EXPLAINING THE RESILIENCE OF THE AGING SELF - REPLY TO CARSTENSEN ANDFREUND

In reply to comments by Carstensen and Freund (Developmental Review, 1 4, 93-102), the following views are defended: (a) The claim that attem pts to explain the resilience of the aging self are biased toward a de ficit model of aging is self-contradictory; (b) Without equating age t o decline, explanatory accounts of ''successful'' aging have to addres s the question of how factual losses are alleviated or neutralized, an d why expectations of loss, which prevail in personal as well as socia l views about aging, do not generally undermine the elderly person's s elf-esteem; (c) Phenomena of stability and resilience should not be co nsidered as simple ''null effects,'' but as outcomes resulting from an interplay of intentional and nonintentional processes which are geare d toward achieving consistency between actual and intended courses of development, and which not only may offset losses, but also may spin o ff psychological gains. Several points where Carstensen and Freund mis state our argument are corrected. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.