Final decentrations: Personal goals, rationality perspectives, and the awareness of life's finitude

European Psychologist

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 152-163

  Brandtstädter, Jochen ^a   Rothermund, Klaus ^b   Kranz, Dirk ^a   Kühn, Waldemar ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TRIER   (Germany)

^b FRIEDRICH SCHILLER UNIVERSITY JENA   (Germany)

Author keywords

Accommodative flexibility; Instrumental versus valuerational orientations; Mortality salience; Time perspective

Indexed keywords

EID: 77953601217     PISSN: 10169040     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000019     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (56)

1. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2. Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (2006). Life span theory in developmental psychology. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (Vol. 1, pp. 569-664) (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.
3. Boerner, K. (2004). Adaptation to disability among middle-aged and older adults: The role of assimilative and accommodative coping. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 59B, P35-P42.
4. Boerner, K., & Jopp, D. (2007). Improvement/maintenance and reorientation as central features of coping with major life changes and loss: Contributions of three life-span theories. Human Development, 50, 171-195.
5. Boesch, E. E. (1991). Symbolic action theory in cultural psychology. Berlin: Springer.
6. Brandtstädter, J. (2000). Zeit, Handeln und Sinn: Veränderungen der Zeit- und Zukunftsperspektive im Alter [Time, action, and sense: Changes in perspective on time and future with age]. In J. Möller, B. Strauß, & S. Jürgensen (Eds.), Psychologie und Zukunft: Prognosen, Prophezeiungen, Pläne (pp. S. 241-S. 253). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
7. Brandtstädter, J. (2001). Entwicklung - Intentionalität - Handeln [Development - intention - action]. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
8. Brandtstädter, J. (2006). Action perspectives on human development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development (Handbook of child psychology) (Vol. 1, pp. 516-568) (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.
9. Brandtstädter, J. (2007). Das flexible Selbst: Selbstentwicklung zwischen Zielbindung und Ablösung [The flexible self: Selfdevelopment between goal fixation and dissolution]. Heidelberg: Elsevier/Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.
10. Brandtstädter, J., & Greve, W. (1994). The aging self: Stabilizing and protective processes. Developmental Review, 14, 52-80.
11. Brandtstädter, J., & Renner, G. (1990). Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: Explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. Psychology and Aging, 5, 58-67.
12. Brandtstädter, J., & Renner, G. (1992). Coping with discrepancies between aspirations and achievements in adult development: A dual-process model. In L. Montada, S.-H. Filipp, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Life crises and experiences of loss in adulthood (pp. 301-319). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
13. Brandtstädter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002a). Intentional selfdevelopment: Exploring the interfaces between development, intentionality, and the self. In L. J. Crockett (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Vol.48: Agency, motivation, and the life course (pp. 31-75). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
14. Brandtstädter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002b). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117-150.
15. Brandtstädter, J., Rothermund, K., & Schmitz, U. (1997). Coping resources in later life. European Review of Applied Psychology, 47, 107-114.
16. Brandtstädter, J., Wentura, D., & Rothermund, K. (1999). Intentional self-development through adulthood and later life: Tenacious pursuit and flexible adjustment of goals. In J. Brandtstädter & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Action and selfdevelopment: Theory and research through the life span (pp. 373-400). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17. Brandtstädter, J., Wentura, D., & Schmitz, U. (1997). Veränderungen der Zeit- und Zukunftsperspektive im Übergang zum höheren Alter: quer- und längsschnittliche Befunde [Changes in perspective on time and future during aging: Longitudinal and cross-section study results]. Zeitschrift fü r Psychologie, 205, 377-395.
18. Carstensen, L. L. (1993). Motivation for social contact across the life-span: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. In J. E. Jacobs (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Vol.40: Developmental perspectives on motivation (pp. 209-254). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
19. Carstensen, L. L., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Charles, S. T. (1999). Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54, 165-181.
20. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2003). Three human strengths. In L. G. Aspinwall & U. M. Staudinger (Eds.), A psychology of human strengths: Fundamental questions and future directions for a positive psychology (pp. 87-102). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
21. Coward, D. D. (1990). The lived-experience of self-transcendence in woman with advanced breast cancer. Nursing Science Quarterly, 3, 162-169.
22. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.
23. Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.
24. Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.
25. Fantino, E. (1995). The future is uncertain: Eat dessert first. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 18, 125-126.
26. Fritsche, I., Jonas, E., & Fankhänel, T. (2008). The role of control motivation in mortality salience effects on ingroup support and defense. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 524-541.
27. Fung, H. H., & Carstensen, L. L. (2004). Motivational changes in response to blocked goals and foreshortened time: Testing alternatives to socioemotional selectivity theory. Psychology and Aging, 19, 68-78.
28. Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Arndt, J. (2008). A basic but uniquely human motivation: Terror management. In J. Shah & W. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 114-134). New York: Guilford.
29. Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464-1480.
30. Hahn, A., Jacob, R., Eirmbter-Stolbrink, E., & Hoffmann, M. (2004). Sterbebegleitung in Trier [Terminal care in Trier]. Universität Trier: Universitätsdruck.
31. Heckhausen, J. (1997). Developmental regulation across adulthood: Primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. Developmental Psychology, 33, 176-187.
32. Karpinski, A., & Hilton, J. L. (2001). Attitudes and the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774-788.
33. Kim, D.-Y. (2003). Voluntary controllability of the implicit association test (IAT). Social Psychology Quarterly, 66, 83-96.
34. Kohlberg, L. (1979). Zusammenhänge zwischen der Moralentwicklung in der Kindheit und im Erwachsenenalter - neu interpretiert [Correlation between moral development during childhood and adulthood - new interpretations]. In P. B. Baltes (Ed.), Entwicklungspsychologie der Lebensspanne (pp. 379-407). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
35. Landau, M. J., Greenberg, J., & Sullivan, D. (2009). Managing terror when self-worth and worldviews collide: Evidence that mortality salience increases reluctance to self-enhance beyond authorities. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 68-79.
36. Lang, F. R., & Carstensen, L. L. (2002). Time counts: Future time perspective, goals, and social relationships. Psychology and Aging, 17, 125-139.
37. Levenson, M. R., & Crumpler, C. A. (1996). Three models of adult development. Human Development, 39, 135-149.
38. Maxfield, M., Pyszczynski, T., Kluck, B., Cox, C. R., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Weise, D. (2007). Age-related differences in responses to thoughts of one's own death: Mortality salience and judgments of moral transgressions. Psychology and Aging, 22, 341-353.
39. McAdams, D. P., Diamond, A., de St. Aubin, E., & Mansfield, E. (1997). Stories of commitment: The psychosocial construction of generative lives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 678-694.
40. McFadden, S. H. (2000). Religion and meaning in later life. In G. T. Reker & K. Chamberlain (Eds.), Exploring existential meaning: Optimizing human development across the life span (pp. 171-184). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
41. Monteith, M. J., Voils, C. I., & Ashburn-Nardo, L. (2001). Taking a look underground: Detecting, interpreting, and reacting to implicit racial biases. Social Cognition, 19, 395-417.
42. Nozick, R. (1989). The examined life. Philosophical meditations. New York: Simon & Schuster.
43. Olson, M. A., & Fazio, R. H. (2004). Reducing the influence of extrapersonal associations on the implicit association test: Personalizing the IAT. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 653-667.
44. Pöhlmann, K., & Brunstein, J. C. (1997). GOALS: Ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Lebenszielen (GOALS: A questionnaire for assessing life goals). Diagnostica, 43, 63-79.
45. Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (1999). A dualprocess model of defense against conscious and unconscious death-related thoughts: An extension of terror management theory. Psychological Review, 106, 835-845.
46. Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 435-468.
47. Reed, P. G. (1991). Self-transcendence and mental health in oldest-old adults. Nursing Research, 40, 5-11.
48. Reker, G. T., Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. (1987). Meaning and the purpose in life and well-being: A life-span perspective. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 44-49.
49. Rentsch, T. (1992). Philosophische Anthropologie und Ethik der späten Lebenszeit [Philosophical anthropology and ethics late in life]. In P. B. Baltes & J. Mittelstraß (Eds.), Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung (pp. 283-304). Berlin: de Gruyter.
50. Rothermund, K., & Brandtstädter, J. (2003). Depression in later life: Cross-sequential patterns and possible determinants. Psychology & Aging, 18, 80-90.
51. Ryff, C. D., & Baltes, P. B. (1976). Value transitions and adult development in women: The instrumentality-terminality hypothesis. Developmental Psychology, 12, 567-568.
52. Staudinger, U. M. (2001). Life-reflection: A social-cognitive analysis of life review. Review of General Psychology, 5, 148-160.
53. Tornstam, L. (1997). Gerotranscendence: The contemplative dimension of aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 11, 143-154.
54. Tukey, J. W. (1977). Exploratory data analysis. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
55. Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society. An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (original work in German, 1922).
56. Wink, P., & Helson, R. (1997). Practical and transcendent wisdom: Their nature and some longitudinal findings. Journal of Adult Development, 4, 1-15. (Pubitemid 127721205)