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Strategies for well‐being in later life: A qualitative analysis
Author(s) -
Sherrard Carol
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of medical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 2044-8341
pISSN - 0007-1129
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1998.tb00990.x
Subject(s) - distancing , psychology , pace , subjectivity , context (archaeology) , grounded theory , perception , cognition , social psychology , well being , patience , qualitative research , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , psychotherapist , epistemology , covid-19 , disease , medicine , sociology , paleontology , social science , philosophy , geodesy , pathology , neuroscience , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biology , geography
A 70‐year‐old retired professional man, with some health problems but a high measured level of well‐being, was interviewed for his perception of the sources of well‐being. A grounded‐theory analysis showed that he related well‐being most strongly to the freedom to choose activities, and manage his own time. Other well‐being strategies within these domains were (i) reconstruing time, so that physical slow‐down was assimilated to the positive values of leisure, patience and a steady pace of work, and (ii) social comparisons of self with others. Well‐being in the context of age‐related symptoms was achieved explicitly through tenacious self‐monitoring and self‐management of physical and cognitive effort, and implicitly through minimizing or distancing of symptoms. The implicit strategies suggest a reorganization of subjectivity. The Discussion addresses the problems of inferring implicit strategies, and psychological processes specific to the experience of ageing.