Experimental Social Gerontology: A Social Psychological Perspective

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2, 1980

Experimental Social Gerontology: A Social Psychological Perspective

Richard Schulz

Portland State University

Barbara Hartman Hanusa

Western Psychiatric Institute

Social psychological theories and research methods have been a guiding influence in the study of aging for over three decades. However, in the past the emphasis has been more on the sociological than the psychological components of this approach. Sociologists, guided by theories and methods borrowed from sociology, have been the major contributors of new knowledge. More recently, this approach has been supplemented by another view emphasizing the psychological half of the equation. This approach is characterized by its use of experimental methods and its attempt to generate explanations based ultimately on an understanding of the phenomenology of the aged individual. This latter perspective is discussed here. In particular, the recent research examining the effects of control, perceived choice and enhanced competence on the well-being of the institutionalized aged is reviewed and evaluated.

Social psychological perspectives on aging are certainly not new to gerontology. Many of the important gerontological contributions of the last two decades, such as those of Cumming and Henry (1961), Rosow (1967), and Kuypers and Bengtson (1973), are representative of this perspective, although the emphasis has been more on the “social” than the “psychological.” In particular, the theoretical and methodological origins of these perspectives lie more within sociology than psychology, given the emphasis on structural-functionalist theories, survey research, and the use of correlational analysis methods.

Correspondence regarding this article may be addressed to Richard Schulz, Institute on Aging, Portland State University, Portland, O R 97207.

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EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY 31

More recently, this perspective has been augmented by another view emphasizing the psychological half of the equation. This perspective is characterized by its use of experimental methods and its attempt to generate explanations based ultimately on an understanding of the phenomenology of the individual. The contributions of persons such as Langer and Rodin (1976), Schulz (1976) and, to some extent, Dowd (1975) fall within this tradition and will be the focus of this paper.

Theoretical Origins If one had to identify the central theoretical idea of the

recent contributions to the social psychology of aging, it would have to be the concept of power. Dowd (1975) develops a view of aging as exchange, drawing on the work of Blau (1 964), Emerson (1962) and Homans (1961), and argues that the problems of aging are the consequences of decreasing power resources among the aged. Langer and Rodin (1976) and Schulz (1976), relying on earlier work of Janis (1974), Glass and Singer (1972) and Seligman (1975)’ identify perceived choice and a sense of personal control as the critical determinants of the aged individual’s physical and psychological well-being. This perspective emphasizes the many declines associated with growing old that limit the individual’s ability to exercise control over his or her world.

Support for this view is found in the large quantities of observational and correlational research indicating that decreases in personal autonomy may account for some of the negative effects observed among the aged in general, and institutionalized aged in particular (Schulz, 1976, 1978; Schulz & Brenner, 1977). For example, the available data strongly suggest that a sense of personal control may be an important variable mediating relocation outcomes. In a recent review and analysis of the literature on relocation of the aged, Schulz and Brenner (1977) present a theoretical model that stresses the importance of control and predictability as mediators of relocation outcomes. Briefly, they argue that the response to the stress of relocation is largely determined by (a) the perceived controllability and predictability of the events surrounding a move, and (b) differences in environmental controllability between pre- and post-relocation environments. Support for this model is found in numerous relocation studies where mortality rates are typically used as dependent measures. Available findings indicate that (a) the greater the perceived choice the individual has in being relocated, the less negative the effects of relocation, (b) the more predictable the new environment is,

32 RICHARD SCHULZ AND BARBARA HARTMAN HANUSA

the less negative the effects of relocation, and finally (c) decreases in environmental controllability are associated with negative outcomes and increases in controllability are associated with positive outcomes. One could extend the perceived choice and control analysis to other health related areas such as recovering from coronary disease (Krantz & Schulz, 1980), response to a kidney transplant (Schulz, 1978) and the longevity (Schulz & Aderman, 1973) and physical well-being (Schulz, 1978) of terminal cancer patients.

While the sheer quantity of data implicating the importance of control and predictability as determinants of health-related outcomes is compelling, these data are almost exclusively derived from correlational research. It is not clear whether a sense of control is an antecedent or a consequence of the individual’s physical well-being. Furthermore, since none of the research was specifically designed to test a control model, it is often necessary to make assumptions about the details of studies in order to invoke an interpretation based on such a model. Given the post hoc nature of such an analysis and the fact that this research is primarily correlational, it is necessary to carry out controlled experiments before the importance of control and predictability can be substantiated. Several such experiments have recently been completed. The remainder of this manuscript will be devoted to an examination of these experiments with special attention being paid to two recently completed studies on the relationship between competence and control.

Predictability and Control Schulz (1976) hypothesized that some of the characteristics

frequently observed among the institutionalized aged, such as feelings of depression and helplessness, as well as accelerated physical decline, are at least in part attributable to loss of control and decreased environmental predictability. A field experiment in which institutionalized aged were randomly assigned to one of four conditions was carried out to assess the effects of increased control and predictability upon the physical and psychological well-being of the aged.

Individuals in three of the four conditions were visited by college undergraduates under varying contingencies, while persons in the fourth condition were not visited and served as a baseline comparison group. Subjects in the control enhanced condition could determine both the frequency and duration of visits they received. To assess the effects of predictability, a second


group of subjects (Predict) was informed when they would be visited and how long the visitor would stay, but did not have control over these details. A third group (Random) was visited on a random schedule. Holding amount of visitation and the quality of interaction constant across the three groups, strong support was found for the hypothesis that predictable positive events have a powerful positive impact upon the well-being of the institutionalized aged.

This study was followed by a conceptually similar experiment carried out by Langer and Rodin (1976). In their study an intervention designed to encourage elderly nursing home residents to feel more control and responsibility for day to day events was used. One group of residents was exposed to a talk delivered by the hospital administrator emphasizing their responsibility for themselves. A second group heard a communication which stressed the staff’s responsibility for them as patients. The results of this study indicated that residents in the responsibility induced group became more active and reported feeling happier than the comparison group of residents who were encouraged to feel that the staff would care for them and try to make them happy. Patients in the responsibility induced group also showed significant improvement in alertness and increased participation in nursing home activities.

Data assessing the long term impact of these interventions was recently collected for both studies (Rodin & Langer, 1977; Schulz & Hanusa, 1978). Schulz collected data at 24, 30, and 42 months after the experiment was terminated. The activities director of the retirement home, who was personally familiar with all participants in the study but blind to the conditions subjects were in, provided a variety of ratings for each subject. In general, the results of this study indicated that the effects of the particular interventions used were temporary. Persons who had previously improved in psychological and health status when an important positive event was made either predictable or controllable for them, exhibited significant declines after the study was terminated. These findings stand in sharp contrast to the follow-up results obtained by Rodin and Langer (1977) who found that the positive impact of their intervention persisted over time. Since these data have important applied implications, it is essential to understand the reason for these differences.

Viewed from a theoretical perspective, these data are consistent with an attributional analysis of learned helplessness recently proposed by Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale (1978). According


to this analysis, persons generate reasons for their ability or inability to control outcomes, and these reasons can be classified along three orthogonal dimensions. Two of these dimensions (internal- external, stable-unstable) have been used by attribution theorists (e.g., Weiner, 1974), while the third (global-specific) is introduced as a new dimension by Abramson et al. (1978). Thus, internal causes stem from the individual and external causes from the environment; stable factors are long-lived and recurrent, whereas unstable factors are short-lived and intermittent. Finally, global factors occur across situations, whereas specific factors are unique to a particular context. Abramson et al. (1978) further suggest that each type of attribution has specific consequences for the individual: Attributions to internal-external factors should affect self-esteem; attributions to stable-unstable factors should determine the long-term consequences of a particular experience; and attributions to global-specific factors should determine the extent to which individuals will generalize a particular experience to other situations.

While there is no direct evidence indicating the types of attributions made by individuals in either the Langer and Rodin (1976) or Schulz (1976) studies, the long-term effects in each study can be understood from an attributional perspective. It is likely that the intervention used by Langer and Rodin altered subjects’ self-attributions regarding their ability to control outcomes in an institutional environment. More specifically, the communication delivered to the experimental group emphasizing their responsibility for themselves and their outcomes probably encouraged subjects to make internal, stable, and global attributions (e.g., “I control important outcomes because I am responsible and competent, and this should not change as long as I am here”), and as predicted, the gains evidenced by the experimental group persisted over time.

On the other hand, when increased control is attributed to unstable factors, the long-term impact of such an intervention should be temporary. The results of Schulz’s follow-up study are consistent with this analysis. The intervention used by Schulz probably caused subjects to make external, unstable, specific attributions (e.g., “I can control one outcome; I can do this because someone is allowing me to do it; and I can do it only for a specific period of time”). Feelings of control in this situation are dependent upon the presence of an external agent and should not persist once that agent is removed.

Since the attributional patterns generated in the two studies


may be different on all three dimensions, it is difficult to conclude with certainty that the stability dimension alone accounts for the long-term differences between the two studies, although the Abramson et al. (1978) model would suggest that this is the case.

A second possible explanation for the declines exhibited by subjects in Schulz’s study is that their expectations for apredictable and/or controllable environment were violated by the termination of the study. Subjects’ expectations for controlling or predicting important events in their lives may have been raised by the interventions used and then abruptly violated when the study terminated and experimenters and visitors disappeared. This analysis suggests that the declines might have been avoided had we provided substitute predictable or controllable events and raises numerous ethical issues concerning experimental field research. These are discussed in detail by Schulz and Hanusa (1978).

Generality of Predictability Effect A second experiment (reported in Krantz & Schulz, 1980)

was recently carried out to test the generality of the predictability effect by using a low socio-economic population, and to test one aspect of the relocation model proposed by Schulz and Brenner (1977). It was hypothesized that enhancing the predictability of an institutional environment for new admissions to a long-term care facility for the aged would facilitate adaptation and decrease some of the physical and psychological deficits typically associated with relocation.

Psychologically alert old persons recently admitted to a long- term care facility were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. One-third of the subjects were exposed to a treatment designed to enhance the predictability of the new environment. Subjects in this condition (Relevant Information) received an individualized orientation program that included detailed information about facilities and services available to them, their location within the institution, and directions on how to get to different areas of the hospital. Clearly, such information should make the environment more predictable for these persons.

In order to control for the effects of increased attention given the Relevant Information group, individuals assigned to a second group (Irrelevant Information) were given the same amount of personal attention but did not receive information designed to make their environments more predictable. These patients were told about facilities within the hospital that were irrelevant to their functioning, such as the bakery and laundry.


A third group (No Treatment) received treatment as usual, which included a short orientation to the hospital provided by the social services staff.

Data assessing patients’ level of activity and their physical and psychological status were collected from patients before and after the interventions were completed and from the nursing staff after the interventions were completed. It was found that subjects in the Relevant Information group were more likely to say their emotional health had improved since their arrival than persons in the No Treatment group. Subjects in the Irrelevant Information group were more likely to say that their physical health had improved in the last two weeks than the No Treatment group subjects.

A similar pattern of results was obtained when nurses were asked to rate each person on health status and zest for life. The Relevant Information group was perceived to be healthier than the No Treatment group and both the Relevant and Irrelevant Information groups were judged to be superior to the No Treatment group on ratings obtained on the “Zest for Life” scale. Finally, subjects in the Relevant Information group participated in more activities requiring physical effort than persons assigned to the No Treatment group. Furthermore, the positive effects achieved persisted over time. Eight weeks after the study was completed, the groups provided with predictability enhancing information had exhibited no decline in health or psychological status.

In sum, the three studies and follow-up data have provided information regarding the impact of control and predictability enhancing interventions on the institutionalized aged, the long- term effects of these interventions, the generality of the effect across widely divergent populations, and the relationship between these interventions and individual differences (see Schulz, 1980). While these findings support the general notion that increased control over and predictability of one’s environment have positive effects on the well-being of the aged, it is just as important to note what these data do not allow us to conclude. Since these interventions instigated changes in level of control or predictability among the subjects we can only conclude that the impact on well-being is attributable to increases in control and not to absolute levels of control. This is an important distinction that deserves discussion.

The early experimental research on the effects of control


on the institutionalized aged (e.g., Langer & Rodin, 1976; Schulz, 1976) implied that psychological well-being was related to absolute levels of control: the less control the more unhappy or depressed the individual; hence the argument that the aged, since they experience absolute declines in their ability to control important outcomes, should be more depressed than younger cohorts. This may be true for individuals at the extreme ends of the control continuum. However, for the majority of individuals occupying the middle range of this continuum, well-being is more likely the result of relative changes occurring over a short period of time than absolute levels of control. Put another way, what we are arguing is that individuals have expectations for controlling outcomes largely determined by the individuals’ reference group. It is likely that just as absolute levels of control decline with age so do the expectations for control, and it is only when the level of available control is discrepant from expected levels that positive or negative outcomes result; or alternatively, when the individual undergoes a sudden change in level of control as he or she might as a result of an experimental intervention or a sudden change in environment caused by a relocation, that positive or negative affective states are induced. This analysis has important methodological implications.

It predicts, for example, that survey approaches investigating the relationship between environmental control and well-being may yield little evidence of a relationship between these variables unless the survey is administered during or after some event which altered the individual’s level of control. For example, a survey of individuals residing in different institutional settings varying in the amount of environmental control they allow is unlikely to yield data showing that amount of control is related to level of subjective well-being (e.g., see Zemore & Eames, 1979). According to our point of view this would be true because individuals adapt over time to their setting by adjusting their expectancies for control to reflect those of other individuals in their immediate environment. In short, temporal social comparison processes (e.g., comparing present outcomes, situations, abilities, etc., with past outcomes, situations, and abilities) which may dominate during transition periods are replaced by contemporary social comparison processes (e.g., comparing present outcomes, situations, abilities, etc., with those of similar others in the immediate context). Since experimental studies on the effects of control require by definition some sort of control-related intervention


and hence a change in level of control, the likelihood of finding a relationship between amount of control and affective states in creases.

Competence and Control One persistent theme in much of the completed research

is that the interventions used may not only affect perceptions of environmental control but may also enhance feelings of competence. Thus, both Schulz (1976) and Langer and Rodin (1976) suggested that their control manipulation may have made subjects feel generally more competent. The control enhancing message used by Langer and Rodin (1976), for example, explicitly stated that subjects were responsible for making some important decisions regarding their lives, implying that they were competent enough to make these decisions. We might ask, therefore, what is the relationship between competence and control? The remaining portion of this paper will be devoted to the discussion of two experiments addressing this issue.

Existing laboratory research (Dweck & Reppucci, 1973; Hanusa & Schulz, 1977; Hiroto, 1974) suggests that lack of control is most devastating when it carries with it broad implications about the individual’s self-worth. Conversely, manipulations that increase control and at the same time elevate feelings of competence should have greater and a longer lasting positive impact than control enhancing interventions that do not affect ’ competence attributions. This may account for the differences in long-term effects foundby Rodin and Langer (1977) and Schulz and Hanusa (1978). As was indicated earlier, it is likely that the responsibility intervention used by Langer and Rodin (1976) encouraged subjects to make positive self-attributions while Schulz’s (1976) intervention did little to cause subjects to change their overall self-concept.

Aged individuals may be especially susceptible to competence enhancing interventions because of the decline in physical and psychological functioning typically associated with aging. Schaie and Schaie (1977), for example, have suggested that an aged person’s functioning “could be enhanced if negative fellings about adequacy and perceived value were modified (p. 7 15).” Similarly, Kuypers and Bengtson (1973) suggest that the social breakdown of the elderly, a process whereby the elderly person is defined and eventually views himself as incompetent, can be counteracted by interventions which enhance feelings of competence in three areas: social-role performance, adaptive capacity, and personal feelings of mastery and inner control. Unfortunately, the sugges-


tions offered by Kuypers and Bengtson for operationalizing such interventions have not been rigorously tested. As a result, there is to date no experimental demonstration documenting the effects of competence enhancing interventions.

To help fill this void, an experiment was carried out to test the combined effects of control and competency enhancing interventions on the institutionalized aged. Two levels of competence and two levels of control were manipulated in a 2 X 2 design. In addition, two control groups were run: one to collect baseline data (No Treatment) and a second to assess the effects of increased attention (Attention). It was predicted that being exposed to either the competence or the control enhancing intervention alone would improve outcomes relative to comparison groups who received neither; and that the effects of controlling an important outcome (money) and receiving direct competence enhancing feedback would be additive.

Our choice of conceptual variables as well as their operation- alization was in part basedon amodel recently proposed by Bandura (1977). This model distinguishes between two types of expectations that determine how an individual copes with his or her environment. An outcome expectancy is defined as a person’s estimate that a given behavior will lead to certain outcomes. An efficacy expectation is the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes. According to the model, both types of expectation must exist before coping behaviors will be initiated in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences.

In the present study, efficacy expectations were manipulated by providing subjects with positive performance feedback on a variety of cognitive, motor and social skills tasks. After one or several trials on a given task, subjects in the competence enhanced condition were repeatedly told that they were “better than others their age, better than others within the institution, really good, very impressive” and so on. Subjects assigned to conditions in which competence enhancing feedback was not used were given identical feedback regarding the number of problems solved, etc., but the meaning of this feedback was left ambiguous. Subjects were told that these tasks had never been tested on aged persons before, “so we really don’t know how difficult or easy they are. They may all be very easy or they may be hard.”

Outcome expectancies were manipulated by demonstrating to half the subjects that their performance on the task controlled an important outcome-money. For subjects in the control en-


hanced condition, payment was made to appear contingent upon task performance by giving subjects hospital store coupons after completing one or several trials on a task. Subjects randomly assigned to the low control condition were given an equal number of store coupons, but this was done before performing a task, ostensibly for “helping us with the study.” Thus, the two conditions differed in that one demonstrated to subjects a behavior-outcome relationship while the other did not.

Three types of data assessing the impact of the intervention were collected. First, subjects’ perceptions of contingency and performance expectations served as manipulation checks. Second, health and psychological status, as well as activity level, served as the major dependent variables in the study. Subjects provided self-assessments on these measures and, in addition, were rated by the caretaker staff. Third, subjects were assessed on a variety of cognitive functioning measures to determine to what extent experience with such tasks generalized to new but similar tasks. The data were collected by four interviewers blind to experimental conditions.

Exposure to either the control or competence enhancing interventions alone resulted in equivalent positive impact. That is, these groups were significantly superior to the No Treatment and Attention groups on indicators of health and psychological status. The most compelling feature of the results of this study, however, was that subjects exposed to both the competence and control enhancing interventions were relatively worse off on indicators of health and psychological status than groups exposed to only one of these enhancing manipulations (see Schulz & Hanusa, 1979 for details of analysis and results).

The combination of competence and control enhancing interventions had the desired effect in altering subjects’ self-efficacy expectations but these changes did not generalize to health and psychological status indicators. What might account for this para- doxical effect?

The possibility that increased competence may have negative effects within some contexts has been suggested by Lawton (1975). The adaptation level theory proposed by Lawton focuses on individual competence and environmental press. Press is defined as the demand quality of an environment; it can be either positive or negative and can vary in strength. Whether press is negative or positive depends on whether it elicits adaptive or non-adaptive behaviors. With a given level of press the occurrence of adaptive or non-adaptive behaviors will depend on the individual’s level


of competence. Positive behavior or affect occur when the individual’s level of competence is adequate to deal with the press level of a given environment. Negative behaviors or affect occur when (a) press level is excessively high, making it impossible for an individual of a given level of competence to deal with his or her environment, or (b) press level is excessively low, that is, the environment is not challenging enough for the individual to exercise his perceived level of competence. This latter hypothesis may explain the unexpected results obtained for the group exposed to high levels of the competence and control enhancing interventions. Their perceived competence may have been raised to a level where the environment was unable to provide them with the necessary opportunities to exercise their competence.

One important implication of this interpretation of the data is that environmental context may be a limiting factor on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at the individual. In a very constrained environment such as an institution, person-oriented interventions may have to be supplemented with changes in the environment for maximal benefits to the individual. On the other hand, this is unlikely to be a problem in environments that offer a wide latitude in levels of competence they can accommodate. It should therefore be possible to demonstrate additive effects for control and competence enhancing interventions in uncon- strained environments. To test the latter notion we conducted a conceptual replication of the previous experiment in a college environment. (A detailed description of the method and results are presented in Schulz & Hanusa, 1979.)

The results of this experiment supported the hypothesis that within a college environment the combined effects of control and competence enhancing interventions are greater than the impact of either intervention alone. For several dependent variable measures, persons exposed to both the high competence and the high control intervention exhibited greater positive gains than other treatment groups or the baseline comparison groups. These findings stand in sharp contrast to the results obtained in the experiment where aged subjects exposed to similar interventions exhibited declines relative to other treatment groups.

What might account for these different outcomes? While there are many important differences between the two experiments, perhaps the most notable is the environmental context in which these interventions were carried out. It was suggested earlier that a college environment provides a very wide range of opportunities for exercising individual competencies and there may therefore


be no upper limit to the impact of competence and control enhancing interventions. The opportunities to exercise individual competence in a long-term care facility for the aged are undoubtedly more limited. With the exception of participating in some recreational activities and interacting with other patients, there are few opportunities that would challenge persons of moderate or high levels of perceived competence.

Persons in a college environment have the additional option of moving from one micro-environment to another. An individual whose level of competence is enhanced can choose to participate in more complex and challenging micro-environments or, if a particular micro-environment is too challenging, can choose to retreat to one that is more commensurate with his or her abilities. Aged persons residing in public long-term care facilities are essentially captives in their environment. They frequently have no choice but to make do with whatever opportunities their micro-environment offers. As a result, it is not uncommon to find that some of the most capable persons in such institutions are also some of the most dissatisfied and unhappy.

What can we say about the applied implications of these data? More specifically, do these findings challenge the desirability of using competence enhancing interventions with the institutionalized aged? At the least, the data suggest that close attention must be paid to contextual factors so that competency levels are appropriately matched with environmental opportunities. Ideally, interventions aimed at improving self-concept should, if necessary, be accompanied by appropriate environmental alterations. Unfor- tunately, specifying the type of environmental opportunities suffi- cient for a given level of competence will undoubtedly prove to be a difficult task, although some headway is being made on this front by researchers such as Lawton (1975), Kahana (1975) and Moos, Gauvain, Lemke and Mehren (Note 1).

Finally, there exists the theoretical possibility that competence enhancing interventions will raise an individual’s self-concept to unrealistically high levels. Attempts to exercise these competencies may result in failure experiences whose net impact is likely to be damaging to the individual.

Much of the theory and research in the past decade has emphasized the negative effects of loss of perceived control and competence on individual functioning and, by implication, has emphasized the benefits to be derived from increased control and enhanced competence. The research reported here suggests that we take a closer look at the potential impact of increasing


perceived control and competence, paying special attention to the context in which this is done. There may be a real danger in making a person “too competent” or in giving him or her freedoms that constrain rather than liberate.

General Applications Since all of this research was carried out in institutional settings

with an eye toward the problems of institutionalization, the most appropriate arena for application is the institution, particularly those which cater to the infirm aged. However, the studies reported here were also designed to test broad theoretical ideas and, to the extent that they succeeded, should have broad areas of application.

At the most general level, this research has wide application with respect to the treatment of the aged. For instance, the data show that the negative impact of a stressor on the aged can be alleviated by making that stressor predictable and/or controllable. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in the laboratory with younger subjects but applies equally well to the aged in natural settings. Relocation of the aged represents one concrete arena for application. Indeed, the importance of predictability as a variable mediating relocation outcomes has even been brought into legal and political arenas. Several lawsuits have recently been initiated against government and private agencies, arguing that aged individuals being moved from one institution to another have a right to receive 30 days notice and other preparatory information. Furthermore, this item appears as part of the Bill of Rights for the aged recently submitted to the Oregon State legislature.

Relocation and institutionalization represent only one type of stressor frequently encountered by the aged. A more common and often more devastating stressor encountered by the aged is a major loss, whether it be a loved one or an abrupt decline in physical ability or sensory capacity. While it is impossible to make such events predictable, they can be prepared for with a variety of contingency plans. For example, the dread of a long and painful terminal decline in oneself or in someone close to us can in part be alleviated by being aware of the options (e.g., narcotic drugs for pain, psychological counseling, hospice facilities, etc.) available under such circumstances. Simply knowing how others respond to and cope with similar situations may provide important control enhancing skills, particularly if such information is acquired before the stressor is encountered.


A related area of application concerns the matching of environmental opportunities with individual capacities. Ideally, it should be possible to assess the range of an individual’s abilities and shape the environment to facilitate their use. Short of this, one can still take stock of available opportunities and match them as closely as possible with an individual’s skills. In particular, our findings suggest that institutionalized aged individuals who possess high levels of ability and have good morale when institutionalized are most in need of opportunities to exercise their competencies. Without such opportunities these persons are likely to be devastated by institutional environments. In general, the development of home care programs aimed at keeping the aged out of long-term care institutions appears to be a step in the right direction.

Lest we present a distorted view of aging and institutionalization, it should be noted that only a small proportion (5%) of the aged resides in long term care institutions, although a consid- erably larger group will spend at least some time in an institution before dying. A second, often overlooked point, deserves men- tioning as well. Much has been written about the passivity of the institutionalized aged and those characteristics of institutional settings responsible for these outcomes. An alternative point of view, though, is that passivity among the aged is a response style independent of setting. This might be the case for several reasons. Increased passivity and withdrawal may be a general response to aging in a high technology society as suggested by disengagement theory. Second, today’s aged may, as a group, be more passive when compared to the young, reflecting different life experiences, values and attitudes. Finally, since being institutionalized is a selective process favoring the frail and unattached elderly, it is possible that institutional populations were more passive to begin with when compared to others within their cohort, if we can assume that there may be a relationship between a physical attribute such as frailty and a psychological construct such as passivity.

While we would not deny the potential and often real negative impact of institutional environments, the previous analysis suggests that (a) we recognize and pursue other causal factors for negative outcomes, and (b) we recognize the possibility that attributes such as passivity are not necessarily negative; they may be useful adaptive strategies for some aged individuals.

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Experimental Social Gerontology: A Social Psychological Perspective

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