Abstract

Objectives

How people adjust their goals is central to adaptation across the lifespan. However, little is known about individual difference characteristics that predict how and why people use different self-regulatory strategies. The present study investigated associations of perceived age-related gains and losses, and their interaction, as predictors of goal adjustment in older adulthood. Furthermore, we examined whether future time perspective (FTP) mediated relationships between awareness of age-related change (AARC) and goal adjustment.

Method

A community-based sample of 408 adults (aged 60–88 years) was recruited via an internet-based research platform. Participants completed questionnaire measures of AARC, FTP, goal disengagement, and goal re-engagement. A flexibility index reflecting tendencies toward use of both goal disengagement and goal re-engagement strategies was also analyzed.

Results

Although AARC-losses was associated with lower goal re-engagement and goal flexibility, this association was weaker among those with higher AARC-gains, indicating AARC-gains may be protective in the relationship between AARC-losses and goal adjustment. The association between AARC and goal adjustment was also shown to be mediated by FTP. Higher AARC-gains was associated with more expansive FTP, which was associated with lower goal disengagement and higher goal re-engagement. On the other hand, higher AARC-losses was associated with more restricted FTP, which was associated with higher goal disengagement and lower goal re-engagement.

Discussion

Results have implications for how we conceptualize the combined effects of age-related gains and losses on developmental outcomes relevant to adaptive aging. Furthermore, perceptions of future time with advancing age may be implicated in processes linking AARC with goal adjustment.

中文翻译：

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对与年龄相关的变化、未来时间的看法以及对老年人目标调整的影响的认识

摘要

目标

人们如何调整他们的目标对于整个生命周期的适应至关重要。然而，对于预测人们如何以及为什么使用不同的自我调节策略的个体差异特征知之甚少。本研究调查了感知到的与年龄相关的收益和损失的关联及其相互作用，作为老年人目标调整的预测因子。此外，我们检查了未来时间视角 (FTP) 是否介导了对年龄相关变化 (AARC) 的认识与目标调整之间的关系。

方法

通过基于互联网的研究平台招募了 408 名成年人（年龄 60-88 岁）的社区样本。参与者完成了 AARC、FTP、目标脱离和目标重新参与的问卷测量。还分析了反映使用目标脱离和目标重新参与策略的趋势的灵活性指数。

结果

尽管 AARC 损失与较低的目标重新参与和目标灵活性相关，但这种关联在 AARC 收益较高的人中较弱，表明 AARC 收益可能对 AARC 损失和目标调整之间的关系具有保护作用。AARC 和目标调整之间的关联也被证明是由 FTP 介导的。更高的 AARC 增益与更广泛的 FTP 相关，这与更低的目标脱离和更高的目标重新参与相关。另一方面，较高的 AARC 损失与更受限制的 FTP 相关，这与更高的目标脱离和更低的目标重新参与相关。

讨论

结果对我们如何概念化与年龄相关的收益和损失对与适应性老龄化相关的发展结果的综合影响具有影响。此外，随着年龄的增长对未来时间的看法可能与将 AARC 与目标调整联系起来的过程有关。