Manitoba Follow-up Study, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Canada.
J Aging Stud. 2013 Dec;27(4):410-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2013.09.004. Epub 2013 Oct 18.
Constructs of control have theoretically been equated to successful aging in the psychology literature. Hence, we used themes from lay definitions of successful aging to quantify the prevalence of primary and secondary control beliefs over time. In doing so we hoped to shed new light upon the virtually uncharted area of older men's primary and secondary control beliefs over time. Using successful aging narratives spanning a 10-year timeframe from the Manitoba Follow-up Study cohort, we mapped themes from older men's lay definitions of successful aging onto Rothbaum, Weisz, and Snyder's (1982) constructs of primary and secondary control. We then examined the prevalence of the constructs of control over 10 years and found that some men emphasized primary control, some emphasized secondary control, and others emphasized both, prospectively. Counter to what had previously been theorized, many older men continued to emphasize primary control as important well into late life. As expected, secondary control became more important with age. Furthermore, among those men who endorsed both primary and secondary control, significantly more men switched emphasis from primary to secondary control beliefs as they aged. This finding supported Rothbaum et al.'s (1982) surmise that individuals could switch from one type of control to another, presumably as life circumstances dictated. Knowing which types of control beliefs older men emphasize as they age has theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it sheds new light on the under-researched area of control beliefs in older men. Practically, it is informative for anyone interested in enhancing older men's perceptions of control in very late life, particularly in the face of otherwise uncontrollable age-related decline and imminent demise.
在心理学文献中，控制结构在理论上被等同于成功老龄化。因此，我们使用成功老龄化的通俗定义中的主题来量化主要和次要控制信念随时间的流行程度。通过这样做，我们希望为老年男性的主要和次要控制信念随时间的变化这一几乎未被探索的领域提供新的视角。我们使用曼尼托巴后续研究队列中跨越 10 年时间框架的成功老龄化叙述，将老年人对成功老龄化的通俗定义中的主题映射到 Rothbaum、Weisz 和 Snyder（1982）的主要和次要控制结构上。然后，我们检查了控制结构在 10 年内的流行程度，发现有些男性强调主要控制，有些强调次要控制，而有些则同时强调，这是前瞻性的。与之前的理论相反，许多老年人在晚年仍然强调主要控制的重要性。正如预期的那样，随着年龄的增长，次要控制变得更加重要。此外，在那些同时强调主要和次要控制的男性中，随着年龄的增长，更多的男性从主要控制信念转向次要控制信念。这一发现支持了 Rothbaum 等人（1982 年）的推测，即个人可以根据生活环境的变化，从一种控制类型转变为另一种控制类型。了解老年男性随着年龄的增长强调哪种类型的控制信念具有理论和实践意义。从理论上讲，它为老年男性控制信念这一研究不足的领域提供了新的视角。从实践上讲，对于那些对增强老年男性在非常晚年时期的控制感感兴趣的人来说，这是有信息性的，尤其是在面对无法控制的与年龄相关的衰退和即将到来的死亡时。
