Centre for Policy on Ageing



Perceived continuity of self in very old age
Author(s)	Lillian E Troll, Marilyn McKean Skaff
Journal title	Psychology and Aging, vol 12, no 1, March 1997
Pages	pp 162-169
Keywords	Personality ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Octogenarians ; Nonagenarians ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Little is known about how the changes of very late life affect identity. 150 of the oldest old (aged 85 and over) were asked how they thought they had changed over the years, and how they had remained the same. Responses were coded for perceived change in both core self ('I') and self-descriptors ('me'). Almost all the respondents thought they were still essentially the same person ('I'), and although they could point to ways in which they had changed in specific characteristics of self-concept ('me'), there was considerable stability in that as well. Also, not all of the changes identified were negative. Perceived continuity was related to positive affect, but apparently not to either recent disruptive events or mortality.
Accession Number	CPA-971120246 A
Classmark	DK: F: BBM: BBR: 3J: 7T
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.