[Men in old age--psychological and social aspects].

The relevant aspects of the psychosocial situation of men in old age were listed using two different methods: Identification of contextual determinants of the male aging process. Reporting on empirically based evidence of the situation of elderly men. ad 1. The following contextual aspects of the male aging process were under consideration: generalized and personalized images of elderly men, subjective reports on "male aging", changing images of the male sex role and the aging role, male sex role typing across the life span, middle and late adulthood as relevant lifespan segments preceding old age, and sociodemographic and health statistics concerning the situation in which elderly men live. ad 2. The report on empirically based data on the psychosocial situation of old aged men included the following aspects: Social roles of men in old age, comparisons between elderly men and elderly women and between elderly and younger men, interindividual variability (classifications) among the group of old-aged men and early antecedents as "predictors" of life satisfaction in old age. Analyzing these different kinds of material, the importance of a differential approach to the multidimensionally determined situation of men in old age was stressed; on the other hand, it seemed to be possible to identify certain "typical" characteristics at least for the present cohorts of old-aged men (e.g. importance of the quality of marital life, significance of being free of stress, tendency of experiential integration etc.).