Piotr Oleś

Psychological Well-Being, Life Attitudes and Life Assessment in Old Age

This study assesses the relationship between psychological well-being and life attitudes among older adults, while also providing a psychological analysis of life review questionnaires of 148 participants over 60 years of age (99 female). Quantitative research was conducted by means of Reker’s Life Attitudes Profile (LAP) and the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (PWB) by Ryff and Singer. The results confirmed the hypothesis that psychological well-being and life attitudes are positively correlated. Qualitative data were gathered by means of Life Review Interview (LRI). Selfnarratives of senior citizens (n = 70), both older adults (60–69) and the elderly (70–101), revealed the predominance of topics related to life values, attitudes toward life and death, and changes during the course of life. Participants who assessed their life positively in LRI obtained higher scores in Environmental Mastery and Personal Growth than participants who assessed their life negatively or ambivalently; no differences were observed in life attitudes between these two groups.

The Gauguin Syndrome - Change of Identity or Myth?

Gauguin syndrome is a phenomenon described by life span psychology, referring to the inten-tion to stimulate the changes of personality by means of a change of life circumstances. The phenomenon is patterned on Paul Gauguin's life, fuli of sudden and unexpected turns. Gauguin syndrome is an example of the change of life linę during the so called midlife crisis and it implies personality change: an attempt to discover one's own identity and intention to construct a new identity and self-concept. In this article we propose a few criteria defining Gauguin syndrome: (1) important change of life priorities, (2) undertaking a new form of activity, (3) which justi-fies meaning of life, (4) is based on different values than before, (5) gives a sense of freedom and authenticity, (6) decision about such a change is undertaken by a person independently, without any support from other people, and (7) it implies the decline of social and economic status of a person. In this article we also emphasize the differentiation of the Gauguin myth and syndrome, with possible explanations of the phenomena. Three case studies arę presented including life histories according to McAdams approach. The empirical data suggests that an important change of life might be announced by previous experiences.