Perceived Societal Expectations Regarding Later Life Among Older People From Four Cultures

Abstract

The study is aimed at identifying perceived societal expectations toward later life in older people and examining cultural differences in these prevailing expectations. One hundred ninety-nine people aged 60 years and above were recruited in four different cultures (Cameroon, Germany, Hong Kong, and Czech Republic). Older people responded to an open-ended question about societal expectations toward later life. Responses were transcribed and content-analyzed. Perceived societal expectations were grouped into six categories: Contribution, Activity, Receiving, Conformity, Disengagement, and No expectation. Frequencies of each category significantly differ across cultural groups. While Contribution and Receiving were particularly frequent in Cameroon, Disengagement and No expectation were dominant among Czech participants. Results indicate that expectations reflecting the concept of active aging are widely present; however, such expectations tend to coexist (particularly in Germany, Hong Kong, and the Czech Republic) with expectations that emphasize the withdrawal of older adults from society (disengagement). Results also support the culture-specific nature of societal expectations toward later life: positively connoted expectations toward later life were more frequent in so-called collectivistic cultural contexts.