A large portion of research on the elderly focuses on the deficits accompanying old age. However, there are many exemplars of individuals in late adulthood who appear to be productive and thriving. It is interesting to ask why many elderly individuals can decline and deteriorate while others appear to age well, even flourish? How can one flourish or live in an optimal state, in old age? One hundred and sixty-five (165) community-dwelling older adults from Cebu, Philippines participated in a survey exploring relatively stable factors such as their financial conditions, living arrangements, medical conditions, as well as personality variables such as individual agency and coping styles. Their social identity as an elderly and how they feel about it were also examined. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to look into which of these relatively stable factors predict flourishing among the elderly. Existing measures of flourishing—Flourishing Scale and Flourish Index were utilized for this study and based on the participants’ scores, it would appear that they were generally flourishing. SEM analysis revealed that the factors that appeared to be important for the participants to flourish are high levels of individual agency, resilient coping style, and satisfaction with finances. More importantly, positive views of aging are essential as one transitions to old age and categorizes the self as an elderly. These positive views of aging appear to allow one to take on a positive elderly social identity that appears to be a key to flourishing.

Authors:
Rowena Mende, University of the Philippines Cebu, Philippines

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Rowena Mende is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of the Philippines Cebu. She joined UP Cebu in 2001 as a member of the faculty and has sat in various administrative positions for several years, from 2011 to 2021.

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