Age and Awareness of Finitude in Developmental Gerontology
- 1 July 1975
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying
- Vol. 6 (2) , 113-129
- https://doi.org/10.2190/00yy-3th7-fub4-jhw9
Abstract
In developmental theory, awareness of finitude is held to initiate processes of disengagement, self-focusing, and life-review. Age has been assumed to be inversely related to awareness of finitude, and employed in testing these conceptions. Rather then being a simple inverse function of age, awareness of finitude is an estimate based on social-comparison processes. These data demonstrate the weaknesses inherent in any attempt to substitute age as a measure of awareness of finitude. Selected aspects of reminiscence are examined in relation to awareness of finitude in illustration of the fruitfulness of a direct use of awareness of finitude as a variable in relation to developmental aspects of aging.Keywords
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