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The Dynamics of Possible Selves in Old Age

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.

Address correspondence to Jacqui Smith or Alexandra Freund, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: smith{at}mpib-berlin.mpg.de or freund{at}mpib-berlin.mpg.de

Future-oriented motives are thought to be cast off in old age. Transcripts of the hopes and fears of participants in the 4-year longitudinal sample of the Berlin Aging Study (N = 206, 70–100+ years) were coded for central domains and motives (e.g., gain, maintenance, avoiding loss) and evaluated for the amount and direction of change. Domains of personal characteristics, health, and social relationships predominated together with gain motives. Over time, 72% of participants added new domains of hopes and 53% added new fears. Individual differences in stability and change in matched hopes and fears about health and personal identity were associated with changes in physical and functional health. People who added matched possible selves about health, focused on maintenance, and added few new domains of hopes declined in life satisfaction. Overall, these findings indicate that possible selves are a dynamic system during old age.

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