Deck 18: Late Adulthood: Social and Emotional Development

Question 1

Which is true of "body esteem" in late adulthood

A) Men lose interest in the bodies of potential sex partners as they advance through late adulthood.
B) Body esteem increases as people progress through late adulthood.
C) Older men express lower body esteem than older women do.
D) Men and women express equal amounts of body esteem in late adulthood.

Answer 1

The assessment or evaluation of one's own body is called body esteem. It is the importance given to various parts of the body and their appearance. It measures the extent of positivity one feels by looking at his/her own body. High body esteem keeps the person always cheerful and confident in approach. Low body esteem, on the other hand, makes the person feel low and negative at all times.
Various experiments have been conducted on men and women with regard to body esteem. The results showed that men have more self esteem than women in most of the cases. This self-esteem was found to be very high in childhood. But on entering adolescence the self-esteem in men dropped. The self-esteem rose during middle adulthood and again dropped in late adulthood.
Irrespective of the body esteem men never lose interest in the sex partners. Opposite sex always attract each other. Body esteem is no reason to lose interest in sexual activities.
So, option (a) is false with respect to body esteem in late adulthood.
The results of the experiments showed that body esteem or self esteem dropped after middle adulthood. Due to factors like aging, and hormonal changes in the body the appearance changes. And the changes are not in the positive direction. So, body esteem can never increase through late adulthood.
Therefore, option (b) is also false.
Even in the childhood, it was observed that men higher body esteem than women. By late adulthood, a women's body would have undergone more changes than a man. The reasons for more changes in a woman's body are pregnancies, breast feeding, and deliveries. So, women and men are never equal in expressing body esteem.
Therefore, option (d) is false.
As men and women add years to their lives the pride in the appearance and functioning of their bodies drops. Men show low body esteem as compared to women in old age.
Therefore, option is true.

Question 2

Inability to bounce back from a loss is a sign of ________.

Answer 2

About 10% of people in the age group of 65 and above suffer from depression. It is very common but is a serious disorder pertaining to mood. Depression can occur due to past episodes from life or it can also be a recent development.
There is a possibility that depression could be related to diseases like Alzheimer's, strokes, Parkinson's disease or heart diseases etc. Sometimes depression sets in due the loss of loved ones. But depression is not just being sad. It is characterized by many symptoms. The symptoms caused due to depression affect the way a person thinks. His eating habits, sleep patterns, work efficiency everything gets disrupted. Only if the same symptoms persist for more than two weeks it is diagnosed as depression. Depression is very common mental disorder in the United States. And it has been established that depression is caused due to genetic, environmental, biological and psychological factors.
So, the answer to the blank is 'depression'.

Question 3

What percentage of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults aged 60-91 reported good or excellent mental health in a research study

A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%

Answer 3

A homosexual male is referred to as 'gay' and a homosexual female is referred to as a 'lesbian'. Many researchers have tried to study the levels of satisfaction in gay-lesbian relations. And the results have shown that they too enjoy a high self-esteem just like heterosexuals. There are less instances of depression and very few have urge to commit suicide. And nor are they victims of alcohol and drug abuses.
A survey was conducted on 416 gay-lesbian relationships in the age group of 60-91 years. And majority of them said that they possessed high levels of self esteem and an excellent mental health.
Therefore, option is the right answer.
As per the survey, only 10% of them said they had an urge towards suicide. Therefore, option (a) is incorrect.
About 17% of them expressed that they wished to be heterosexuals and 27 % of them has a feeling of loneliness. Therefore, options (b) and (c) are incorrect.

Question 4

Question 5

Which of the following is not true about depression in late adulthood

A) Depression and sadness are pretty much the same thing in late adulthood.
B) Depression in older people can be a continuation of depression from earlier periods of life.
C) Depression can be connected with the personality factor of neuroticism.
D) Depression may reflect a genetic predisposition to imbalances in the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.

Question 6

In keeping with ________ theory, people who age successfully tend to seek emotional fulfillment by reshaping their lives to concentrate on what they find to be important and meaningful.

Question 7

Older people typically report preferring to live

A) in assisted living arrangements.
B) in their own homes.
C) with children.
D) in rural areas.

Question 8

Ego _______ means preparing in some way to go beyond the physical limitations of one's own life span.

Question 9

A study found that African Americans who attend church regularly live an average of 13 years longer than African Americans who never attend. As a skeptical scientist, you recognize that this study may show that

A) church attendance causes longevity.
B) people who do not attend church are too sick to attend.
C) people who do not attend church get into trouble and develop health problems.
D) people who choose to attend church may differ from those who do not.

Question 10

According to Erik Erikson, late adulthood is characterized by the stage of ego integrity versus

Question 11

According to ________. theory, older people and society mutually withdraw from one another as older people approach death.

Question 12

Which of the following is not one of Robert Peck's developmental tasks for late adulthood

A) ego differentiation versus work-role preoccupation
B) retirement versus work-role preoccupation
C) body transcendence versus body preoccupation
D) ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation

Question 13

Which of the following life issues tends to increase in importance as couples reach their 60s

A) finances
B) intimacy
C) child rearing
D) political differences

Question 14

The average person retiring at age 65 has about _______ of life to look forward to.

Question 15

Depression can be connected with the "big five" factor of ___________.

Question 16

Which of the following is true of the life review

A) It is usually a sign of dementia.
B) It is filled with important "holes" because of decay of long-term memory.
C) It is egotistical and selfish.
D) It is a normal aspect of aging.

Question 17

Which of the following does not describe or characterize gay men or lesbians in long-term intimate relationships

A) more alcohol and drug abuse
B) higher self-esteem
C) fewer suicidal urges
D) less depression

Question 18

Older adults may be reluctant to relocate to nursing homes because nursing homes signify the loss of __________.

Question 19

Socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that people

A) place more emphasis on emotional experience as they age.
B) filter out emotions that lead to recollection of unpleasant experiences.
C) disengage from society as they reach late adulthood.
D) can choose their emotional responses to situations.

Question 20

According to __________ theory, we would expect that people who are better adjusted to retire ment will be doing many things rather than "taking it easy."