Abstract
From many different quarters today, there is the demand for more personal control: Students complain that they have no control over the political process, persons in poverty complain that they have no control over economic resources, and old people complain that they have little control over anything (Averill: 1973). Of all these groups, the plight of the aged is probably the most serious. According to a recent Harris poll conducted in the United States (1975) the majority of the American public views older people as passive, sedentary types who have lost the open-mindedness, mental alertness, and efficiency of the young, and who spend a good deal of their time off by themselves and dwelling on the past.Quite clearly, the transition from adulthood to old age often does represent a loss of control, both physiologically and psychologically (Birren: 1958; Gould: 1972). However, it is as yet unclear just how much of this change is biologically determined and how much is a function of the environment. The ability to sustain a sense of personal control in old age may be greatly influenced by societal factors, and this in turn may affect one’s physical well-being.
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Rodin, J. (1980). Managing the Stress of Aging: The Role of Control and Coping. In: Levine, S., Ursin, H. (eds) Coping and Health. NATO Conference Series, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1042-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1042-6_9
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