Successful Aging as Management of Resources: The Role of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation

Abstract

One of the central tenets of life-span psychology is that the process of development entails gains and losses that occur over the entire life span. Thus, Paul and Margret Baltes (1990) conceptualized successful aging as a lifelong process of maximizing gains and minimizing losses by means of three processes: selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC). This article reviews empirical studies that have investigated the use of SOC during adulthood with different methodological approaches and have found evidence for the importance of SOC for successfully managing one's resources. The article highlights the importance of prioritizing goals (selection) according to their importance for increasing gains (optimization) and avoiding losses (compensation) in consideration of currently available resources. Age-related changes in resource availability and time perspective can also result in a shift in goal orientation towards gains or losses and in goal focus on the process or the outcome of goal pursuit. Taken together, the action-theoretical approach to the SOC framework suggests that selection, optimization, and compensation can be seen as key concepts for understanding successful aging.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest thanks go to the person who stimulated and guided this research with intellectual vigor, enthusiasm, and a vision of successful aging: Paul B. Baltes. The research reported in this article owes a great deal to the members of the SOC project at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, foremost Natalie C. Ebner, Michaela Riediger, and Bettina S. Wiese. I would also like to thank Tamara Herz for carefully editing the manuscript.