“Getting Used to It, but Still Unwelcome”: A Grounded Theory Study of Physical Identity Development in Later Life

Bora Jin and Elizabeth A. Roumell
Additional contact information
Bora Jin: The Gerontology Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Elizabeth A. Roumell: Department of Educational Administration & Human Resource Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-20

Abstract: Given the global trends toward an aging society and the increased desire for healthy aging in late life, this study examines older adults’ perceptions of aging and their physical identity through their engagement in physical activities. Adopting a grounded theory, we interviewed 15 individuals aged 65 years and older, who were involved in physical activities on a regular basis. This study provided a final model depicting (a) divergent and convergent modes of strategies and socioemotional aspects of physical identity development in later life and (b) different strategies employed between younger-old versus older-old age groups and between participants who have underlying health conditions and those who do not. These findings add a contextual explanation of identity development in later life and stress the recurring process of physical identity development.

Keywords: perception of aging; physical activity; physical change; identity process; coping strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9557/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9557/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9557-:d:632978

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().