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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Positive illusions and mental and physical health in later life | | Author(s) | K Gana, D Alaphilippe, N Bailly |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 8, no 1, January 2004 |
| Pages | pp 58-64 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Mental health [elderly] ; Health [elderly] ; Attitude ; Longitudinal surveys ; France. |
| Annotation | There are three competing conceptions concerning the relationship between positive illusions and mental health. First, the "traditional" mental health model, according to which an accurate perception of the self and the work is a cornerstone of psychological self-adjustment. Second, Taylor and Brown's Social Psychological Model on mental health, which assumes that positive illusions promote good mental health. Lastly, Baumeister's Optimal Margin Theory, which states that too much accuracy is harmful to mental health, as are exaggerated illusions. These three models were evaluated in 857 French people aged 60-95 from the Tours Longitudinal Retirement and Aging Study, using the youthful bias, which is the illusion of being younger than one's real age. As a whole, the Social Psychological Model obtained the strongest support. Older people who harboured an exaggerated youthful bias (more than 15 years) reported more satisfaction with leisure time, higher self-esteem, better perceived health, and less proneness to boredom than those who felt as old as they were or who, except for perceived health, entertained a moderate youthful bias (between 1 and 15 years). (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-040311212 A |
| Classmark | D: CC: DP: 3J: 765 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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