| Description |
xix, 285 pages ; 19 cm |
| Summary |
"The fears of aging have been one long cascading domino effect through the years: twenty year-olds dread thirty; forty year-olds fear fifty; sixty fears seventy, and so it goes. And there is something to worry about, though it isn't what you'd expect: research shows that having a bad attitude toward aging when we're young is associated with poorer health when we're older. These worries tend to peak in midlife; but in Lighter as We Go, Mindy Greenstein and Jimmie Holland show us that, contrary to common wisdom, our sense of well-being actually increases with our age--often even in the presence of illness or disability. For the first time, Greenstein and Holland--on a joint venture between an 85 year-old and a fifty year-old--explore positive psychology concepts of character strengths and virtues to unveil how and why, through the course of a lifetime, we learn who we are as we go. Drawing from the authors' own personal, intergenerational friendship, as well as a broad array of research from many different areas--including social psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, humanities, psychiatry, and gerontology--Lighter as We Go introduces compassion, justice, community, and culture to help calm our cascading fears of aging"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction -- pt. 1. Character, character strength, and continuity over time -- The Oak Tree and the U-Bend: age, well-being, and the experience of me'ness -- A look at the grownup years: early, middle, and later adulthood -- Character strengths and virtues -- Older age in the olden days: a brief history of aging in the western world -- pt. 2. The virtues -- The virtue of transcendence: beyond the self -- The underappreciated virtue of humor: you can't spell joy without the oy -- The virtues of humanity and social justice: do unto others -- The virtue of courage: if I only had the nerve -- The virtue of wisdom: knowing what we don't know -- The virtue of temperance: moderation in all things (almost) -- The virtue of passing on to the next generation: the bridge between past and future -- pt. 3. Putting the virtues to work -- When older doesn't feel lighter: loneliness and social isolation -- The virtue of appreciating the cycle of life in elders -- Appendix: Vintage Readers Book Club Readings. |
| Subject |
Aging -- Social aspects.
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Aging -- Psychological aspects.
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Well-being -- Age factors.
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Middle age -- Psychological aspects.
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Middle age -- Social aspects.
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Older people -- Psychology.
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PSYCHOLOGY -- Developmental -- Lifespan Development.
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PSYCHOLOGY -- Developmental -- General.
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PSYCHOLOGY -- Social Psychology.
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Aging -- Psychological aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00800327
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Aging -- Social aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00800348
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Middle age -- Psychological aspects.
(OCoLC)fst01020359
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Middle age -- Social aspects.
(OCoLC)fst01020363
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Older people -- Psychology.
(OCoLC)fst01199124
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Well-being -- Age factors.
(OCoLC)fst01765868
|
| Added Author |
Holland, Jimmie C.
|
| ISBN |
9780199360956 (hardback) |
|
0199360952 (hardback) |
| Standard No. |
99961147036 |
|
