Cultural Scripting of Age Identity and Its Consequences

Abstract

This article presents an innovative view of aging and some consequences of solely using the culturally scripted norm of chronological age or calendar age (CA) for measuring age identity. The author distinguishes CA from a more individualized age (IA) that is often unaccounted for in studies of aging and that provides for some degree of age autonomy. He briefly reviews three main ways of measuring age identity and some of their consequences: (1) The cultural norm does not account for age autonomy or the diversity of individualized aging in people with the same CA level, (2) it disallows persons from taking ownership of their IA, and (3) it can contribute to the negative effects of agism. The article concludes with a call for a social movement referred to as “Old Lives Matter,” and the author maintains that the culturally scripted age norm should be adjusted for one’s level of age autonomy. This would result in more socially just decision making and a more positive, holistic approach to dealing with the aging population.

Keywords:

• Aging
• age identity
• chronological or calendar age (CA)
• biological age
• individualized age (IA)
• cultural scripting
• age autonomy
• body script
• agism
• mortality

Disclosure Statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Leonard P. Campos

Leonard P. Campos received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Michigan State University in 1963 and a Diplomate from the American Board of Professional Psychology in 1983. In 1971 he received his Teaching Member certification from the ITAA. He is now retired but is available as a transactional analysis consultant. He is the author of two introductory transactional analysis primers and a redecision therapy primer. Leonard can be reached at 1606 Oakview Dr., Roseville, California 95661, United States; email address: [email protected]; website: http://www.TA-doctor.com. This article was originally presented in a workshop on 2 August 2019 at the ITAA/USATAA/Southeast Institute 50th Anniversary Conference on “Promoting Equality and OKness,” Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, with the title “A Transactional Analytic View of Age Scripting.”