P7

• The Social Exchange Theory views social interactions as a cost-benefit exchange, where individuals selectively maintain or withdraw from social ties based on perceived rewards and costs. Older adults may decide to continue relationships based on the value and satisfaction derived from them
• The Activity Theory suggests that maintaining high levels of activity and engagement in various aspects of life, including social interactions, contributes to positive aging experiences. It emphasizes the importance of staying connected, finding new roles, and replacing lost ones for successful aging
• Individuals transitioning from the young (in-group) to the old (out-group) manage ageism, according to Social Identity Theory by employing social mobility by attempting to stay in the young group, social creativity by embracing positive aspects of the new group, or social competition by challenging stereotypes and creating a more positive image for the new group
• The three stages of Social Identity Theory (SIT) are social categorization, social identification, and social comparison. In the context of ageism, individuals categorize themselves and others based on age (in-group vs. out-group), identify with age-related characteristics, and compare their in-group positively while holding negative stereotypes about the out-group, reinforcing ageist attitudes
• Ageism negatively affects older adults by influencing their health over time, impacting life expectancy, and contributing to negative self-perceptions. Perceived age discrimination can lead to increased stress, weakened immune systems, and shorter lifespans. Older adults with optimistic perceptions of aging tend to live longer
• Belief in negative stereotypes about aging impacts memory. In a 38-year longitudinal study, researchers found that memory performance decline was 30% greater for older adults who held negative aging stereotypes
• Negative attitudes towards aging include perceiving old age as the worst years of life due to health issues, physical decline, loneliness, and financial problems. Other negative stereotypes include beliefs about mental decline, lack of sexual activity, and the ineffectiveness of older workers
• People may self-identify with a particular social group or may be prescribed to the social group by the dominant culture. The group (or groups) to which a person belongs is the in-group. Those who do not fit in the in-group belong to the out-group.
• Social categorization we assign people to either the in-group or the out-group (e.g., females versus male; young versus old), 
• Social identification - individuals in the in-group comply to the “defined” characteristics, beliefs, traits, abilities, or disabilities
• Social comparison individuals in the in-group compare their group membership to those in the out-group. We tend to view their in-groups in a positive light and hold stereotypes and negative attitudes toward those individuals in the out-group; this makes them feel good to be a member of the in-group and enhances their self-worth
• What is interesting when applying SIT to ageism is that the young people in the in-group will eventually move out of the in-group into the out-group of older adults
• The study on honey bees linked cognitive aging to social roles by examining the olfactory acquisition performance in foragers with different foraging durations. Foragers with longer durations showed a decline in olfactory acquisition performance compared to those with shorter durations, indicating that social tasks, rather than chronological age, influenced cognitive aging
• The study demonstrated that social roles, specifically the demanding nature of foraging tasks, had a complex influence on different parameters of associative learning. Same-aged nurse bees, with a less demanding social role, showed no decline in associative learning, suggesting that cognitive aging in honey bees is influenced by the complexity of their social tasks
• Personality is a relatively enduring set of characteristics that define an individual's individuality and influence their interactions with the environment and other people. Personality encompasses traits, motivations, emotions, coping strategies, and more
• The answer to the question, "What happens to personality as we go through adulthood and into old age?" depend on the type of continuity or change being studied, the specific personality factor of interest, the age of the adults being studied, their life experiences, genetic makeup, and the way the data are gathered
• Early developmental theorists like Freud, Jung, and Erikson believed that aspects of adult life, including personality, are dynamic and evolve throughout the lifespan in predictable ways. Their theories were based on specific changes at specific ages resulting from the resolution of tension between competing forces in life
• The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality, also known as the "Big Five Model," was proposed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa in 1987. It includes the personality factors of Neuroticism (N), Extraversion (E), Openness (O), Agreeableness (A), and Conscientiousness (C).
• Differential continuity refers to the stability of individuals' rank order within a group over time. Studies suggest that personality traits remain moderately stable throughout adulthood, with increasing stability as individuals age
• 1.     Differential continuity explores whether individuals who are, for example, highly extraverted at one point in time remain among the most extraverted individuals at another point in time