Deck 18: Socioemotional Development in Late Adulthood and the End of Life

Question 1

Well-being correlates with lower levels of:

A) neuroticism.
B) extroversion.
C) agreeableness.
D) conscientiousness.

Answer 1

neuroticism.

Question 2

What percentage of U.S. adults report being "absolutely certain" of the existence of God or a similar spiritual entity?

A) Nearly 75%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 90%

Answer 2

Nearly 75%

Question 3

Christopher is an older adult who is described as happy, self-contented, self-centered, laid back, satisfied with what he has, and less preoccupied with productivity. What will Christopher's personality style result in as he ages?

A) He will have a smaller number of friends because of his self-centeredness.
B) He will have a greater connection to family.
C) He will develop a sense of acceptance.
D) He will experience greater despair as he ages because of his lower productivity.

Answer 3

He will develop a sense of acceptance.

Question 4

Which of the Big 5 personality traits does not decline until after age 70?

A) Openness
B) Conscientiousness
C) Agreeableness
D) Extroversion

Question 5

What percentage of U.S. older adults live in rural areas?

A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 35%
D) 50%

Question 6

What message does providing assistance and support to older adults send to them?

A) The message that others need them
B) The message that they are not capable of taking care of themselves
C) The message that they are valued and gives them a sense of belonging
D) The message that there time left is short

Question 7

Jessica is nearing the end of her life. She has spent a lot of time reflecting on past experiences in her life, such as all the different people she has met, and contemplating the meaning of those experiences and their role in shaping her life. She has become more accepting of others and has a higher life satisfaction. What has Jessica done?

A) Jessica has engaged in congruence.
B) Jessica has completed a life review.
C) Jessica has reminisced
D) Jessica has done a cognitive appraisal.

Question 8

In North America, which of the following groups show the highest rates of religious participation?

A) High socioeconomic people of the majority group
B) Low socioeconomic people of the majority group
C) High socioeconomic ethnic minority groups
D) Low socioeconomic ethnic minority groups

Question 9

A comprehensive reflection of past experiences and contemplation of the meaning of those experiences and their role in shaping one's life is called a:

A) life review.
B) reminiscence.
C) cognitive appraisal.
D) congruence.

Question 10

Jessica is a 90-year-old woman who is described as someone who loves sharing stories of her past with her grandchildren. She tells them that she takes credit for only a small part of the wonderful people they are turning out to be. She tells them that she is proud of the fact that she made a difference in the lives of the people she helped while volunteering at her church's homeless shelter and she wants them to continue to follow in her footsteps. What describes Jessica?

A) Jessica spends too much time reminiscing.
B) Jessica is a woman who does not need to do a life review.
C) Jessica is a woman with high subjective age.
D) Jessica is a woman who has reached a sense of ego integrity.

Question 11

Marybeth is an older adult who has quit volunteering at the food pantry she used to spend five hours a week sorting foods. She has stopped going to morning coffee with her friends. She is not called to help at her church as much as she did in the past. What theory explains Marybeth's behavior?

A) Activity theory
B) Continuity theory
C) Disengagement theory
D) Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Question 12

Beverly doesn't spend as much time with her old co-workers or her book club, but she is spending more time with her grandchildren. She has dinner at her daughter's house twice a week and enjoys picking her grandchildren up from school on Wednesdays. What theory of social interaction and elders' psychological functioning is she demonstrating?

A) Activity theory
B) Continuity theory
C) Disengagement theory
D) Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Question 13

Debbie is an older adult who lives in a suburb of Chicago. Based on what we know about the impact of context on a person's life, what can we predict about Debbie's psychosocial development?

A) Debbie will experience social isolation that those in urban areas do not experience.
B) Debbie will be healthier, wealthier, and have a higher rate of life satisfaction.
C) Debbie will have lower self-esteem and life satisfaction.
D) Debbie will have more health problems and difficulty finding social support.

Question 14

In the socioemotional selectivity theory, what function of friendship becomes less important as people age?

A) The emotion-regulating function
B) The companionship function
C) The information sharing function
D) The intimacy function

Question 15

Sylvia is an elderly woman who is unable to care for herself and her family does not have the ability to meet all of her health needs. She has to live in a nursing home. Even though the home is of a high quality, Sylvia is most likely going to experience:

A) a greater sense of control
B) A higher rate of depression and anxiety
C) a sense of integrity
D) a sense of guilt

Question 16

David is an older adult who has a strong sense of religiosity. He prays daily and attends church services every week. He believes that God is in control of his life. Which of the following outcomes would David most likely not experience?

A) Higher sense of self-worth
B) Higher levels of death anxiety
C) Greater life satisfaction
D) Optimism

Question 17

Which of the Big 5 personality traits tends to increase all the way through late adulthood?

A) Extroversion
B) Openness
C) Agreeableness
D) Conscientiousness

Question 18

Ego integrity relies on all of the following except:

A) inductive reasoning.
B) complexity and maturity in moral judgment and thinking style.
C) tolerance for ambiguity.
D) dialectical reasoning.

Question 19

Denise retired from her job as a librarian in her local school district. She loved seeing the children every day. Now that she is retired, she has decided to volunteer at her local library leading story times for preschoolers. What theory of social interaction and elders' psychological functioning is she demonstrating?

A) Activity theory
B) Continuity theory
C) Disengagement theory
D) Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Question 20

Which of the following is not a benefit of social support in older adults?

A) Promotes longevity
B) Enhances well-being
C) Higher life satisfaction
D) Greater problem-solving ability

Question 21

Jennie is a resident in an understaffed nursing home. The aides who work at the home do not get Jennie up out of bed enough and she has developed bed sores. They sometimes forget to give her medication to her. They make sure she gets her meals, but they don't check to see if she actually eats them. What type of elder maltreatment is Jennie experiencing?

A) Sexual abuse
B) Physical abuse
C) Psychological abuse
D) Physical neglect

Question 22

David has a brain tumor that is inoperable. He has said that he would promise to be a better person if he could survive. He begs to be allowed to live long enough to see Alaska and the northern lights. Which stage of death is he experiencing?

A) Denial
B) Anger
C) Bargaining
D) Depression

Question 23

What characteristic is typical of a victim of maltreatment in old age?

A) A person of advanced age who has impairment with activities of daily living
B) A man who is of advanced age
C) A woman who lives with her adult children
D) An elderly person of good health and psychological functioning

Question 24

Which of the following statements regarding older adults and friendships is true?

A) Older adults tend to maintain friendships the formed in early adulthood and not form new friendships later in life.
B) Older adults tend to retain relationships with old friends who live far away, but their closest friends tend to live nearby.
C) Older adults have more friends than younger adults.
D) In older adulthood, men's friendships continue to be more intimate than women's.

Question 25

Which of the following acts is not considered to be financial abuse of an elder?

A) Not purchasing medication for an elderly person
B) Withdrawing funds from savings
C) Charging purchases to the elder's credit card
D) Selling an elder's jewelry or other possessions

Question 26

Older spouses tend to become more similar to each other in all of the following ways except:

A) Personality.
B) Cognitive functioning.
C) Dependency.
D) Markers of aging.

Question 27

Typically, what is the nature of older adult-adult child relationships?

A) Adult children tend to provide instrumental assistance to their elderly parents.
B) Older adults continue to assist their adult children financially.
C) Adult sons are more likely to visit their mothers than adult daughters are.
D) Adult daughters tend to be closer to their fathers than they are to their mothers.

Question 28

David is a grandfather who was always very close to his grandchildren. His grandchildren now are adults with children of their own. They moved away across the state so David doesn't get to see them as much as he used to. What can we expect regarding their relationship now?

A) The affection between the grandchildren and David will remain strong.
B) David will experience greater distress at the separation and move closer to his grandchildren.
C) The grandchildren will experience a sense of guilt and pull away from David.
D) David will develop health issues related to the separation from his grandchildren.

Question 29

Which statement does not reflect the marital satisfaction of older adults as compared to younger adults?

A) Older adults report lower levels of pleasure than do younger adults.
B) Older adults describe their relationships as having less conflict.
C) Older spouses tend to perceive more positive characteristics and fewer negative characteristics in their partners than do younger spouses.
D) Older adults appraise their spouse's behavior as more positive than do outside observers.

Question 30

Who is likely to have an easier adjustment to retirement?

A) Workers in high stress, demanding jobs, or those that provide little satisfaction
B) Workers who retire abruptly without much preparation
C) Workers in highly satisfying, low stress, pleasant jobs
D) Workers who feel that they are forced to retire

Question 31

Based on what we know about the quality of relationships in older adults, which of the following relationships tends to be closer?

A) Rebecca (age 45) and her mother (age 82)
B) David (age 43) and his mother (age 65)
C) Jennifer (age 50) and her father (age 75)
D) Richard (age 55) and his father (age 85)

Question 32

Maureen has received a terminal diagnosis of lung cancer. She has been asking herself « why me » and is upset at the doctors and her spouse who smoked and exposed her to second hand smoke. She feels cheated and robbed out of life and the time she would have been able to spend with her grandchildren. Which stage of death is she experiencing?

A) Denial
B) Anger
C) Bargaining
D) Depression

Question 33

What is the main determining factor with regard to whether and when an older adult retires?

A) Financial resources
B) Reaching the age of 65
C) Whether a spouse retires
D) Companies "forcing" retirement to make room for younger workers

Question 34

Who is most likely to maltreat an elderly person?

A) A nursing home staff member
B) An elderly person's spouse or children
C) An unrelated, unfamiliar adult
D) A friend

Question 35

Which of the following people are most likely to rely on their siblings in older adulthood?

A) Terri, who has never married but has three children
B) Richard, who is married without children
C) Jeffrey, who is married and has two children
D) Renee, who has never married and does not have children

Question 36

Diane is a 65-year-old woman who works at a job that is very stressful. She is close to her co-workers and they support each other. Diane's mother was just diagnosed with cancer. Her husband is 65-years-old, a physician at a local hospital, and enjoys his job. Based on what we know about the decisions to retire, what can we expect regarding when Diane and/or her husband will retire?

A) Diane is more likely to retire earlier than her husband.
B) Diane's husband is more likely to retire before she does.
C) Diane and her husband will most likely retire at the same time.
D) Diane and her husband will most likely work until they are over the age of 70.

Question 37

Which statement accurately describes sibling relationships in older adulthood?

A) Most older adults feel close to their siblings and consider them to be close friends.
B) The majority of older adults do not live close to their siblings.
C) The majority of older adults do not communicate with their siblings on a regular basis.
D) With age, siblings tend to grow apart rather than closer.

Question 38

What type of elder maltreatment is least common?

A) Sexual abuse
B) Physical abuse
C) Neglect
D) Emotional abuse

Question 39

What percentage of older adults report experiencing financial abuse by a family member each year?

A) Less than 1%.
B) 2%
C) 5%.
D) 10%.

Question 40

Why do individuals experience a decline in well-being and life satisfaction after retirement?

A) They don't get to spend their time in retirement they was they had envisioned.
B) They do not know how to spend their time when they stop working.
C) They experience a role loss of worker that must be replaced by other social roles over time.
D) They don't get to spend time in retirement with the people they hoped to spend time with.

Question 41

The philosophy of the hospice approach emphasizes:

A) prolonging life.
B) financial planning for family members.
C) prolonging quality of life.
D) creating a health care proxy.

Question 42

What is the most important and most difficult task a grieving person must accomplish?

A) Making sense of the feelings he or she has about the death
B) Acknowledging his or her emotions
C) Adjusting to life without the deceased
D) Learning to manage the emotions surrounding the death of the person

Question 43

Which statement is true regarding the dying process?

A) Most individuals find talking about death comforting.
B) All individuals with a terminal illness reach the acceptance stage.
C) Death is universal, yet talking about death is often discouraged.
D) All individuals with a terminal illness progress through a sequence of stages.

Question 44

What is the first set of losses, as described in the dual-process model of stress and coping?

A) The life changes that accompany the death
B) An emotional reaction that concerns the grief that comes with losing an attachment figure
C) Discussing the death of the loved one
D) Experiencing the physical reaction to the loss

Question 45

When individuals share their feelings with others, they are more likely to enter into the _____ stage of death.

A) bargaining
B) acceptance
C) depression
D) anger

Question 46

The ritual that the Jewish faith carries out called sitting shiva, where people stop usual activity and receives visitors at home for a week is an example of:

A) loss.
B) hospice.
C) mourning.
D) grief.

Question 47

Katrina has given her son the legal right to make health care decisions on her behalf in the event that she is unable to do so. What advance directive did she prepare?

A) Living will
B) Do not resuscitate (DNR) order
C) Durable power of attorney
D) Estate will

Question 48

Where do most deaths occur today?

A) In the workplace
B) In a location other than the workplace, home, or hospital/nursing home
C) In a person's home
D) In hospital and nursing homes

Question 49

If a dying person feels guilt over the illness and its consequences for his or her loved ones, he or she is in the _____ stage of death.

A) bargaining.
B) acceptance.
C) depression.
D) anger.

Question 50

How many U.S. older adults are widows?

A) About 10%
B) About 25%
C) About 33%
D) About 50%

Question 51

Which of the following is not a way that attachment to the deceased is carried out?

A) Talking about the deceased to keep his or her memory alive
B) Feeling that the deceased is watching over them
C) Keeping the deceased's possessions
D) Performing a ritual that marks the death of the person

Question 52

Culturally patterned ritualistic ways of displaying and expressing bereavement is called:

A) loss.
B) hospice.
C) mourning.
D) grief.

Question 53

Which statement accurately reflects grief?

A) Grief is expressed similarly in all cultures.
B) Grief is represented by wearing special clothing, eating certain foods, saying special prayers, and getting together with others to mourn.
C) Grief is a culturally-patterned, ritualistic way of displaying and expressing bereavement.
D) Grief is an active coping process in which the grieving person must confront the loss and come to terms with its affects on the world, interpersonal interactions, and his or her sense of self.

Question 54

What is the second set of losses as described in the dual-process model of stress and coping?

A) The life changes that accompany the death
B) An emotional reaction that concerns the grief that comes with losing an attachment figure
C) Discussing the death of the loved one
D) Experiencing the physical reaction to the loss

Question 55

What is the difference between a living will and a do not resuscitate (DNR) order?

A) A living will can say what a person would or would not want done; a DNR only indicates a person does not want to be restored if their heart or lungs stop working.
B) A living will is only for cases where a person is in a coma; a DNR is for all forms of trauma.
C) A living will is not recognized in most hospitals, but a DNR is.
D) A living will only states what a person wants done to stay alive, a DNR means the person does not want to stay alive.

Question 56

When a dying person seeks out a second or third opinion, they are in the _____ stage of death.

A) Denial
B) Anger
C) Bargaining
D) Depression

Question 57

How is mourning different from grief?

A) Mourning is a behavioral aspect of bereavement, whereas grief is an emotional aspect of bereavement.
B) Mourning is culture-specific, grief is expressed the same universally.
C) Mourning is an emotional aspect of bereavement, whereas grief is a behavioral aspect of bereavement.
D) There are multiple ways to mourn, but there is only one way to grieve.

Question 58

Which of the following is not a part of an advance directive?

A) Living will
B) Do not resuscitate (DNR) order
C) Durable power of attorney
D) Estate will

Question 59

What is the greatest challenge to adjusting to widowhood?

A) Financial decline
B) Loneliness
C) Role confusion
D) Grief

Question 60

Which statement accurately reflects the experience of widowhood?

A) About 50% of individuals in the U.S. will be a widow at some point.
B) Women live longer than men and are more likely to remarry.
C) Women live longer than men and are less likely to remarry.
D) Men live longer than women and are less likely to remarry.

Question 61

Most older adults live in or near the home they have lived in most of their lives.

Question 62

Most middle-aged men and women in North America perceive an obligation to assist parents, especially when the parents have serious economic and housing needs.

Question 63

Couples over the age of 65 are less likely to divorce than are younger couples.

Question 64

Younger adults report having more fun with their friends than do older adults.

Question 65

Marital satisfaction peaks in late adulthood.

Question 66

In older adulthood, women's friendships continue to be more intimate than men's.

Question 67

Children, adolescents, and emerging adults tend to perceive themselves as older than their chronological age, adults older than 25 tend to have younger subjective ages.

Question 68

The actual social support doesn't matter as much as the level that the person perceives he or she is receiving.

Question 69

Cohabitation rates among older adults are increasing.

Question 70

The Big 5 personality traits fluctuate more in late adulthood than they do in any other stage of life.

Question 71

Most North American older adults are parents, usually of middle-aged adults.

Question 72

Caroline has recently lost her spouse. She has a graduate degree in accounting and has worked all her life. She has three children, all of whom live in the same city as she does. What statement reflects her relationship with her children after the death of her spouse?

A) Caroline's education has decreased her dependence on her children for financial and legal advice.
B) As a widow, Caroline is more dependent on her children for a variety of reasons.
C) Caroline has a decreased ability to provide emotional support to her children.
D) Caroline will need to go through her own bereavement process in order to handle the death, separately from her children.

Question 73

Older adults are rigid and set in their ways.

Question 74

Successful elders retain a sense that they are the same person they have always been despite physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes.

Question 75

What is the widowhood effect?

A) The increased likelihood for a recently widowed person to die.
B) The increased likelihood for experiencing depression after the death of a spouse.
C) The decreased likelihood for a recently widowed person to enter into a romantic relationship.
D) The decreased likelihood for a recently widowed person to depend on adult children.

Question 76

Older adults tend to compartmentalize their self-concept more so than younger and middle-aged adults by categorizing the positive and negative aspects of self as separate roles whereas younger and middle-age adults tend to integrate them into one.

Question 77

Most adults report that their relationships with their grandparents are close and enduring.

Question 78

The frequency of sexual activity increases with age, but sexual satisfaction often decreases.

Question 79

Religiosity only refers to the attitudes and orientation of individuals (such as prayer).

Question 80

Older adults who have suffered health issues and had no social contact with friends around the time of the illness are more likely to die within two years of the illness than those who had daily contact with friends around the time of the illness.