Peggy Johnson's Eight Stages Of Development In Older Adulthood

Assignment #4: Case Study Analysis
Critical and Theoretical Analysis Older Adulthood At an early age Patricia (Peggy) Johnson committed to an identity that she felt fit in with societal expectations. By the time she emerged into adulthood, she knew that her desire was to marry her first love as well as to start a family. She did this immediately following her high school graduation since it was the identity that she idealized. Her self-constructed internal schema of her identity was influenced by the absence of her mother. For this reason, she believes that she did not truly know who she was until middle adulthood. In older adulthood, she views this incongruence in her identity as the primary motivator that allowed her to discover her
Peggy is currently in the final stage: ego integrity versus despair. The primary goal is to accept one’s mortality and achieve wisdom and perspective (Hooyman, 2011). If an individual fails to achieve the goals of this stage, they may face a state of despair as they attempt to come to grips with death. Peggy’s father passed when she was in her late seventies. This critical event allowed her to view life in a different manner. Prior to his passing, she did not allow herself to think about the meaning of her death because of the anxiety that it brought her. His passing forced her to confront her fear of death as well as come to terms with her
With the exception to her recent Scoliosis diagnosis, she managed to avoid disabling chronic health issues. Even so, this diagnosis is not one that has significantly altered the quality of her life. While this health issue forced her to change some of her activities, she found new hobbies to engage in as a means of replacing what she lost. Furthermore, her cognitive abilities remain sharp and her ability to cope with her daily environment is tremendous. Early gerontology studies focussed on defining and measuring successful aging. According to this model, Peggy’s high cognitive abilities, physical function, and her involvement in society are contributing factors to her success in aging (Hooyman, 2011). Her ability to age successfully is attributed to the lifestyle she adopted in adulthood. Health and fitness were of great importance to her. Furthermore, she maintains her cognitive functioning by reading and doing different types of puzzles every day. Because of her high levels of self efficacy, she never allowed herself to dwell on the physical changes that occur with aging. Rather, she learned to value her wisdom and competence over physical achievements. This resilience allowed for her to cope with the physical changes as well as find value and positivity with