TY - JOUR
T1 - The Fourth Age in Prospect
AU - Ekerdt, David J.
AU - Adamson, Erin
AU - Hasmanovamarhankova, Jaroslava
AU - Chin, David C.W.
AU - Fung, Helene H.
AU - Liou, Shyhnan
AU - Morgan, Cyleen A.
AU - Lessenich, Stephan
AU - Munch, Anne
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Objectives: Higgs and Gilleard (2015) have uniquely theorized the fourth age as a "social imaginary"of deep old age that blends notions of frailty, abjection, and the moral relations of care. This report evaluates the coherence and reach of the fourth-age imaginary among older adults in relative good health. Methods: In a qualitative design and within samples at 5 sites (in Czechia, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States), 138 adults aged 70+ and still living independently discussed what it would mean to be "not independent"in later life. Replies referenced other people in general, specific people, and one's own actual or potential experience. Results: Pooled across sites, the views of our participants confirm the theorized features of the social imaginary. Participants spoke readily of gateway infirmities heralding frailty and of frailty's abjection; expressed dread and abhorrence of dependence, some saying that death would be preferable; and were anxious about nursing homes and about burdening others with an obligation to care for them. Discussion: The bleak but formidable reputation of the fourth age impinges on those living in the third. The consonant expression of fourth-age features among older adults on 3 continents supports Gilleard and Higgs's claim that the fourth-age imaginary "contains a universal ontological quality"owing to human corporeality and the senescence to which it is subject. Fourth-age studies that document the lived experience of frailty and dependence have the potential to undermine the imaginary and furnish new narratives for facing the future.
AB - Objectives: Higgs and Gilleard (2015) have uniquely theorized the fourth age as a "social imaginary"of deep old age that blends notions of frailty, abjection, and the moral relations of care. This report evaluates the coherence and reach of the fourth-age imaginary among older adults in relative good health. Methods: In a qualitative design and within samples at 5 sites (in Czechia, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States), 138 adults aged 70+ and still living independently discussed what it would mean to be "not independent"in later life. Replies referenced other people in general, specific people, and one's own actual or potential experience. Results: Pooled across sites, the views of our participants confirm the theorized features of the social imaginary. Participants spoke readily of gateway infirmities heralding frailty and of frailty's abjection; expressed dread and abhorrence of dependence, some saying that death would be preferable; and were anxious about nursing homes and about burdening others with an obligation to care for them. Discussion: The bleak but formidable reputation of the fourth age impinges on those living in the third. The consonant expression of fourth-age features among older adults on 3 continents supports Gilleard and Higgs's claim that the fourth-age imaginary "contains a universal ontological quality"owing to human corporeality and the senescence to which it is subject. Fourth-age studies that document the lived experience of frailty and dependence have the potential to undermine the imaginary and furnish new narratives for facing the future.
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbad144
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbad144
M3 - Article
C2 - 37788581
AN - SCOPUS:85180011661
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 78
SP - 2062
EP - 2070
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 12
ER -