Older adults experience more problems than younger people when using everyday technological devices such as personal computers, automatic teller machines and microwave ovens. Such problems may have serious consequences for the autonomy of older adults since the ability to use technology is becoming essential in everyday life. One potential cause of these difficulties is age-related decline of cognitive functions. To test the role of cognitive abilities in performing technological tasks, we designed the Technological Transfer Test (TTT). This new and ecologically valid test comprises eight technological tasks that are common in modern life (operating a CD player, a telephone, an ATM, a train-ticket vending machine, a microwave-oven, an alarm clock, a smart card charging device and a telephone voice menu). The TTT and a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests were administered to 236 healthy adults aged 64–75 years on two separate occasions. The results demonstrated that the performance time for five of the eight tasks was predicted by cognitive abilities. The exact cognitive functions affecting technological performance varied by the technological task. Among several measures and components of cognition, the speed of information processing and cognitive flexibility had the greatest predictive power. The results imply that age-related cognitive decline has a profound effect on the interaction between older adults and technological appliances.

Social exclusion is a dynamic multi-dimensional process that is interactive in nature. The complex interplay between domains, whereby each domain can act as a determinant, indicator and/or outcome of social exclusion, hinders understanding of the process and the mechanisms through which social exclusion exists. This article highlights the need to disentangle these pathways and move beyond descriptive accounts of social exclusion, presenting a new working framework that allows direct hypothesis testing of these between-domain relationships. Whilst this working framework can be applied to any population, this article focuses on older adults. Life events that can drive social exclusion such as bereavement and changes in health are more likely to occur in later life, and occur more frequently, increasing the risk of social exclusion for this population. Rooted in the new working framework, this article presents the construction of later life social exclusion measures for use with Understanding Society – the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study. The validity of these measures are considered by examining the characteristics of those aged 65 years and over who score the highest, and therefore experience the greatest level of exclusion. This new working framework and developed social exclusion measures provide a platform from which to explore the complex relationships between domains of social exclusion and ultimately provide a clearer understanding of this intricate multi-dimensional process.

Family resources may play an important role in the wellbeing of older people. In this paper, we examine the association between living arrangement and cognitive decline among people over 65 living in different European countries. The underlined hypothesis is that living with others (i.e. spouse or/and children) vis-à-vis living alone may have a positive role in maintaining cognitive functioning, but also that such beneficial influence varies according to the circumstances. To this end, we used data from the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which provides indicators of several cognitive functions: orientation, immediate recall, delayed recall, verbal fluency and numeracy. Net of both the potential biases due to the selective attrition and the re-test effects, the evidence shows that the association between living arrangement and cognitive decline depends on the geographical area and on the starting level of cognitive function.

Ageing, by definition, involves moving across lived time. Grounded in developmental psychology, particularly lifespan developmental theory, this study examines two time-related factors that may affect psychological wellbeing in adulthood. Particularly, chronological age and perceived time left to live (i.e. future time perspective) are predicted to act as opposing forces in the construction of psychological wellbeing. Young (N = 285, 19–29 years) and middle-aged adults (N = 135, 47–64 years) self-reported their current psychological wellbeing (across six dimensions) and their sense of future time perspective. As predicted, mediation analyses show that higher levels of chronological age (being in midlife), and having a more open-ended, positive future time perspective are both related to higher psychological wellbeing. Note, however, that being in midlife is related to a more limited and negative future time perspective. As such, confirming our conceptual argument, while both age and future perspective are measures of time in a general sense, analyses show that they act as unique, opposing forces in the construction of psychological wellbeing. The current research suggests that individuals can optimise psychological wellbeing to the extent that they maintain an open-ended and positive sense of the future.

This study examined intergenerational family contact. Three questions were considered: Is there a relationship between parent's class, child's class and family contact? Can class-related differences in family contact be explained by differences in geographical distance between parent and child? Is intergenerational family contact affected by children's social mobility? The questions were explored using data from a nationally-representative level of living survey. The results from logistic regressions showed that parent's class as well as the child's class were associated with intergenerational geographical distance and family contact more often than once a week. Those in or retired from non-manual occupations were less likely than manual workers to live close and to have family contact more than once a week. We found no evidence that a change in class position, upward nor downward, had any effect on family contacts. Rather, class-stable non-manual families socialise less frequently than other families, even when they live relatively close. The results therefore suggest that familial class-cohesiveness is a stronger determinant of inter-generational family contacts than social mobility. Future research should address the complex connection between social mobility and other forms of relations and transfers between generations.

Stability and change in self-esteem and its reported sources were investigated in a sample of older people re-interviewed 10 and 13 years after initial study. Most indicated a continuing high to medium-high level of self-esteem, and apart from an increase in mention of interest activities their pattern of illustrations also remained consistent. Variables in the initial study which predicted a maintained high level of self-esteem included number of hobbies, number of types of outings, self perceived activity level, and mention of people other than family members as sources of self-esteem. The usefulness of collecting data on expressed sources is exemplified in two case histories. Consideration is given to the implications of these findings for conceptualising identity processes in later life.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal impact of the duration of retirement on the cognitive functioning of male elderly workers in Japan using data from the National Survey of Japanese Elderly. We explore how the complexity of a worker's longest served job affects cognitive functioning after retirement. In particular, we investigate eight dimensions of the longest served job using information listed in the United States Dictionary of Occupational Titles, namely physical demands, mathematical development, reasoning development, language development, the job's relationship to data, the job's relationship to people, the job's relationship to things and the specific vocational preparation required. Our estimator takes account of the potential endogeneity of the duration of retirement and the left-censoring of the duration of retirement. Our empirical evidence suggests that the duration of retirement has a negative and significant impact on cognitive functioning. Moreover, among the eight dimensions of job characteristics, high complexity in the job's relation to data is found to be an important job characteristic in delaying the deterioration of cognitive functioning after retirement.

Driving cessation is a gradual process, where driver's self-regulation plays an important role. Age-based licence renewal may interfere with this process and trigger premature driving cessation. The present study compares Danish drivers (aged 69 years at the baseline) who either renewed or gave up their driving licence. Data were collected in 2009 (N=1,792) and in 2012 (N=863). The standardised interviews covered respondents' background information, health and wellbeing, and transportation patterns. Non-renewers had poorer health already at baseline but did become more dependent on others in their activities after giving up their licence. In travel frequency, neither the differences between renewers and non-renewers nor the changes over time within the groups were pronounced. The groups differed in their use of transport modes already at the baseline: the renewers drove, while non-renewers travelled as passengers, used public transport, walked or cycled. Not renewing the licence was a strong predictor of unmet mobility needs, especially in relation to leisure activities. The present study indicates that younger seniors' mobility is not likely to be affected by the strict renewal policies. However, given the positive economic and safety consequences of independent mobility in old age, society should try to prevent unwarranted mobility loss. Having restrictive, ageist policies that moreover fail as societal investments may work against this goal.

The papers in this special issue contribute to the growing body of research on sociolinguistic and discursive interpretations of mid and later life by investigating some of the identity affordances and constraints associated with ‘being middle-aged’ or ‘being old’. The papers here offer qualitative, contextually based analyses of a broad range of data and use various methodological and theoretical perspectives: narrative theory, critical pragmatics, social theory and discursive psychology. The main focus is on the ways in which change impacts on the ageing individual, and how this change is discursively interpreted and negotiated both by and for or about individuals in diverse social frames. We examine age and change as they interact with personal and social identity in personal diary accounts, in print, on the television and web media, in conversations amongst friends and acquaintances, in interviews and during storytelling. Language and communication are examined as resources for making and interpreting the meanings of ageing, at both the macro (societal) and micro (individual and inter-personal) levels.

Several studies have documented the health-related benefits of older adults' use of computer technology, but before they can be realised, older individuals must be positively inclined and confident in their ability to engage in computer-based environments. To facilitate the assessment of computer technology attitudes, one aim of the longitudinal study reported in this article was to test and refine a new 22-item measure of computer technology attitudes designed specifically for older adults, as none such were available. Another aim was to replicate, on a much larger scale, the successful findings of a preliminary study that tested a computer technology training programme for older adults. Ninety-six older men and women, mainly from non-European-American backgrounds, were randomly assigned to the waitlist/control or the experimental group. The same six-week, one-on-one training was administered to the control subjects at the completion of their post-test. The revised (17-item) version of the Older Adults' Computer Technology Attitudes Scale (OACTAS) showed strong reliability: the results of a factor analysis were robust, and two analyses of covariance demonstrated that the training programme induced significant changes in attitudes and self-efficacy. Such results encourage the recruitment of older persons into training programmes aimed at increasing computer technology attitudes and self-efficacy.

This article aims to examine patterns of innovation in older adults' tourism, and to explore whether innovation is associated with the benefits gained from the overall tourism experience. The study was based on a national mail survey of 298 retirees, who travelled abroad at least once in the year prior to the survey. Results indicated that participants' involvement in new experiences during their last travel abroad was quite high. Factor analysis of new experiences data identified two factors: ‘external innovation’, which included experiences that were associated with the external environment visited; and ‘internal innovation’, which consisted of experiences that were associated with some intrapersonal processes. Cluster analysis conducted on the new experiences' factors identified three groups of older tourists: non-innovators, external innovators and absolute innovators. These groups were differentiated in terms of travel patterns and destination activities. In addition, the absolute innovators reported a significantly higher level of agreement with various benefits statements than the other groups. Examining the findings through the lenses of the Innovation Theory of Successful Ageing helps to explain older adults' tourism experiences. Moreover, since the findings imply that experiencing ‘internal innovation’, rather than ‘external innovation’, amplified their overall tourism experience, this article suggests a new principle to the theory, which should be tested in future research.

Despite the complexity of the retirement process, most research treats it as an abrupt and one-way transition. Our study takes a different approach by examining retirement reversals (unretirement) and their predictors. Using the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008), and following participants into Understanding Society (2010–2015), we undertake a survival analysis to investigate retirement reversals among Britons aged 50–69 years who were born in 1920–1959 (N = 2,046). Unretirement was defined as: (a) reporting being retired and subsequently recommencing paid employment, or (b) beginning full-time work following partial retirement (the latter defined here as reporting being retired and working fewer than 30 hours per week). A cumulative proportion of around 25 per cent of participants experienced a retirement reversal after reporting being retired; about half of these reversals occurred within the first five years of retirement. Unretirement was more common for participants who were male, more educated, in better health, owned a house with a mortgage (compared to owning it outright) and whose partner was in paid work. However, unretirement rates were not higher for participants in greater financial need, whether measured as subjective assessment of finances or household income quintiles. These results suggest that unretirement is a strategy more often used by those who are already advantaged and that it has the potential to exacerbate income inequalities in later life.

This article examines the relationships between support networks, ethnicity and the utilisation of formal care services, taking into account background characteristics and functional health status among 3,403 older people in Israel. Data were drawn from a national survey in 1997 of people aged 60 or more years. The outcome variable was the use of publicly-financed personal care or homemaking services. About 15 per cent of the study population made use of such home care. Six informal support network constellations were identified by applying cluster analysis to key criterion variables that reflect the inter-personal milieu. The resultant network types were: community-clan, family-focused, diverse, friend-focused, neighbour-focused, and restricted networks. Binary logistic regression revealed that the use of formal home-care services was significantly associated with a respondent's age, gender, functional level and informal support network type (Nagelkerke R2=0.39). No association was found between home-care utilisation and a respondent's ethnicity (Arab, Jew, and new Russian immigrant), income or education. The results show that publicly-financed formal care services were utilised more frequently by older-old persons, women, functionally impaired individuals and people embedded in the neighbour-focused and restricted networks (and to a lesser degree, in the diverse and friend-focused networks). Neighbour-focused and restricted network types were characterised by fewer informal support resources at their disposal than the other types. Thus, formal home care was sought more often in cases in which the informal sources of support had less capacity to provide ongoing informal care.

This article comprises a sociological analysis of how architects imagine the ageing body when designing residential care homes for later life and the extent to which they engage empathetically with users. Drawing on interviews with architectural professionals based in the United Kingdom, we offer insight into the ways in which architects envisage the bodies of those who they anticipate will populate their buildings. Deploying the notions of ‘body work’ and ‘the body multiple’, our analysis reveals how architects imagined a variety of bodies in nuanced ways. These imagined bodies emerge as they talked through the practicalities of the design process. Moreover, their conceptions of bodies were also permeated by prevailing ideologies of caring: although we found that they sought to resist dominant discourses of ageing, they nevertheless reproduced these discourses. Architects’ constructions of bodies are complicated by the collaborative nature of the design process, where we find an incessant juggling between the competing demands of multiple stakeholders, each of whom anticipate other imagined bodies and seek to shape the design of buildings to meet their requirements. Our findings extend a nascent sociological literature on architecture and social care by revealing how architects participate in the shaping of care for later life as ‘body workers’, but also how their empathic aspirations can be muted by other imperatives driving the marketisation of care.

Care management has become a key component in the development of community-based care in many countries, and this paper examines the different care management arrangements for older people's services that are now emerging. It has been United Kingdom government policy since 1989 that the providers of social services develop care management systems, as confirmed in the White Paper, Modernising Social Services. The paper opens with the background to the policy changes and a discussion of the role of care management in the British social care system. Secondly, evidence from the early phases of care management development is examined; and thirdly, the evidence from a major national study of care management arrangements for older people on the patterns of variation on key dimensions is considered.

Ageing in Place policies have transferred responsibility for many frail elderly people and those living with dementia from residential to in-home care. Despite this placing a greater obligation on families, in Australia carers continue to under-use day respite services. This qualitative design study identified issues around the use of day respite care from the perspective of the family carer, focusing on barriers to attendance and strategies to facilitate attendance. Telephone interviews were held in 2007 with Tasmanian carers whose family member refused to attend day respite care (ten carers) and those whose family member attended (17). Carers considering day respite care were often overwhelmed by the quantity of information, confused about the process, and worried about the recipient's safety in an unfamiliar environment. They felt anxious about public acknowledgement of the condition leading to fear of embarrassment. Day respite care users appreciated the break it provided them and the opportunity for their family member to socialise. To facilitate a greater uptake of day respite care, reliable information sources and strategies to help carers deal with the emotions they face on a daily basis, together with a wider social acceptance of dementia, are important. Furthermore, carers need an opportunity to talk with others, enabling them to gain support from those who have successfully introduced a family member to day respite care.

Drawing on a qualitative study of thirty-two women aged between 35 and 85, this paper links women's experiences of giving and receiving care in the informal sphere to their wider social and ideological context. While subjects subscribed to cultural assumptions about families, responsibility, gender and old age, they experienced awkwardness in translating them into their own lives. Younger women and women looking back on their middle years experienced contradiction between the cultural expectation that they be responsive to others and their wishes for self-enhancement. Older women experienced contradiction between the cultural imperative to be unburdensome and independent and their wish for security. Feelings of guilt and shame were associated with not living up to these expectations. They rendered subjects' concerns, individual failings and stifled expression of their needs. To facilitate such expression and work towards social policies that enhance women over the life course, it will be necessary to envision alternative types of supportive services and to challenge the ideological barriers to their use that the subjects of this study had so acutely internalised.

Focusing on loss or maintenance of identity in persons with dementia may affect how they are approached and cared for. We performed a longitudinal study of 17 elderly persons with early-stage dementia with the aim of exploring changes in the experience of living with dementia. The major theme – a struggle to be valued – was clearly present in follow-up interviews. However, we observed a gradual shift in the concept of being valued: a shift from ‘being valued for what you do’ toward ‘being valued for who you are’. This progression represents a shift from performance-related core values of identity to those that are existentially related. These findings suggest that the self can be maintained by adjusting to loss.

The authors investigated generativity – the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation – as a mediator of the relationship between family business owners' age and succession in family businesses. Data came from 155 family business owners in Germany from different industries between the ages of 26 and 83 years. Results showed that age was positively related to generativity, and that generativity, in turn, positively influenced an objective measure of family succession. Generativity fully mediated the positive relationship between age and family succession. The findings suggest that generativity is an important psycho-social construct for understanding ageing, careers and succession in family business settings.

Theoretical approaches to conceptualising the notion of generativity have been psychologically or psychosocially based and assume generativity to be a universal phenomenon. Because psychological issues are subsumed within a cultural context, we suggest that generativity is not a universal psychological principle but rather a cultural construct. In this paper we argue that generativity must be analysed as a product of American culture and its embeddedness in individualism. Through an analysis of ethnographically based interviews with 161 older women we illustrate how generative behaviour is inextricably tied to a constellation of American beliefs about the nature of the self, the meaning of death, and attempts to attain immortality that are informed by the ideology of individualism.