Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find the theoretical backgrounds on aging and to analyze the characteristics on personality developments or late adulthood. The results of this study were summerized as follows: 1. The study of the aged and the aging process was known as gerontology. Gerontololgy was the multidisciplinary field, the study of the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging. Gerontology, although a recent discipline, was nonetheless one of the most active subfields of developmental psychology. And gerontology has its roots in biological studies of the aging processes and in the psychology of human development. 2. Personality theories concerning the late adulthood were developed by C.G. Jung, Erik Erikson, Robert Butler, Robert Peck and Daniel Levinson. Jung emphasized the growth of personality across the life span. Jung's model focused on the individuals confrontation with death in late adulthood. Also, he described a decrease in sex-typed behavior with aging. Erikson believed the key to harmonious personality growth was the successful resolution of the psychosocial crisis known as integrity versus despair. Peck provided a detailed account of three adjustments required by individuals in their late adulthood, referred to as ago differentiation versus work-role preoccupation, body transcendence versus body preoccupation, and ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation. Butler's concept of the life review proposed that the elderly reminisce about the past as death draws near. Levinson maintained that old age was initiated by a transitional period. The aged person had to define the self in terms of retirement, decreasing physical capacities, and impending death.