Rasgos de personalidad, emociones y experiencia temporalcontribución sobre la resistencia psicológica en la vejez avanzada

Resumen

The aim of this Thesis is to explore a part of the Psychological resilience phenomenon in order to explain why older people are not depressed or dissatisfied with their aging process, despite having to cope with chronic illnesses and disabilities, the loss of friends and relatives or day-to-day challenges. This phenomenon is conceptualized as the maintenance or recovery of health and wellbeing in the face of the accumulation of adverse circumstances in old age. It is a dynamic process resulting from the action of multiple protective factors. As people grow older, they appear to draw upon internal and external resources that impede any changes in their levels of satisfaction. Amongst them, this Thesis focuses on the analysis of personality traits, emotions and the perception of time in advanced old age as a means to attain greater quality of life, as well as addressing the possible differences in these three factors linked to age and gender. The study involved a representative sample of 400 very old people living in the community in Salamanca (Spain). The NEO-FFI inventory; the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were applied. Questions were also asked about the frequency of present, past and future thoughts, optimism towards the future, time perspective and subjective health status. The results show a personality profile characterised by low levels in most personality traits and Neuroticism as the only factor predicting satisfaction and self-perceived health in advanced old age. Spanish people over 75 experience more positive than negative affect. Emotional wellbeing positively predicts satisfaction with life and subjective health in the very old. Very old people think more about the present, believe they still have a fair amount of time left and have few plans for the future. There is no unanimity on the perceived passage of time or on optimism towards the future. Temporal experience does not influence wellbeing or subjective health in advanced old age. This Thesis reinforces the need to continue the line of research on Psychological Resilience in old age and it opens pathways to develop intervention programs promoting the variables that reinforce such Resilience in the later stages of life.