employ compensatory secondary control strategies which facilitate lower levels of mobile technology adoption and use. Implications for research and practice are discussed.