SELF-DEFINITION IN OLD-AGE

Characteristics of the self-definition were investigated in a heteroge neous sample of N = 516 participants of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE, age-range: 70-103 years, M = 84,9). The investigation of the self-defi nitions of older adults provides insights into the salient life themes and processes of their <<person-environment interaction>>. An analysi s of the content of the self-definition revealed that old and very old individuals defined themselves as active and present-oriented, At the same time the content of their self-definitions reflected an inward o rientation and a central theme of life-review. As expected, health pro ved to be one of the most important life issues. Although even the ver y old produced more positive than negative evaluations in their self-d efinition, the ratio of positive to negative evaluations was less favo rable for the 85 to 103 year olds when compared to the 70 to 85 year o lds. The multifacetness of the self-definition appears to decrease in very old age as a function of health-related constraints. Positive emo tional well-being was associated with having more self-defining domain s and a richer description of these domains. Multifacetness of the sel f-definition, however, did not buffer against the negative effect of d iminished functional capacity on positive emotional well-being.