Percepções de envelhecimento

: percursos imaginados de velhice

Abstract

The expectations that people create in respect to their future seem to have repercussions on the attitudes and behaviors that they develop at the present. In this research, assuming an interpretative model of research and using qualitative methodology, an attempt was made to explore the expectations that male Portuguese indivduals, not widows, who by their chronological age (60-65 years) are in imminence to be labeled as “elders” by the society, have in regard to their process of aging. As a secondary objective, there was made an attempt to understand if there are differences in this matter between participants with different educational levels. A sample of 16 participants with the already mentioned characteristics, living in their homes, with different levels of education, was recruited. Data collection was performed using focus groups method and qualitative data analysis was done with the help of NVivo8, a computer program which facilitates this phase of the process. This study enabled the access to points of view that male subjects in the considered age group have in respect to the general aging process and to considerations, concerns and hopes that they produce relatively to their individual trajectory of aging. The results point, among other things, to the fact that individuals with these ages do not feel elderly and do not think much about their future trajectory of aging, despite they consider that the aging process may bring some bad changes that that might challenge their well-being. The perceptions and expectations tended to be more favorable to the self than to the other people and have emotional and behavioral consequences. The results also seem to corroborate the hypothesis that a higher education level is associated with greater optimism in the way aging process is seen.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Manuel Fonseca (Supervisor)