Aging in the culture of the Kazakh people: psychological analysis of gerotranscendence factors

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of cultural and historical determinants of aging relevant to the psychology of development and gerontology. The comparative analysis of the perception of old age in the culture of the Kazakh people in different historical periods is carried out. Existential-psychological analysis of old age perception on the example of Kazakh scholar Abay as a phenomenon of individual life and meaning perspective is briefly presented. L. Thornstam’s meta-theory of gerotranscendence as a result of evolution of paradigms of psychology of aging describing the progressive mechanism of de- velopment at the late stages of ontogenesis is touched upon, also it was taken as a basis for empirical research of influence of socio-demographic factors on gerotranscendence in Kazakh people. The re- sults of research have shown significant distinctions concerning respondents who have families. In mar- ried couples the level of gerotranscendence changes was significantly higher than in respondents living alone. The relationship between the personal dimension and the level of education was found, i.e. the results showed that the higher a person’s education, the higher the level of gerotranscendence he/she demonstrates. And also the factor of the place of residence or region demonstrates some influence on the development of gerotranscendence. Thus, respondents living in metropolitan cities had a significantly higher overall index of the level of gerotranscendence than respondents living in cities-regions. No cor- relations or significant differences in gender and age aspects were found in the study.

Key words: aging, old age, hero-transcendence, personal dimension, social dimension, generalized

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