Significant demographic changes are transforming the structure of today's American population to include a much larger proportion of older people. Factors such as immigration and changes in marriage, cohabitation, divorce, and childbearing are all affecting the roles of older people and the way in which older people are financially, emotionally, and psychologically supported. These changes also affect the size and composition of the working-age population that provide this support. Through the review of recent literature, the authors examine the implications of these changes and the ways in which they affect age distribution, immigration, increasing longevity, and family change.
Preface; * Societal Influences that Affect Cognitive Functioning in Old Age, Selam Negash and Ronald C. Petersen; * Commentary: Societal Factors in Cognitive Aging: One Eye Wide Shut? Naftali Raz; * Commentary: Societal Influences on Cognition in Historical Context, K. Warner Schaie; * Wisdom in Social Context, Ursula M. Staudinger, Eva-Marie Kessler and Jessica Dorner; * Commentary: The Dynamic Relationship between Age Stereotypes and Wisdom in Old Age, Becca Levy and Corey Pilver; * Social Influences on Adult Personality, Self-Regulation and Health, Daniel K. Mroczek, Avron Spiro III, Shevaun Neupert, and Paul W. Griffin; * Commentary: From Kindling to Conflagration: Self-regulation and Personality Change, Brent W. Roberts; * Commentary: Can Self-Regulation Explain Age Differences in Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Reports of Psychological Distress? David M, Almeida, Michelle Neiss; * Social Norms, Rules of Thumb, and Retirement: Evidence for Rationality in Retirement Planning, Gary Burtless; * Commentary: Modeling the Retirement Decision, Joseph F. Quinn; * Commentary: Numbers are Just Numbers, Ellen Peters; * Race and Self-Regulatory Health Behaviors: The Role of the Stress Response and the HPA Axis in Physical and Mental Health Disparities, James S. Jackson and Katherine M. Knight; * Commentary: Mechanisms of Health Disparities: Variations in Health Care Provider Attitudes and their Impact on Older Minority Adults, Stephanie L. Garrett and Toni P. Miles; * Commentary: Adding Paths to Resilience and Daily Accounts to an Already Rich Field of Inquiry: A Brief Commentary on James Jackson's "Social structure and Health Disparities" Alex J. Zautra, Kate E. Murray, and Brendt P. Parish; Subject Index; Name Index.
