Table Of ContentCommittee on Aging Frontiers in Social Psychology, Personality, and
Adult Developmental Psychology
Laura L. Carstensen and Christine R. Hartel, Editors
Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
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This study was supported by Contract No. N01-0D-4-2139 between the National
Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. Any opinions, findings,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
When I’m 64 / Laura L. Carstensen and Christine R. Hartel, editors.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-309-10064-X (pbk. book) — ISBN 0-309-65508-0 (pdfs) 1. Aging—
Psychological aspects. 2. Aging—Social aspects. 3. Older people—United States. I.
Title: When I am sixty-four. II. Carstensen, Laura L. III. Hartel, Christine R., 1947-
BF724.55.A35W54 2006
155.67—dc22
2005033689
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Copyright 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2006). When I’m 64. Committee
on Aging Frontiers in Social Psychology, Personality, and Adult Developmental
Psychology. Laura L. Carstensen and Christine R. Hartel, Editors. Board on Behav-
ioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences
and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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COMMITTEE ON AGING FRONTIERS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY,
PERSONALITY, AND ADULT DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
LAURA L. CARSTENSEN (Chair), Department of Psychology, Stanford
University
FREDDA BLANCHARD-FIELDS, School of Psychology, Georgia
Institute of Technology
MARGARET GATZ, Department of Psychology, University of Southern
California
TODD F. HEATHERTON, Department of Psychological and Brain
Sciences, Dartmouth College
GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN, Department of Social and Decision Sciences,
Carnegie Mellon University
DENISE C. PARK, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
LAWRENCE A. PERVIN, Department of Psychology (emeritus), Rutgers
University
RICHARD E. PETTY, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University
ILENE C. SIEGLER, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Duke UniversityMedical Center
LINDA J. WAITE, Department of Sociology, University of Chicago
KEITH E. WHITFIELD, Department of Behavioral Health, Pennsylvania
State University
CHRISTINE R. HARTEL, Study Director
TRACY G. MYERS, Study Director (until March 2004)
JESSICA G. MARTINEZ, Senior Program Assistant
v
BOARD ON BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE,
AND SENSORY SCIENCES
ANNE C. PETERSEN (Chair), W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI
LINDA MARIE BURTON, Center for Human Development and Family
Research, Pennsylvania State University
STEPHEN J. CECI, Department of Human Development, Cornell
University
EUGENE K. EMORY, Department of Psychology, Emory University
ROCHEL GELMAN, Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University
ANTHONY W. JACKSON, The Asia Society, Los Angeles, CA
PETER LENNIE, Center for Neural Science, New York University
MARCIA C. LINN, Graduate School of Education, University of
California at Berkeley
ELISSA L. NEWPORT, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences,
University of Rochester
CHARLES R. PLOTT, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences,
California Institute of Technology
MICHAEL L. RUTTER, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London
ARNOLD SAMEROFF, Center for Human Growth and Development,
University of Michigan
JAMES W. STIGLER, Department of Psychology, University of
California at Los Angeles
JOHN A. SWETS, BBN Technologies, Cambridge, MA
RICHARD F. THOMPSON, Neuroscience Program, University of
Southern California
WILLIAM A. YOST, Office of Research and the Graduate School,
Loyola University Chicago
CHRISTINE R. HARTEL, Board Director
vi
Contents
Preface ix
Executive Summary 1
PART ONE: COMMITTEE REPORT
1 Overview 9
2 The Social Side of Human Aging 19
3 Motivation and Behavioral Change 34
4 Socioemotional Influences on Decision Making:
The Challenge of Choice 54
5 Social Engagement and Cognition 68
6 Opportunities Lost: The Impact of Stereotypes on
Self and Others 80
References 92
PART TWO: BACKGROUND PAPERS
Initiatives to Motivate Change: A Review of Theory and
Practice and Their Implications for Older Adults 121
Alexander J. Rothman
A Review of Decision-Making Processes: Weighing the Risks and
Benefits of Aging 145
Mara Mather
vii
viii CONTENTS
A Social Psychological Perspective on the Stigmatization
of Older Adults 174
Jennifer A. Richeson and J. Nicole Shelton
Measuring Psychological Mechanisms 209
Committee on Aging Frontiers in Social Psychology,
Personality, and Adult Developmental Psychology
Measurement: Aging and the Psychology of Self-Report 219
Norbert Schwarz
Optimizing Brief Assessments in Research on the Psychology
of Aging: A Pragmatic Approach to Self-Report Measurement 231
Jon A. Krosnick, Allyson L. Holbrook, and Penny S. Visser
Utility of Brain Imaging Methods in Research on Aging 240
Christine R. Hartel and Randy L. Buckner
Research Infrastructure 247
Committee on Aging Frontiers in Social Psychology,
Personality, and Adult Developmental Psychology
APPENDIX: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
and Contributors 251
INDEX 259
Preface
Late in 2002 staff of the Behavioral and Social Research Program of the
National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Research Council
(NRC) to explore research opportunities in social psychology, personality,
and adult developmental psychology in order to assist the NIA in develop-
ing a long-term research agenda in these areas. The NRC, through the
Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, created the Commit-
tee on Aging Frontiers in Social Psychology, Personality, and Adult Devel-
opmental Psychology, which I had the honor of chairing, to undertake this
task.
Committee members included clinical, personality, social, and life-span
developmental psychologists, as well as a sociologist and an economist.
Some committee members hold primary expertise in aging; others represent
different but related fields. As we educated each other about the broad
range of work relevant to our charge it became clear that this was an ideal
mix. The committee held four meetings, at which it identified a variety of
possible research opportunities and considered the promise of each. As the
committee considered priorities, it invited the input of a number of other
specialists in vital research areas at a committee-sponsored workshop in
September 2003. This made possible an even deeper discussion of the more
promising areas of opportunity. Through such consultation and private
deliberation, the committee arrived at consensus in giving its recommenda-
tions to the NIA. The committee believes it has identified key areas of
ix
