Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T17:21:56.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Happy, stable and contented: accomplished ageing in the imagined futures of young New Zealanders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2009

LESLEY G. PATTERSON ,
KATHERINE E. FORBES  and
ROBIN M. PEACE
LESLEY G. PATTERSON
Affiliation:
Sociology Programme, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
KATHERINE E. FORBES
Affiliation:
Sociology Programme, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
ROBIN M. PEACE
Affiliation:
Politics Programme, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In imagining how their lives might turn out, 100 young New Zealanders aged between 16 and 18 years wrote descriptions of their future lifecourse. Their descriptions of themselves at the nominal age of 80 years form the basis of the research reported in this paper. For these young people, ageing and old age are understood as accomplishments in the context of an imagined lifecourse. They see personal ageing as shaped by a common temporal ordering of life events that ensures material security, financial success, and an enduring intimate relationship. In imagining themselves aged 80 years, three key themes that constitute a discourse of ‘accomplished ageing’ were identified: the experience of old age would be contingent on achievements throughout the lifecourse; old age would be a time for harvest; and while people may look old they can continue to ‘be’ young. Although their images of bodily appearance included some negative stereotypes of old age, appearance and bodily function were understood as amenable to life-long self-management. The young people imagined themselves as life-long active agents, and framed a positive image and homogeneous social identity for older people. The ‘accomplished ageing’ discourse has implications for how ageing is understood by young people. In particular, the social identity that accomplished ageing implies may shape how they relate to those who do not accomplish ageing in the imagined optimistic and homogeneous way.

Keywords

imagined futuresyoung peoplelifecourseaccomplished ageing
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , April 2009 , pp. 431 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, M. 1999. The seductiveness of agelessness. Ageing & Society, 19, 3, 301–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, U. and Beck-Gernsheim, E. 2002. Authors' preface. In Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and its Social and Political Consequences. Sage, London, xx–xxv.Google Scholar
Biggs, S. 1997. Choosing not to be old? Masks, bodies and identity management in later life. Ageing & Society, 17, 5, 553–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaiklock, A. J., Kiro, C. A., Belgrave, M., Low, W., Davenport, E. and Hassall, I. B. 2002. When the Invisible Hand Rocks the Cradle: New Zealand Children in a Time of Change. Report 93, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, Italy.Google Scholar
Blunk, E. M. and Williams, S. W. 1997. The effects of curriculum on preschool children's perceptions of the elderly. Educational Gerontology, 23, 3, 233–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, H. and Devadason, R. 2008. Fractured transitions: young adults' pathways into contemporary labour markets. Sociology, 42, 1, 119–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulbeck, C. 2005 a. Schemes and dreams: young Australians imagine their future. Hecate, 31, 1, 73–84.Google Scholar
Bulbeck, C. 2005 b. ‘Women are exploited way too often’: feminist rhetorics at the end of equality. Australian Feminist Studies, 20, 46, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burr, V. 2003. Social Constructionism. Second edition, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Carrigan, M. and Szmigin, I. 2000. Advertising in an ageing society. Ageing & Society, 20, 2, 217–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheyne, C. and O'Brien, M. and Belgrave, M. 1997. Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. Oxford University Press, Auckland.Google Scholar
Clegg, S. 1993. Narrative power and social theory. In Mumby, D. (ed.) Narrative and Social Control: Critical Perspectives. Sage, Newbury Park, California, 15–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, J. and Glasgow, K. 2006. Positive ageing: a critical analysis. Policy Quarterly, 2, 4, 21–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denzin, N. K. 1992. Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Studies: The Politics of Interpretation. Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Featherstone, M. and Hepworth, M. 1989. Ageing and old age: reflections on the postmodern lifecourse. In Bytheway, B., Kiel, T., Allat, P. and Bryman, A. (eds) Becoming and Being Old. Sage, London, 143–57.Google Scholar
Featherstone, M. and Wernick, A. 1995. Introduction. In Featherstone, M. and Wernick, A. (eds) Images of Ageing: Cultural Representations of Later Life. Routledge, London, 1–15.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. 1992. The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2000. Cultures of Ageing: Self, Citizen and the Body. Pearson Education, Harlow, Essex, UK.Google Scholar
Gordon, T., Holland, J., Lahelma, E. and Thomson, R. 2005. Imagining gendered adulthood: anxiety, ambivalence, avoidance and anticipation. European Journal of Women's Studies, 12, 1, 83–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gullette, M. 2004. Aged by Culture. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Hacking, I. 1986. Making up people. In Heller, T., Sosna, M. and Wellbery, D. (eds) Reconstructing Individualism: Autonomy, Individuality and the Self in Western Thought. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 222–36.Google Scholar
Halliwell, E. and Dittmar, H. 2003. A qualitative investigation of women's and men's body image concerns and their attitudes toward aging. Sex Roles, 49, 11, 675–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holstein, M. and Minkler, M. 2003. Self, society and the ‘new gerontology’. The Gerontologist, 43, 6, 787–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hummert, M. L., Garstka, T. A., Shaner, J. L. and Strahm, S. 1994. Stereotypes of the elderly held by young, middle-aged, and elderly adults. Journal of Gerontology, 49, 5, 240–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelsey, J. 1995. The New Zealand Experiment: A World Model for Structural Adjustment? Auckland University Press with Bridget Williams Books, Auckland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, E.-M., Rakoczy, K. and Staudinger, U. M. 2004. The portrayal of older people in prime time television series: the match with gerontological evidence. Ageing & Society, 24, 4, 531–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimuna, S. R., Knox, D. and Zusman, M. 2005. College students' perceptions about older people and aging. Educational Gerontology, 31, 7, 563–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kite, M. E. and Johnson, B. T. 1988. Attitudes toward older and younger adults: a meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 3, 3, 233–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laditka, S. B., Fischer, M., Laditka, J. N. and Segal, D. R. 2004. Attitudes about aging and gender among young, middle age, and older college-based students. Educational Gerontology, 30, 5, 403–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauzen, M. M. and Dozier, D. M. 2005. Maintaining the double standard: portrayals of age and gender in popular films. Sex Roles, 52, 7, 437–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laz, C. 2003. Age embodied. Journal of Aging Studies, 17, 4, 503–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichtenstein, M. J., Pruski, L. A., Marshall, C. E., Blalock, C. L., Lee, S. and Plaetke, R. 2003. Sentence completion to assess children's views about aging. The Gerontologist, 43, 6, 839–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, J. H., Ng, S. H., Loong, C., Gee, S. and Weatherall, A. 2003. Cultural stereotypes and social representations of elders from Chinese and European perspectives. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 18, 2, 149–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mansfield, N. 2000. Subjectivity: Theories of the Self from Freud to Haraway. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.Google Scholar
Marks, G. N. 2005. Issues in the school-to-work transition: evidence from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Journal of Sociology, 41, 4, 363–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConatha, J. T., Schnell, F., Volkwein, K., Riley, L. and Leach, E. 2003. Attitudes toward aging: a comparative analysis of young adults from the United States and Germany. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 57, 3, 203–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Middlecamp, M. and Gross, D. 2002. Intergenerational daycare and preschoolers' attitudes about aging. Educational Gerontology, 28, 4, 271–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montepare, J. M. and Zebrowitz, L. A. 2002. A social-developmental view of ageism. In Nelson, T. D. (ed.) Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 77–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosher-Ashley, P. M. and Ball, P. 1999. Attitudes of college students toward elderly persons and their perceptions of themselves at age 75. Educational Gerontology, 25, 1, 89–102.Google Scholar
Nelson, T. D. 2005. Ageism: prejudice against our feared future self. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 2, 207–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New Zealand Ministry of Education 2006. Education Statistics of New Zealand 2006. Ministry of Education, Wellington. Available online at http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ece/2507/ed_stats_nz_06 [Accessed 12 July 2008].Google Scholar
New Zealand Ministry of Education 2007. Retention of Students in Senior Secondary Schools. Ministry of Education, Wellington. Available online at http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/technical_info/indicator_definition/student_participation/tertiary_education/3945 [Accessed 12 July 2008].Google Scholar
New Zealand Ministry of Education 2008. Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook. Ministry of Education, Wellington. Available online at: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/resourcinghandbook [Accessed 12 July 2008].Google Scholar
Newman, S., Faux, R. and Larimer, B. 1997. Children's views on aging: their attitudes and values. The Gerontologist, 37, 3, 412–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmore, E. B. 1982. Attitudes toward the aged: what we know and need to know. Research on Aging, 4, 3, 333–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, L., Peace, R., Campbell, B. and Parker, C. 2007. Lifelines: Young New Zealanders Imagine Family, Friends and Relationships Across their Life-course. Report 20/07, Families Commission, Wellington. Available online at: http://www.familiescommission.govt.nz/files/blueskies-patterson.pdf [Accessed 8 October 2008].Google Scholar
Peters, M. 1997. Neo-liberalism, welfare dependency and the moral construction of poverty in New Zealand. New Zealand Sociology, 12, 1, 1–34.Google Scholar
Phoenix, C. and Sparkes, A. C. 2006 a. Young athletic bodies and narrative maps of aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 20, 2, 107–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phoenix, C. and Sparkes, A. C. 2006 b. Keeping it in the family: narrative maps of ageing and young athletes' perceptions of their futures. Ageing & Society, 26, 4, 631–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phoenix, C., Smith, B. and Sparkes, A. C. 2007. Experiences and expectations of biographical time among young athletes: a life course perspective. Time and Society, 16, 2–3. 231–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plummer, K. 1995. Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Pocock, B. 2005. Youthful aspirations meet unbending cultures? How young Australians plan to organise their jobs, care and housework. Australian Feminist Studies, 20, 46, 91–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, J. and Wetherell, M. 1987. Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Riessman, C. K. 2008. Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Sage, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J., Spencer, L. and O'Connor, W. 2003. Carrying out qualitative analysis. In Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (eds) Qualitative Research Practice. Sage, London, 219–62.Google Scholar
Robinson, T. and Anderson, C. 2006. Older characters in children's animated television programs: a content analysis of their portrayal. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 50, 2, 287–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, T., Callister, M., Magoffin, D. and Moore, J. 2007. The portrayal of older characters in Disney animated films. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 3, 203–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, J. W. and Kahn, R. L. 1998. Successful Aging. Pantheon, New York.Google ScholarPubMed
Rudman, D. L. 2006. Shaping the active, autonomous and responsible modern retiree: an analysis of discursive technologies and their links with neo-liberal political rationality. Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 181–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwalbach, E. and Kiernan, S. 2002. Effects of an intergenerational friendly visit program on the attitudes of fourth graders toward elders. Educational Gerontology, 28, 3, 175–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, T., Minichiello, V. and Browning, C. 1998. Secondary school students' knowledge of and attitudes towards older people: does an education intervention programme make a difference? Ageing & Society, 18, 2, 167–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, J. K. and Deemer, D. K. 2000. The problem of criteria in the age of relativism. In Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage, London, 877–96.Google Scholar
South, S. J., Baumer, E. P. and Lutz, A. 2003. Interpreting community effects on youth educational attainment. Youth Society, 35, 1, 3–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St John, S. 1999. Superannuation: where angels fear to tread. In Dalziel, P., Boston, J. and St John, S. (eds) Redesigning the Welfare State in New Zealand: Problems, Policies, Prospects. Oxford University Press, Auckland, 278–98.Google Scholar
Tulle-Winton, E. 1999. Growing old and resistance: towards a new cultural economy of old age? Ageing & Society, 19, 3, 281–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughan, K. and Roberts, J. 2007. Developing a ‘productive’ account of young people's transition perspectives. Journal of Education and Work, 20, 2, 91–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar