Ageing and Society, i6, 1996, 397-422. Copyright © 1996 Cambridge University Press 397
The Process of Successful
Ageing
MARGRET M. BALTES*
and LAURA L. CARSTENSEN|
ABSTRACT
As increasingly more people experience old age as a time of
growth and productivity, theoretical attention to successful
ageing is needed. In this paper, we overview historical, societal
and philosophical evidence for a deep, long-standing ambivalence
about human ageing that has influenced even
scientific views of old age. In recent years, however, discussion
of the psychological and behavioural processes people use to
maintain and reach new goals in late life has gained momentum.
We contribute to this discussion the metamodel of
selective optimisation with compensation, developed by Baltes
and Baltes. The model is a metamodel that attempts to
represent scientific knowledge about the nature of development
and ageing with the focus on successful adaptation.
The model takes gains and losses jointly into account, pays
attention to the great heterogeneity in ageing and successful
ageing, and views successful mastery of goals in the face of
losses endemic to advanced age as the result of the interplay of
the three processes, selection, compensation, and optimisation.
We review evidence from the biological and social
science literatures for each component and discuss new
research avenues to study the interaction of the three
processes.
KEY WORDS - Success, successful ageing, selection,
compensation, optimisation.
* Forschungsgruppe Psychologische Gerontologie, Freie Universitat Berlin,
Ulmenallee 32, 14050 Berlin, Germany.
I Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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398 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
Introduction
Since its inception, the primary focus of gerontological research has
been in decline and loss associated with advanced age (Riley et al.
1994). We neither deny nor minimise the importance of research on
age-related decline. The plight of old age is very real, embracing losses
in physical, cognitive and social domains. It is not surprising that
anticipation of ageing is characterised by anxiety and fear both on the
part of the individual (e.g. fear of loss) and on the part of societies (e.g.
fears of increased costs and burdens). The plight of ageing, however, is
only one side of the coin. The other side involves growth, vitality,
striving and contentment.
Discussion of successful ageing inevitably raises concern within and
outside the academy. In fact, Cole (1983) contends that positive
portrayals of ageing are potentially as pernicious as negative ones in
that they deny the reality of ageing. Cole (1983) and Rosenmayr
(1989), for example, believe that unless this 'enlightened1
view of
ageing is extended to include the existential challenges of physical and
social decline in old age, it may very well have baneful effects. Cole
writes: 'The currently fashionable positive mythology of old age shows
no more tolerance or respect for the intractable vicissitudes of aging
than the old negative mythology (1983: 39).
Such concerns are not without merit. However, even though
morbidity and mortality rates do increase with age (Brody et al. 1987;
Manton and Soldo 1985), we have reached the point in Western
societies where the reduction in infant mortality and the compression
of morbidity (Fries 1990) allow the majority of people to live out their
lives in relatively good physical health (Manton et al. 1993). Recently,
several prominent biological researchers and physicians have argued
that successful and positive ageing must not be omitted from our
conceptions of old age to do justice to its multifaceted nature and vast
heterogeneity (Bortz 1989; Fries 1990; Rowe and Kahn 1987). In
addition, most older people are satisfied with their lives, even more so
than their younger counterparts (Herzog and Rodgers 1981).
Nevertheless, we agree with critics that the focus on theoretically
normative psychological outcomes - rooted primarily in middle-class
values and, prototypically, in white, male standards - has seriously
limited our understanding of successful ageing. The use of normative
outcomes pays only minimal attention to the heterogeneity among and
within ageing people (Maddox 1987; Thomae 1981), fails to
acknowledge the social construction of old age (Dannefer 1987), and
ignores the potential for multiple outcomes (Schaie 1983) and diverse
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The Process of Successful Ageing 399
standards of success (Boesch 1954). A person living under objectively
poor conditions may strive towards self-actualisation, another living in
an objectively good situation may experience ageing as a tremendous
burden. A single individual may be physically ill but psychologically
strong, feel despair about family but contentment about work, and
experience great dissatisfaction but a profound sense of meaning in life.
Furthermore, what is considered successful according to functional
norms might not meet with ideal norms, nor square with statistical
norms. Definitions of the meaning of success have changed over
historical time and will continue to vary along with changes in societal,
cultural, and biological norms. Definition of outcomes, therefore, needs
to be multidimensional and multilevel and needs to consider both gains
and losses.
Furthermore, the research question needs to be broadened from a
primary focus on outcomes; that is, from: ' What is successful ageing?'
to include 'How do people age successfully?' or 'What are the processes
that allow for mastery of goals in old age?' We suggest that
understanding the processes that people use to reach their goals under
increasing limitations in resources, be they social, psychological or
biological, will lead to additional insights and progress in the field. In
this paper we argue that the metamodel of selective optimisation with
compensation (Baltes and Bakes 1990) offers a suitable framework
within which to pose such questions. The proposed model defines
success as the attainment of goals which can differ widely among people
and can be measured against diverse standards and norms. The three
processes identified in the model - namely, selection, compensation
and optimisation — in concert, provide a way to conceptualise the
strategies older people use to age well even in the face of loss. We cannot
predict what any given individual's successful ageing will look like until we know
the domains of functioning and goals that that individual considers important,
personally meaningful and in which he or she feels competent.
To provide a context for our argument, we begin by tracing the
history of theoretical attempts to define and describe success and
successful ageing. Next, we examine empirical findings for the most
commonly used criteria of successful ageing. Last, we introduce the
process model of selective optimisation with compensation (Baltes
1987; Baltes and Baltes 1990), a metamodel of successful ageing that
incorporates a life-span view, builds on empirical evidence about gains
and losses in old age, permits specification of any desired goal and/or
norm to define success depending on the theoretical perspective
embraced, and specifies three processes that facilitate striving toward
goals in the face of losses.
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400 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
Defining success and successful ageing
Definitions of success have varied throughout history, implying greater
or lesser involvement of luck and/or effort and more or less in the way
of evaluative connotations, e.g. a fortunate outcome versus any outcome
(Edwards 1967; Simpson and Weiner 1989). In modern usage, success
typically refers to favourable attainments deriving from one's own
behaviour and actions. Very often it is measured by economic
accomplishments. Because of such materialistic usages, success is
considered by some to be a poor choice for describing positive outcomes
in old age. Cole (1984), for example, views the current emphasis on
successful ageing as the capitalist takeover of ageing.
Success, however, is not explicitly limited to utilitarian outcomes.
Success can refer to the attainment of personal goals of all types,
ranging from the maintenance of physical functioning and good health
to generativity, ego-integrity, self-actualisation and social connectedness
(see Baltes and Silverberg 1994; Bellah et al. 1986).
Some critics argue that successful ageing is an oxymoron; successful
ageing means not ageing at all. History, as well as our modern youthand-achievement-oriented
culture, is replete with tales of the
'Jungbrunnen' or 'fountain of youth' and consumer products that aim
to help people maintain a youthful appearance, increase productivity,
and optimise physical health. However, a conceptualisation of
successful ageing founded on denial is ultimately an untenable position.
Looking back and seeking to cultivate the still glorious middle years
will inevitably lead to despair and eventual defeat (Erikson 1959;
Butler 1974).
Unlike earlier developmental stages in which goals and success are
defined as the acquisition of survival skills, successful ageing is
intricately interwoven with a sense of meaning and purpose in life and
thus invokes existential paradigms or ideals (Cole 1984; Cole and
Gadow 1986; Rosenmayr 19830,6; 1985). Rentsch (1992) observes
that ageing is the radicalisation of the human condition. Ageing is
described as a dialectic between self-actualisation and self-alienation.
Although influenced heavily by the cultural context of the historical
era, a deep ambivalence about ageing can be traced from ancient to
modern times. With the advent of industrial capitalism, human value
became equated with productivity and, at the same time, retirement
was institutionalised as a symbol of non-productivity. Ironically, this
more negative view of old people and ageing was facilitated by
scientific attention to ageing. By focusing almost exclusively on
problems of elderly people - their isolation, dependence, role-loss and
illness, - researchers reinforced a very negative portrayal of ageing.
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The Process of Successful Ageing 401
The view of ageing as a time of decline was further reinforced by wellintentioned
advocates and politicians who, in order to win support for
the infirm elderly, portrayed them as sick and needy. The implementation
of the Older Americans Act (OAA) and similar policies
in the U.S. and other countries functioned as a double-edged sword by
providing protection but also endangering individual autonomy and
integrity (Estes and Binney 1989; Guillemard 1992).
The last two decades have witnessed several important changes in
the views of old age held by the scientific community. Findings in
biological, social and psychological spheres have pointed to unused and
latent potentials of elderly adults. Examples are found in the domain of
cognitive ageing, where it has been shown that elders can improve their
cognitive output after improved learning and performance conditions
(P. B. Baltes and Lindenberger 1988; Schaie 1990); in the domain of
social behaviour, where dependent self-care behaviour can be reversed
to independent functioning when given prompts, time and rewards
(Baltes 1995; for review see Mosher-Ashley 1986/87); and in the
domain of physical functioning, where it has been shown that a great
number of physical declines can be postponed and temporarily reversed
through proper exercise and diet (Baltes and Reichert 1992; Stones
and Kozma 1985; Whitbourne 1985). A wealth of empirical findings
from both the social and biological sciences have accrued confirming
that latent potentials can be activated to compensate for possible losses
in old age.
Thus, there appears to be considerable fluidity in old age.
Nevertheless, gerontological theories have either focused on decline or
growth. None that we know of have considered gains and losses and
their potential interactions conjointly. Many early theories of successful
ageing posited highly idealised human states as the adaptive outcomes
of old age. Jung (1931), for example, postulated expansion beyond
gender constraints towards full humanity and wisdom as criteria for
successful ageing. Erikson's stage model (1984; Erikson et al. 1986)
posited that psychological peace and ego integrity were the criteria for
success in old age. Other theorists conceptualised the acceptance of
decline as the adaptive task of old age (i.e. Buhler 1933). The now
classic disengagement theory (Cumming and Henry 1961) characterised
success as acceptance of and reconciliation with the loss of power
endemic in old age, whereas activity theory (Havighurst and Albrecht
!
953; Maddox 1965) posited that the maintenance of activity,
replacement of lost roles with new ones and continued psychological
involvement in society and interpersonal relationships represented the
formula for successful ageing.
More recently, Ryff(ig82; 1989a, b) proposed an integrative model
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402 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
of successful ageing based on developmental, clinical, and mental
health perspectives arguing that multiple aspects of life must be
considered when assessing successful ageing. Her model includes six
dimensions, all refering to positive functioning: self-acceptance, positive
relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in
life, and personal growth.
In summary, over the past 50 years, a number of theories have been
proposed to describe successful ageing. The centrepiece of most of these
conceptualizations has been the elaboration of focal success outcomes,
ranging from disengagement to longevity. No one theory, criterion or
even pattern of criteria has been widely accepted as a cogent
prescription or explanation for success in old age. Part of this might be
due to the empirical findings on successful ageing to which we now
turn.
Empirical findings for successful ageing criteria
Physical health, functional autonomy, and longevity have served as
indicators of successful ageing to biological scientists. Physical health is
unquestionably tied to psychological well-being at any age (Bowling
and Brown 1991; Krause 1990; Rodin 1986) and psychological
variables, like perceived social support and life style, appear to
influence morbidity and mortality (Blazer 1982; House et al. 1988;
Vaillant 1990).
However, good physical health cannot be a prerequisite in
psychological theories of successful ageing because, as Wong points out,
'even the fittest [eventually] succumb to disabling illness' (1918: 518).
In addition, the person who has lived the longest, most likely will also
have experienced the most losses, be they loss of friends, loss of own
health, etc. The person who strives for autonomy may, at the same
time, lose social contacts and experience isolation. Thus, the criteria of
functional autonomy and longevity do not necessarily lead to
psychological well-being.
Successful ageing, when studied empirically by psychologists, is most
commonly operationalised as life satisfaction, high morale or the
subjective appraisal of well-being. Researchers have used life satisfaction
as an index of success in the retirement transition (Parnes
1981), recovery after widowhood (Wortman and Silver 1990) and a
number of other live events. The voluminous literature about the direct
and indirect effects of social structural variables on satisfaction (George
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The Process of Successful Ageing 403
1990) reveals that statistically significant differences in satisfaction
among groups of people do exist. Income, population density, marital
status, years of formal education, and other variables do predict life
satisfaction but account for very little of the variance in life satisfaction.
Moreover, the vast majority of people report that they are satisfied
with their lives regardless of objective indicators (Brim 1988, 1992;
Diener 1984; George 1981; Larson 1978; Lawton 1983, 1984; Schwarz
and Strack 1989). One possible explanation is that life satisfaction
comprises different dimensions in the old versus the young (Ryff
1989^). Another explanation for preserved life satisfaction in spite of
age-related loss is, however, that elderly people adapt to negative
changes by using coping strategies such as downward social comparison
(Wills 1991).
Relatively recently, a number of researchers from diverse fields, i.e.
psychology (Dittmann-Kohli 1990; Reker et al. 1987; Wong 1989),
literature (Weiland 1989; Woodword and Schwartz 1986) and history
(Cole 1984), have shifted their attention to personal meaning in life as an
index of successful ageing. Wong (1989) following Jung (1931) and
Erickson and colleagues (1986) argue that finding personal meaning in
life is the major developmental task of old age. Personal meaning has
been conceptualised as the interpretation of life (Antonovsky 1979), the
central focus on values (Cole and Gadow 1986), the cognitive construal
of consistency between goals and actions (Rosenmayr 1985), the
acceptance of immutable circumstances and integrative reminiscence
(Wong 1989, 1991; Wong and Watt 1991), self-discovery (Tournier
1972), future-orientedness and optimism (Schonfield 1973), and as
religiosity and spirituality (Cole 1984).
Summary
We agree with Cole (1984) and Rosenmayr (1985) that a rethinking of
successful ageing is necessary in order to avoid a class bias or Utopian
dream. We disagree, however, that a positive view of the potential of
ageing necessarily includes a prescription for the outcome, or places sole
responsibility for successful ageing on the individual.
We argue that most gerontological theories do not take into account
individual or cultural variation in goals and usually apply ideal and/or
statistical norms from within one culture, rarely functional or
individual norms. But no one criterion has been found acceptable.
Indeed, even ranking the array of success criteria is difficult. Can an old
person in excellent physical health but deteriorated mental health be
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404 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
T A B L E I. Different norms in different domains with different goals
NORM
Statistical
Ideal
Functional
physical health
no major disease
complete health
hearing
Domains/Goals
social integration
marriage
intimacy
communication
psychological
well-being
no pathology
happiness
independence
considered a successful ager? Should people who live only to 70, but
maintain a highly optimistic view of ageing be considered unsuccessful
agers? A multicriteria approach is preferred to a monocriterion
approach (Ryff 1989a; 1991)- However, unless we accept all criteria as
equally important - which would render the numbers of successful
ageing people extremely small — we are left with the problem of
ranking the most important criteria.
A solution to this problem seems to be a flexible definition of success
outcomes. Success can be defined by different authorities (e.g.
individual, peer group, society, scientific theory), by different criteria
of assessment (e.g. subjective vs. objective) and by different norms (e.g.
functional, statistical, ideal norm).1
On the most general level,
successful ageing implies that people reach personal goals; these might
coincide with ideal or statistical norms but may also concur with
idiosyncratic goals. Table 1 provides an overview and examples of
different standards of success.
Allowing variation in goals and norms and identifying the
prototypical processes that facilitate successful ageing will potentially
lead to increasing precision and strength of our theories of successful
ageing and the construction of environmental conditions and life styles
conducive to optimal ageing. In short, success needs to be redefined
such that it is not just associated with normative and ideal goals or
outcomes. Success does not and should not be measured against one
standard. Any definition of success based exclusively on theoretically
normative outcomes and goals will, by its very nature, lack generalisability
and longevity. When the question becomes: How is success
achieved?, we may find that the processes people use to cope with life
and ageing are more universal and less dependent on cultural
vicissitudes.1
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The Process of Successful Ageing 405
The metamodel of selective optimisation with compensation
With this said, a useful model of successful ageing must account for the
dynamics between gains and losses; that is, on the one hand, for a
reduction in reserves and an increasing number of specific losses and
challenges in the biological, social, and psychological spheres; and, on
the other hand, for potential growth and plasticity in old age. Such a
metamodel should be able to harbour a great diversity of outcomes/
goals, accommodate different success criteria, and emphasise how
elderly people obtain personal goals - that is, age successfully - in the
face of simultaneous losses.
In life-span psychology (P. B. Baltes 1987, 1991; P. B. Bakes et al.
1980), the major criterion for successful development is the efficacious
functioning of the individual in an identified system (biological, social,
psychological), domain (sports, leisure, job, family) or task (selfactualisation,
cognitive performance, social integration. To augment
and enrich one's own reserve capacities and resources, particularly
throughout early and middle life, is of the utmost importance since
these will also assist successful mastery of developmental tasks in late
life. While adherence to the notion of efficacious functioning does not
preclude the prescription of developmental goals or outcomes as ideal
in successful ageing, it does not bank on them and above all, it allows
the operation of diverse norms to evaluate attainment of individually
desired goals. Such a model implicitly and explicitly allows for greater
variability in successful ageing, with the base being heterogeneity and
plasticity, two major findings known about ageing (Baltes and Baltes
I99O).
In this sense, the metamodel of selective optimisation with
compensation (SOC) (P. B. Baltes and Baltes 1990; Baltes 1987; Baltes
and Reichert 1982) defines success as goal attainment and successful
ageing as minimisation of losses and maximisation of gains. Using the
notion of mastery and adaptation allows diverse specifications of the
goals and its evaluation criteria depending on the specific theory tested.
The metamodel specifies three processes: selection, compensation,
and optimisation. If implemented together, use of the processes enables
people to master their goals despite, or perhaps even because of, losses
and increasing vulnerabilities. The three processes embrace a great
multitude of psychological mechanisms and strategies. For instance,
optimisation of one's health may mean for one person to exercise more
frequently, for another to diet, and for a third person to reduce stress.
According to the model, the same processes are at work even when
goals vary over individuals, time or context. Furthermore, the criteria
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406 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
of goal attainment can vary by type of assessment (objective vs.
subjective), by the authority (individual, group, family, culture)
judging success, and by norms (statistical, ideal, functional).
A real life example might best illustrate the three processes and their
interaction. An old marathon runner can maintain the goal of winning
by competing within his own age group and running fewer and ' easier'
courses (instances of selection); varying footwear and extending warmup
periods (compensation) and using a special diet and vitamins to
increase fitness (optimisation).
The metamodel, thus, is considered prototypical in its genotype of
mastery, but it can accommodate wide interindividual differences in its
phenotypic manifestation. What and how many domains people choose
and the specific strategies they use in striving towards successful ageing
may differ from person to person. The model is a metamodel that
attempts to represent scientific knowledge about the nature of
development and ageing with the focus on successful adaptation.
Although the three processes have theoretical implications for successful
development at large (see Marsiske et al. 1995), we will focus here on
successful ageing.
Definition of the three component processes and empirical
evidence
Selection
Selection at all levels of behaviour (input, processing, output) is a core
element of any theory of behaviour. Selection can be active or passive,
internal or external, intentional or automatic. In development
including ageing, selection refers to the increasing restriction of life
domains as a consequence or in anticipation of changes in personal and
environmental resources. In old age, these changes are often losses.
Selection can entail the avoidance of one domain altogether or it can
mean a restriction in tasks and goals within one or more domains. An
elderly person whose spouse is suffering from a terminal illness, for
example, may give up the domain of sexuality altogether, or may
restrict some goals and involvements in the social network at large, but
increase efforts in the domain of leisure activities and family. The
adaptive task of the individual is to select high priority domains, tasks,
and goals that involve a convergence between environmental demands,
individual motivations, skills and biological capacity.
Although selection connotes a reduction in the number of highCambridge
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The Process of Successful Ageing 407
efficacy domains, tasks, and goals, it is not necessarily limited to a
continuation of previous goals and domains, albeit in smaller numbers.
Selection can also involve new or transformed domains and goals.
Thus, the person who lost a spouse might continue to invest love and
care by carrying on the political activities of the spouse, for instance,
and maintaining his or her legacy. Selection always entails the
readjustment of individual goals. Selection can be proactive or reactive.
It can encompass environmental changes (e.g. relocation), active
behaviour changes (e.g. reducing the number of commitments), or
passive adjustment (e.g. avoiding climbing stairs or allowing somebody
to take responsibility). Proactively, through monitoring current
functioning, people predict future changes and losses (e.g. death of the
spouse) and make efforts to search for tasks and domains that can
remain intact even after losses. Selection is reactive when unpredictable
or sudden changes force persons to make a selection. If a stroke
suddenly severely impairs a person, a decision to remain at home might
not be viable, but the person can engage in selection processes about
which institution, how much and what kind of self-care, what type of
rehabilitation, what activities to engage in, what television programme
to watch, and when to write a letter or make a telephone call.
Empirical evidencefor selection processes
Selection is an integral part of any developmental process. Evidence for
selection in the form of channelling or canalisation can be found in
sociology, biology, and psychology. In sociology, selection operates via
social structures such as social class (Mayer and Carroll 1987), race,
gender and ethnicity (Jencks 1992), social mobility (Blau and Duncan
1976) as well as via immutable variables such as sex (Mayer etal. 1991)
and age (Hagestadt 1990). Dannefer (1987) has called this process
sociogenic differentiation. The cumulative effect of selection on a
structural level has been described by Merton (1968) as the Matthew
effect, referring to the self-maintaining properties of particular social
paths.
In biology, selection is the term used to explain canalisation and
specialisation during biological development (Waddington 1975).
Cotman (1985), for instance, argues that specialisation on the cellular
level involves the loss of alternate courses of cell differentiation.
Ontogenetic selection based on the potentials of the genome is a well
known fact that pressures development in specific directions.
In psychology, there is evidence for selection from multiple sources. For
Skinner (1966), for instance, selection played a prominent role in the
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408 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
process of shaping. In human development, maturation involves
progressive specialisation, which involves both gains and losses.
Language provides a particularly elegant example of selection. The
ability to learn language is far easier early in life than later and the
difficulty in second language acquisition increases as a function of
language development (Kellerman and Smith 1986).
In personality psychology,findingsstemming from self-efficacy theory
(Bandura 1977, 1982, 1991) suggest that agency beliefs guide the
search, creation, and acceptance of goals, expectations, and environments.
By monitoring competencies and demands via self-efficacy
beliefs, a person selects which goals to set, what demands to cope with,
when to expend effort and when to compromise. People with strong
self-efficacy beliefs perceive losses as challenge; those with weak ones
perceive losses as threats (Bandura and Cervone 1986; Bandura and
Wood 1989). The strength of self-efficacy beliefs determines which and
how often anticipatory scenarios are constructed and imagined, which
means of control are activated, and how quickly an activity or domain
is abandoned or compromised (Bandura and Jourden iggi).
Markus and colleagues (Markus and Nurius 1986; Markus and
Wurf 1987) have coined the term 'multiple selves', referring to
'actual', 'feared' and 'hoped for' self-schemata that aid and guide the
search for new goals. Similarly, the literature on personal control
provides yet another body of evidence for selection. Secondary control
(Heckhausen and Schulz 1993, 1995; Rothbaum et al. 1982) and accommodative
coping (Brandtstadter and Renner 1990) refer essentially
to cognitive selection strategies in that they involve the reorganisation
of goal structures and goal hierarchies so that a fit between personal
competence and environmental demands is achieved.
In social psychology, the social cognitive mechanism of social
comparison, which serves to motivate or comfort depending on the
reference point, also aids in selection. In the face of difficulties and
irreversible losses, downward comparison allows people to adjust and
maintain a positive evaluation of the self (Taylor 1983; Wood 1989).
The theory of socioemotional selectivity (Carstensen 1991; 1993)
considers selection adaptive in the social arena and specifies goal
change as the precipitant to selection. The theory contends that
emotional goals become increasingly salient with age and that people
engage in active efforts to restructure their social worlds such that they
maximise emotionally meaningful experiences. In contrast to the most
popular traditional views of social ageing which suggest that
maintaining earlier levels of social activity is necessary for happiness in
old age (Osgood 1989), socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that
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The Process of Successful Ageing 409
the judicious reduction of social contact in adulthood (and especially in
old age) fosters enhanced emotional satisfaction and is, thus, adaptive.
Analysis of longitudinal data shows that emotional closeness with a
select few is maintained or increased from young to middle adulthood
even though social contact is reduced during the same time period
(Carstensen 1992). Even in very old age, a time when social networks
are notably reduced, emotionally close relationships appear to be
maintained while more peripheral social relationships are discarded
(Lang and Carstensen 1994).
The field of human factors is another research area demonstrating
empirical evidence for selection. In studies of driving behaviour, for
instance, it is shown that the elderly driver is faced with an array of
physical and environmental barriers (for a summary see the Special
Report by the Committee for the Study in Improving Mobility and
Safety for Older Persons 1988; also Warnes et al. iggi). Conditions
perceived as especially problematic were speed, traffic congestion,
complex and confusing signs, unfamiliar streets and freeway interchanges.
Although almost all studies are about the sensori-motoric
and cognitive deficiencies of the elderly aggravating driving behaviour,
there are a few examples for coping strategies. Selections made by
elderly people accommodate these deficiencies and environmental
barriers. They select not to drive at dusk, dawn or at night or make
only short trips in familiar territory; they avoid peak-period driving
and reduce risk-taking and aggressive behaviour and instead drive
more defensively.
Compensation
Compensation, the second component factor facilitating mastery of loss
in reserves in old age, becomes operative when there are person- or
environment-associated changes in means-ends resources; i.e. specific
behavioural capacities or skills are lost or reduced below the level
required for adequate functioning. Compensation can also become
necessary as the result of selection. The organism might have to
compensate in domains that are not selected for further enhancement
and thus are given less attention and energy. An example is the
delegation of activities to somebody else.
Compensation, which can be automatic or planned, refers to the use
of alternate means to reach the same goal, i.e. accomplish the same
outcome in a specific domain; that is, previous means-end strategies are
reassessed. If a goal within a domain that includes a large number of
activities and means is well elaborated, the person will not experience
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410 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
much trouble in counterbalancing or compensating for a specific
behavioural deficiency. If the deficiency is large in scope or if the
domains and goals are defined by one or very few activities,
compensatory efforts will be more difficult. If, for instance, a master
musician defines her expertise only as a soloist, it will be difficult for her
to compensate for an incurring impairment, such as hearing loss or
arthritis that cuts short her career as a soloist. If, however, she defines
her domain of expertise by a number of additional activities aside from
playing as a soloist, she may compensate for the impairment by
becoming a music teacher, a music critic, or a composer.
Compensation can involve existing behaviours or the acquisition of
new skills or construction of new means not yet in ones repertoire.
Compensation, thus, differs from selection in that the goal is
maintained, but new means are enlisted to compensate for a
behavioural deficiency in order to maintain or optimise prior
functioning. The element of compensation involves aspects of both the
mind and technology. Psychological compensatory efforts include, for
example, the use of new mnemonic strategies or external memory aids
when internal memory mechanics or strategies prove insufficient. The
use of a hearing aid is an example of compensation by means of
technology. The world of the handicapped is full of technical means
that compensate for impairments and make a more or less independent
and successful life possible. An avid reader of literature who becomes
blind might learn Braille in order to continue reading or might divert
to listening to 'books on tape'. Not only technical means, but human
means are often needed to compensate. The assistance of a hand or arm
when walking, a hired worker who cooks the meals, or a companion
who does the writing may provide the compensatory means that enable
elderly people to pursue their lives as fully as possible.
Empirical evidencefor compensation
Compensation is a multifaceted term that has found its way into
biology as well as psychology (Backman and Dixon 1992). In both
fields, compensation is possible because of neural or behavioural
plasticity, available to the organism when equilibrium is disturbed. In
biology, compensatory efforts follow brain injury and sensory handicaps.
In the case of neural plasticity, compensatory efforts are seen as the
source for recovery (Bach-y-Rita 1990).
In the area ofpsychopathology, the vulnerability model of schizophrenia
argues for self-healing attempts as compensatory efforts on the part of
vulnerable persons to stabilise their psychic equilibrium. Boker et al.
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The Process of Successful Ageing 411
(1984) demonstrated that persons at high risk for schizophrenia show
relatively more attempts than people who are at lower risk to
compensate due to heightened vulnerability.
In cognitive psychology, the pragmatics of intelligence are considered to
have compensatory power to alleviate deficits in the mechanics of
intelligence (P. Bakes 1991; Berg and Sternberg 1985; Salthouse
1984).
In personality psychology,findingsfrom self-efficacy theory suggest that
by delegating control to others, proxy control serves a compensatory
function (Bandura 1982). In contrast to selection, proxy control allows
the elderly person to maintain earlier goals through the assistance of
others. Paradoxically, delegating control to others can be a powerful
mechanism for optimising domains that might otherwise decline. Baltes
and her colleagues demonstrated, for example, that dependency can
secure and optimise social contact (for reviews see Baltes 1995; Baltes
and Wahl 1991).
Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that social selection of longterm
friends and loved ones (as opposed to acquaintances or hired aids)
helps to compensate for losses in areas such as sensory function or
memory impairment (Carstensen 1993). In the case of hearing loss, for
example, a familiar social partner is more likely to speak clearly or
speak into the 'good ear' than someone unfamiliar with special losses.
Gould and colleagues (1991) showed positive effects of social
collaboration in an oral recall task, clearly a process that benefits most
from exchanges with familiar others.
Human factors research is replete with empirical findings suggesting
compensation (for a summary see Committee for the Study in
Improving Mobility and Safety for Older Person 1988; also Warnes et
al. 1991). Here too, driving behaviour in the elderly may serve as an
illustration. Elderly drivers compensate, for instance, decreased
reaction time by driving more slowly and by using interchanges with
lights instead of stop signs only; they compensate for loss in peripheral
vision by turning their head when changing lanes. Driving can be
facilitated by improvements in transportation technology that would
tailor more to the elderly driver, such as improvement in readibility of
signs, changes in traffic distribution, in certain vehicle design features;
in short by compensatory means introduced by the environment not by
the elderly person.
In sum, whether the losses are sensory, cognitive or interpersonal,
compensation occurs when a certain behaviour (or neural process) is
evoked which narrows the gap between actual competence level and
environmental demands.
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412 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
Optimisation
Optimisation, the third component factor of SOC, refers to the
enrichment and augmentation of reserves or resources and, thus, the
enhancement of functioning and adaptive fitness in selected life
domains. Optimisation may occur in existing domains {e.g. generativity)
or involve investment in new domains and goals consonant with
developmental tasks of old age, such as acceptance of one's own
mortality. How much selection and compensation must be invested in
order to secure maintenance and stimulate optimisation is an empirical
question. Recent literature in gerontology suggests that many elderly
people, in principle, have the necessary resources and reserves to
optimise functions but face restrictive or overprotective environments
that inhibit optimisation (Baltes and Wahl iggi). There is no doubt
that the process of optimisation will be contingent to a large extent on
stimulating and enhancing environmental conditions. Thus, society
plays a central role in providing environments that facilitate
optimisation. In fact, the success of relatively simple interventions
(noted below) suggest that elderly adult often live in a world of
underdemand rather than overdemand. Optimisation is dependent
upon available possibilities and opportunities, unless older people
actively and individually forge new terrain and frontiers (Rosenmayr
1983 a, b).
Empirical evidence for optimisation
The psychological literature is replete with evidence for optimisation
processes. Improving performance in selected domains is of great
interest in education, sport psychology, and cognitive expertise (see
Ericsson et al. 1993, for review).
Within gerontology itself, there is ample evidence for optimisation from
intervention studies. This literature evinces plasticity and growth
possibilities into very old age. When environmental conditions
encourage practice, training and exercise and when attention and
motivation are stimulated, declines - long considered to be intractable
- can be reversed and improved. This has been demonstrated clearly
in the domains of cognition, social behaviour and biology.
A diverse array of intervention studies demonstrates that old people
can profit from 'optimising' environments. Physical exercise improves
biological functioning such as pulmonary and cardiovascular functions
(for a review see Bortz 1989; Whitbourne 1985); cognitive intervention
can increase memory performance (P. B. Baltes and Lindenberger
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The Process of Successful Ageing 413
1988) and can even help to ameliorate the impact of dementia on daily
living (Wiedl et al. 1987); behavioural interventions can reverse
chronic dependent behaviours and increase autonomy (Bakes 1995).
On a macro-level, studies of control-enhancing interventions (Langer
and Rodin 1976; Rodin and Langer 1977) have become classics.
Despite criticisms concerning the underlying change agents (Munson
1989), these studies have demonstrated substantial improvement in
activity level, health, and life satisfaction following relatively minor
institutional modifications. Baltes and her colleagues (1994) demonstrated
an increase in independent behaviours (autonomy) of institutionalised
elderly people following an intervention aimed at changing
the institutional context from one that overprotects to one that
enhances autonomy and independence. By implementing a training
programme for caregivers directed at creating greater sensitivity
concerning the need for balance between dependency and autonomy
{see also Parmelee and Lawton 1990), caregivers of elderly adults
relinquished their inadvertent tendency to foster dependency and
shifted support toward reinforcing independent behaviour. Results
confirm the malleability of social environmental conditions responsible
for dependency in elderly people.
In addition to micro- and macro-level intervention studies, indirect
evidence for optimisation in late life can be found in empirical tests of
socioemotional selectivity theory. Not only are older couples happier
than younger couples (which could be explained by selective attrition),
studies of emotion regulation in intimate relationships in old age
suggest that, compared to middle-aged couples, older couples display
more efforts to quell emotional conflict, i.e. express more affection to
their partner while voicing concerns (Carstensen et al. 1995) and report
greater enjoyment from discussions about children, grandchildren,
dreams, vacations and doing things together and less conflict
surrounding money, religion, recreation and children (Levenson et al.
1993)Summary
and conclusions
The aim of this paper is to advocate a process-oriented approach to
successful ageing. We argue that the search for normative success
outcomes in old age, whether longevity, ego-integrity or life satisfaction,
will ultimately hold limited benefits due to the vast heterogeneity
inherent in human ageing. Theoretically derived ideals of what old age
and old people should be like have been debated and challenged over
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414 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
the years. Multicriterial approaches have been offered, yet the focal
thrust of this work remains on measuring success or the lack thereof
according to normative standards.
We feel that a process-oriented approach has three advantages. First,
by accepting personal goals as success outcomes, whatever they may be,
a process-oriented approach avoids the problem of imposing universal
values and standards. It both acknowledges the heterogeneity of ageing
people and avoids the inevitable lack of precision inherent in applying
global constructs across diverse groups of people.
Second, a process-oriented approach directs attention to the
strategies people use to master specific personal goals. This type of
approach accentuates the functional properties of behaviours and
strategies. Even behaviours that initially may appear maladaptive,
such as limiting social contact, are revealed as adaptive once their
function is examined. Consider also a request for assistance walking to
the music room. When made by an individual whose primary goal is to
continue playing the piano, such a request may be considered
compensatory and adaptive. Yet if the individual's goal is to maintain
muscular strength, the same behavioural profile may be viewed as
maladaptive. In short, in a process-oriented approach classification of
goals and strategies rather than outcomes alone becomes the focus.
Third, the process-oriented approach we advocate considers the
interplay of gains and losses inherent in old age. Rather than deny the
inevitable losses that all old people experience in advanced age, the
selective optimisation with compensation model implies that old age
holds the potential to be a time when the accumulated knowledge and
expertise of a life-time is invested in the realisation of a distilled set of
highly meaningful domains and goals. In this view, even losses may
lead to gains in some highly valued areas of life.
Clearly, more research is needed before the merits of a processoriented
approach will be known. Initial findings from the Berlin Aging
Study (see Ageing and Society 1993: 13) are highly encouraging.
Evidence for the three processes are found, for instance, in the domain
of everyday competence (Baltes and Horgas in press; Baltes et al. in
press; Marsiske et al. 1994) and in the area of self and personality
(Staudinger et al. in press). Although there is ample evidence of each
individual component process of the model, there has been virtually no
research on the manner in which the components work together.
Whether there is a hierarchy among the three component processes
remains an empirical question, for example. It may be that
compensation is always attempted first, and only when it fails do
selections occur.
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The Process of Successful Ageing 415
We suspect that all three components are activated more easily and
readily when there is a rich array of resources available from which to
draw. When resources become depleted, an increasingly fine-tuned and
subtle interplay among the three components is necessary. We contend,
however, that even very frail people can select, compensate and
optimise to maximise goal attainment. Given overwhelming evidence
that increased loss is associated with ageing, we also suspect that
selection and compensation are necessary precursors to optimisation.
The time and energy invested in optimising one domain, task or goal
will necessarily influence one's involvements in other domains. The
longitudinal extension of the Berlin Aging Study promises some
answers to these questions.
The model of selective optimisation with compensation also suggests
new approaches to research. Experimental manipulation of losses could
be simulated to study whether, when, and how selective, compensatory
and optimising processes are implemented and to provide precision and
strength to predictions about the interplay among processes and goals
across people. On a descriptive level, study participants could be
selected for similarity in goals in order to analyse the processes used to
reach these goals and assess success.
In conclusion, the model proposed in this paper represents a
qualitative departure from the traditional social science approach to
successful ageing, moving away from a focus on prescribed outcomes
and ideal or statistical norms to an analysis in which the primary focus
is on the processes people use to obtain desired goals. Skinner (1983),
in an account of his own ageing, gave eloquent advice on intellectual
management to preserve and continue high productivity in light of
failing reserves. It was clear from his writings that the intellectual
domain was of high priority and that his life was designed around
maximising function in this selected domain as opposed to others. We
argue that this type of selective optimisation with compensation may be
the most important tool for successful ageing.
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NOTE
1 Statistical norm means the level of performance, the level of goal attainment that is
reached, on average, by a group of people. Ideal norm means the highest goal or
possible level of achievement towards that goal, as defined by scientific theory,
ideology or social values. Functional norm means the level of achievement necessary
for effective functioning in whatever domain.
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422 Margret M. Baltes and Laura L. Carstensen
Acknowledgements
The writing of this paper was supported by a research fellowship from
the Volkswagen Foundation which allowed the first author a year's
stay at Stanford University and NIA grant RO1-AGO8816 to the
second author. Work on this manuscript was completed in part, while
the second author was a Visiting Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for
Human Development and Education, Berlin, Germany. We are very
grateful to Paul Baltes, Barbara Fredrickson, Frieder Lang, Richard
Schulz, and Clemens Tesch-Romer for critical comments on earlier
drafts of the paper and to Susan Turk for her patient and careful
assistance in researching the literature. Address requests for reprints to:
Margret M. Baltes, Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Free University,
Ulmenallee 32, 14050 Berlin 19, Germany, or to Laura L. Carstensen,
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305,
USA.
Article accepted 4 October
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