Implicit theories of aging : managing professional development
Date
1997
Authors
Martin, Ronald Ralph
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Abstract
Younger (n = 21 , aged 23 to 39 yrs.), middle-aged (n = 23, aged 40 to 59 yrs.) and older (n = 23, aged 62 to 84 yrs.) pharmacists and novices (younger: n = 21 , aged 24 to 39 yrs.; middle-aged: n = 27, aged 41 to 58 yrs.; older: n = 17, aged 62 to 86 yrs .) were asked to describe their beliefs about how the work-related abilities of an aging pharmacist would change across time. Participants were also asked for their beliefs about how the aging pharmacist could compensate for declines in work-related abilities, as well as the effectiveness of those compensatory strategies. Results revealed that decline-oriented beliefs were significantly more prevalent than improvement-oriented beliefs for all participants. Pharmacists and novices indicated beliefs which parallel realistic age-related changes established in the cognitive aging literature (e.g., sensory, cognitive, and physical declines were expected). However, pharmacists were less likely than novices to comment on declines in work-related expertise, and more likely to comment on work-related improvements. Significant differences in the degree of differentiation present in participant's decline-oriented responses reflected the pharmacists' greater degree of pharmacy-related knowledge and experience. Analyses also revealed that work-related problems that were perceived to be more difficult to overcome (e.g., performance on speeded tasks) were also rated as being less controllable. In contrast, problems that were perceived to be easier to overcome (e.g., difficulties with pharmacy-related expertise) were rated as being more controllable. With respect to beliefs about compensation, pharmacists selected certain compensatory forms more frequently than others. The forms of compensation were rank-ordered from most to least frequently selected, as follows: remediation, accommodation, assimilation, selection, and substitution (see Dixon & Backman, 1995 for definitions). Pharmacists indicated a clear preference for remediative compensatory efforts, whereas novices indicated that selection and accommodation were perceived to be more effective. The adaptiveness and practicality of these preferences is discussed in terms of what is understood about patterns in cognitive aging. Limits of generalizability and implications for managing professional careers are discussed.