Monika Ardelt

Inner-City Parents Under Economic Pressure: Perspectives on the Strategies of Parenting.

The historical record of industrial societies documents the widespread consequences of economic hard times for families and children, including greater risks of marital breakdown, child abuse, and neglect (Eckenrode & Gore, 1990). These hardships are commonly linked to the recessions and depressions of economic cycles, but they also stem from an expanding economic inequality between families at opposite ends of the class structure. In the United States, this gap has significantly increased in recent decades, placing a large number of lower income families in more desperate straits. Socioeconomic trends over the 1980s markedly reduced the size of the middle class (Duncan, Smeeding, & Rodgers, 1991) and placed lower income families under mounting economic pressures as their standard of living lost ground relative to that of upper income households (Bradbury, 1990). Featured among these declines are the younger heads of households and single parents. However, no families have experienced more disadvantages from this change than younger African American and European American families who are concentrated in the impoverished neighborhoods of Americas inner cities (Jencks & Peterson, 1991; Wilson, 1987). Similar to inner-city families during depression eras of plummeting income and soaring hardship (Elder, 1974), these families face stark necessities with limited options. What are the consequences of this rising level of economic pressure for parenting among inner-city families? Two complementary approaches are relevant to an investigation of this question. One approach traces the effect of macro, sociodemographic and economic changes on families through their impact on characteristics of the neighborhoods in which the families and children reside (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand, 1993). These characteristics include social composition, cohesion, and control, as well as the presence of service institutions and family networks. The other approach views parents and children as actors within the correlated constraints and options of their inner-city neighborhoods. This approach focuses on the within-neighborhood heterogeneity of families, as expressed in financial and psychological resources, perceptions of neighborhood, and family management strategies (Eccles et al., 1992; Furstenberg, 1993; Walker & Furstenberg, 1994). The central questions of this approach focus on modes of family adaptation, their variations and consequences. Both of these approaches are concerned with the extent to which families select themselves into the places where they live (Tienda, 1991). This study follows the second approach in addressing the process by which economic hardship and pressures adversely affect both the emotional health and parenting behaviors of inner-city African American and European American parents. Building upon the insights of an ethnographic study of inner-city parenting in Philadelphia (Furstenberg, 1993), a team of senior researchers, working in conjunction with their membership in the MacArthur Network on Successful Adolescent Development in High-Risk Settings; (see Jessor, 1993), developed survey instruments to investigate variations in parenting among inner-city neighborhoods. These instruments were then administered to a sample of nearly 500 Philadelphia families of lower middle-class to lower lower-class status with a young adolescent (ages 11 to 15) in the household. In this study we test the hypotheses (a) that parental emotional distress represents an important bridge between family economic hardship and parental ineffectiveness in beliefs and actions, (b) that the process varies by family structure and social emotional support, and (c) that parents with a sense of efficacy tend to engage in family strategies that promote developmental opportunities and minimize risks. Emotional distress refers to a variety of uncomfortable subjective states, from forms of malaise to anxiety and depressed affect (Mirowsky & Ross, 1989). …

Empirical Assessment of a Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale

Although wisdom is thought to be a strong predictor for many attributes of aging well, the concept of wisdom still lacks a comprehensive, directly testable scale. Quantitative and qualitative interviews with a sample of 180 older adults (age 52-plus) were conducted to develop a three-dimensional wisdom scale (3D-WS) and to test its validity and reliability. Wisdom was operationalized and measured as a latent variable with cognitive, reflective, and affective effect indicators. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire, which included 114 items from existing scales and 18 newly developed items to assess the three dimensions of wisdom. The final version of the 3D-WS consists of 14 items for the cognitive, 12 for the reflective, and 13 for the affective component of wisdom. Results indicate that the 3D-WS can be considered a reliable and valid instrument and a promising measure of the latent variable wisdom in large, standardized surveys of older populations.

Wisdom as Expert Knowledge System: A Critical Review of a Contemporary Operationalization of an Ancient Concept

Paul B. Baltes and his colleagues, who are among the most prominent contemporary wisdom researchers, define wisdom as ‘expert knowledge in the domain fundamental pragmatics of life.’ By contrast, this article argues that the definition, operationalization, and measurement of wisdom should not be reduced to expertise and that the term wisdom should be reserved for wise persons rather than expert knowledge. In fact, evidence from their research confirms that Baltes et al. primarily assess expert or intellectual knowledge in the wisdom domain ‘fundamental pragmatics of life’ rather than how wise people are. As an alternative, a model of wisdom is presented that defines, operationalizes, and measures wisdom as an integration of cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics.

Families Under Economic Pressure

Within a context of increasing economic pressure in rural America, this study assesses family responses to this change and their consequences from the perspective of the household economy in middle-class families. It draws on the findings of largely separate fields of inquiry, including those on income level and loss, unemployment, and economic adjustments. Using survey and observational data on two-parent families in a midwestern rural county, the analysis shows that (a) adverse income change increases economic pressures and hardship adaptations in ways that match the effect of income level and exceed the influence of unstable work, (b) economic pressures and adaptations mediate the negative effects of economic adversity on emotional health and family relationships, (c) fathers negativity in the family represents a stronger link between economic conditions and child behavior than does mothers negativity, and (d) economic pressure and fathers negativity increase the risk of aggressive behavior and depressed feelings among boys and girls, especially in the absence of maternal support.

INTELLECTUAL VERSUS WISDOM-RELATED KNOWLEDGE: THE CASE FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEARNING IN THE LATER YEARS OF LIFE

Lifelong learning and continued education are essential for older people who want to stay involved in a rapidly changing world. However, in the later years of life, it may be even more important to acquire the timeless and universal knowledge of wisdom. Whereas intellectual knowledge enables elderly people to stay involved in worldly affairs, wisdom-related knowledge helps them to prepare for the physical and social decline of old age and ultimately their own death. Moreover, while intellectual knowledge tends to decrease with advancing age, the relationship between wisdom and aging is potentially positive, provided that cognitive deterioration does not become pathological. By illustrating the difference between intellectual and wisdom-related knowledge in the areas of goals, approach, range, acquisition, effects on the knower, and relation to aging, it is argued that wisdom rather than intellectual knowledge is crucial for aging well.

Still stable after all these years? Personality stability theory revisited

Costa and McCrae maintain that personality is basically stable after age 30. Other researchers, however, find that personality tends to change over time and that personality stability depends on the stability of the social environment and the instruments used to test personality stability and change. A meta-analysis of 206 personality stability coefficients reported in the literature fails to support personality stability theory. Personality tends to be less stable if the retest interval is large, if age at first measurement is low or over 50, and if a change in individual aspects of personality rather than overall personality is measured. Moreover, studies assessing any of the big five NEO personality traits and studies by Costa, McCrae, and colleagues tend to find higher personality stability coefficients. It is suggested that personality stability and change cannot be studied meaningfully without simultaneously examining stability and change in the social environment.

Antecedents and Effects of Wisdom in Old Age A Longitudinal Perspective on Aging Well

Using longitudinal data on 82 White, California women from the Berkeley Guidance Study, this study examines the relationship between wisdom (defined as a combination of cognitive, reflective, and affective personality qualities) and aging well and explores the early antecedents of wisdom. In structural equation models with latent variables, the social environment of early adulthood has a significant positive influence on wisdom over 40 years later, whereas mature personality characteristics during the early years of life and the quality of one’s childhood exert no enduring effects. Wisdom in the later years has a positive effect on women’s life satisfaction, physical health, and the quality of their family relationships. Hence, wisdom appears to be an important predictor of aging well.

Expert Consensus on Characteristics of Wisdom: A Delphi Method Study

PURPOSE Wisdom has received increasing attention in empirical research in recent years, especially in gerontology and psychology, but consistent definitions of wisdom remain elusive. We sought to better characterize this concept via an expert consensus panel using a 2-phase Delphi method. DESIGN AND METHODS A survey questionnaire comprised 53 Likert scale statements related to the concepts of wisdom, intelligence, and spirituality was developed to determine if and how wisdom was viewed as being distinct from the latter 2 concepts. Of the 57 international wisdom experts contacted by e-mail, 30 completed the Phase 1 survey and 27 also completed the Phase 2 survey. RESULTS In Phase 1, there were significant group differences among the concepts of wisdom, intelligence, and spirituality on 49 of the 53 items rated by the experts. Wisdom differed from intelligence on 46 of these 49 items, whereas wisdom differed from spirituality on 31 items. In Phase 2, we sought to define wisdom further by selecting 12 items based on Phase 1 results. Most experts agreed on many of the suggested characteristics of wisdom-that is, it is uniquely human; a form of advanced cognitive and emotional development that is experience driven; and a personal quality, albeit a rare one, which can be learned, increases with age, can be measured, and is not likely to be enhanced by taking medication. IMPLICATIONS There was considerable agreement among the expert participants on wisdom being a distinct entity and a number of its characteristic qualities. These data should help in designing additional empirical research on wisdom.

The Role of Religion for Hospice Patients and Relatively Healthy Older Adults

As older adults approach the end of life, they frequently experience death anxiety and a decline in subjective well-being that are not always alleviated by increased religious participation. One possible explanation is the differential influences of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity. The present study examined the effects of religious orientation and spiritual activities on subjective well-being and death attitudes among 103 relatively healthy older adults and 19 hospice patients (aged 61 and older). The results of path analyses showed that a sense of purpose in life rather than religiosity had a direct positive effect on subjective well-being and a direct negative effect on death fear after controlling for physical health and demographic characteristics. Intrinsic religiosity had an indirect positive effect on subjective well-being and a strong direct positive effect on approach acceptance of death. Extrinsic religiosity, however, was positively related to death anxiety and, for hospice patients, negatively related to approach acceptance of death.

How Similar are Wise Men and Women? A Comparison Across Two Age Cohorts

Orwoll and Achenbaum (1993) suggest that the path to wisdom might be considerably different for men and women, although a wise person might have integrated the feminine and masculine aspects of wisdom. Using samples of 464 undergraduate college students and 178 older adults (age 52+), univariate and multivariate analyses of variance revealed that wisdom (measured by cognitive, reflective, and affective characteristics) was unrelated to gender. Women, however, tended to score higher on the affective dimension of wisdom than men. By contrast, men tended to outperform women on the cognitive wisdom dimension only among the older cohort. The results might reflect gender-specific socialization practices and changes in those practices for the younger cohort. As predicted, no significant differences between men and women were found in the three dimensions of wisdom among the top 25% of wisdom scorers, suggesting that relatively wise persons have integrated the cognitive and affective dimensions of wisdom.