Life Satisfaction

I.  Self: The Core of Development

                  A.  Self-Schemas and Identity Process Theory

               1.    The study of self, as it evolves with age and experience, is usually divided into various facets or components, such as self-concept, self-schemas, and self-esteem.

               a)  Research in identity process theory, building self-schemas through identity assimilation and identity accommodation, indicates that a balance between the two creates the greatest life satisfaction.

          b)   The study of self-concept is to consider particular areas of self, such as academic self-concept and social self-concept.

                B.   Self-Esteem

            1.  The evaluation of whether one is satisfied with his or her sense of self, one’s self-esteem, is often shaped by outside influences.

                ( Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live)

                           C.   Self-Efficacy           

             1.   Self-efficacy, one’s personal belief about how successful or effective one can be in a particular area of life, often influences achievement motivation and life satisfaction.

               D.   Possible Selves

              1. Young adults often display the grandest, most unrealistic ideal selves (hoped-for possible self), while older adults often focus both their ideal and feared selves (worst possible self) on physical characteristics.

                E.    Self-Actualization

              1.   Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a pathway that

    a)  Leads from deficiencies (physiological, security, affiliation, and esteem needs)

          II.  Wisdom: Meaningful Development

               A. Wisdom as Advanced Cognition

                1.  Wisdom as Theories of postformal operations, such as postformal levels, postformal orders of hierarchical complexity, and postformal complex thought, present wisdom as advanced cognition that can manage conflicting systems, paradoxes, and uncertainties.

               B.  Balancing Cognition and Action

                1. Sternberg described tacit knowledge as the action-oriented knowledge we gain informally in life that guides us toward our personally valued goals.

               2.  Combining wise thoughts with behaviors, Sternberg’s balance theory of wisdom uses tacit knowledge to find a balance between internal, interpersonal, cultural, and societal needs when trying to solve a messy problem with many unknown pieces.

                C.   Wisdom as Expertise in Life

                 1.   Baltes’ model of wisdom

               a)  The expertise in resolving major life dilemmas

                 2.   Wisdom is not age related among adults

                 D. Wisdom as the Ultimate Stage of Development

                  1. Wisdom can be viewed as the ultimate stage in human development

                  2.  synthesizing the most mature level of development in the areas of: 

Identity

Self

Moral reasoning

Faith

Postformal operations

tacit knowledge

life expertise

             III.  Subjective Well-Being

                    A. Life Satisfaction

                    1.    Subjective well-being

              a)   A psychological term for happiness, pleasant feelings, and generally living well.

               b)  Usually measured in terms of life satisfaction (cognitive component).

                    2.   Life satisfaction usually increases with age and is strongly                associated with higher levels of extraversion and lower levels                 of neuroticism.  

              IV.  Regrets

             1.  Regrets;ingering, negative emotions including self-blame and              disappointment over thoughts, actions, or inaction, in a               situation that, later in hindsight, we wish we had handled               differently.

                             2. Regrets that cannot be readdressed in some way are often                         more difficult emotionally. 

               V.   Reflections

                   A.Personal Lessons Learned

                      1.    You’re Exceptional (Individual and Intraindividual   Differences)

                      2.  Take Care of your Health

                      3.  Use it or Lose it

                      4.   Value Other People

                      5.  Find Meaningful Work or Activities

                       6. Practice Good Coping Skills

                       7.  Aging Happens, Ready or Not

                   B. Future Directions

                       1. One shift that will continue to have beneficial outcomes for the field is the move away from categorizing adults by age-related, linear stage progressions, and moving toward a better understanding of individual and intraindividual differences and the dynamic nature of modern adulthood.