Seminar: Redefining aging and the role of grandparenting

Organized jointly by the Centre for Population Change and the Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Southampton, IIASA Research Scholar Valeria Bordone will give a seminar entitled "Redefining aging: The role of grandparenting". Bordone is part of the Reassessing Ageing from a Population Perspective (Re-Ageing) project team at IIASA that, among other things, ascertains the extent to which advanced societies are actually aging in multiple dimensions, including health, cognitive abilities, and longevity. Within this project, her reasearch focusses on intergenerational relationships, aging and cognitive functioning.

Seminar Abstract

Individual and population aging are usually linked to chronological age. The United Nations conventionally set the threshold for "being old" at the age of 60 or 65, but recent studies have shown that the idea of a static measure of age is changing and dimensions of age other than chronological age are relevant. Under the awareness of aging umbrella, the concept of felt or subjective age accounts for how old a person feels to be. How old persons feel is grounded in the demographic realities around them. Social roles and age-related social categorizations that exist in society can also serve as signals for a person's age evaluation. The role of grandparent is one of the most salient roles in later life and it is considered as an age reminder. In this study we explore the association between several grandparent-related outcomes and felt age: Do grandchildren make you feel older?

Details: 

Date: 23 April 2015, 3.00PM

Location: University of Southampton, 02/1039 (L/T K), United Kingdom

Contact: Seminar Website

Last edited: 08 April 2015