Paweł Brudek

Lars Tornstam’s Gerotrascendence Theory as the positive ageing theory

Elderly people are not a homogeneous group in terms of their adaptation to aging degree. Most often, the optimal adaptation is when an elder person has a high life satisfaction, confidence in oneself and others, as well as effectively copes with tasks attributable to the period of late adulthood. There are many theories explaining the process of adaptation to old age. One of them is the concept of gerotranscendence by Lars Tornstam developed mainly in the Nordic countries. This proposal is the cognitively valuable and inspiring concept of the positive aging. It allows to esentialise the aging process and look at an elderly person in a new way. The article presents the theoretical background of the gerotranscendence theory, its main objectives and main research directions.

Psychological Determinants of Marital Satisfaction among Older Couples.Perspective of Lars Tornstam’s Theory of Gerotranscendence – Multilevel Modeling Approach

Studies into the determinants of marital satisfaction are today a significant research area in psychology. The investigations conducted so far involve mainly the couples at the stages of early and middle adulthood. Relatively few studies focus on identification of the factors of marital success specific to the late adulthood, on  determining the degree of similarity (fit) of spouses in terms of these factors and its impact on marital satisfaction of seniors. The purpose of this article is to identify the subject variables relevant to marital satisfaction of elderly people, both at the level of an individual and a couple. The study involved 120 participants (60 marriages) aged 60–75. We used 9 psychological methods to measure: marital satisfaction (KDM-2), life balance (KBŻ), religiousness (SRSZ), styles of coping with stress (CISS), self-esteem (SES), hope for success (KNS), location of health control (MHLC), value system (SWS), valuation crisis (KKW), and emotional intelligence (INTE). The results confirmed the complexity of the construct of marital satisfaction and allowed to identify the key predictors of happiness in marriage at old age