The four-dimensional model of mindful sustainable aging: a holistic alternative

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of psychosocial theories and their central arguments about aging 1942–2009.

Theory	Emerged	Founder(s)	Central argument about old people and aging	Comments
Role theory	1942	Cottrell	Age entails a series of (often age-appropriate) roles. Our social roles strongly define our self-concept and determine our behavior.	Role losses late in life threaten the self-concept and self-esteem.
Psychosocial develop. theory	1950	Erikson	Personality (“ego-identity”) develops through the resolution of a series of “identity crises” that arise in one´s engagement with the social environment.	The challenge of old age is to accept and find meaning in the life the person lived.
Activity theory	1953	Havighurst & Albrecht	Maintaining or replacing midlife roles promotes well-being.	Many older people lack the physical, emotional, social and economic resources to maintain active roles in society.
Disengagement theory	1961	Cummins & Henry	Older people require lower levels of activity, more passive roles, and less frequent interaction, and are more preoccupied with their inner lives.	Some older individuals may wish to disengage from mainstream society; this is not necessarily a process to be expected from all aged persons.
Subculture of aging theory	1962	Rose	Older people should maintain a subculture that is most adapted to their needs and interests in order to maximize well-being.	Combines role theory (e.g., engage in roles appropriate to the age), activity theory (e.g., doing activity in groups of pensioners) disengagement theory (e.g., moving into a subculture with less occupied roles in the society.
Modernization theory	1965	Cowgill & Holmes	Industrialization and urbanization lead to a loss of key roles for old people. This in turn leads to a devaluation of older people´s contributions and older people themselves. Old people are valued less then young.	Recent evidence of such devaluation comes from modern Japan, India and Taiwan.
Age stratification theory	1971	Riley, Johnson & Foner	Focuses on structural, demographic and historical characteristics and tells us how different age groups (cohorts, strata) respond or react to social context and change.	Age-normative systems of expectations and rewards can produce difficulties across generations in understanding each other´s behavior e.g., with regard to finances or lifestyle.
Socio-environmental theory	1972	Gubrium	Older people create their own meaning for their life and their own reality of aging. A phenomenological perspective on aging.	Different physical and social contexts influence how such meaning-making manifests.
Ecological model of aging	1973	Lawton & Nahemow	This theory draws attention to the significance of the interaction between the person and the environment (social physical) for the aging experience; The Person-Environment fit.	“Aging well” involves maximizing the person (P) – environment (E) interchange; Model update as ‘Ecological theory of aging (Wahl et al. 2012)
Social Breakdown theory	1973	Bengtson & Kuypers	Negative stereotypes of aging and old people within the society adversely affect the self-concept of an older person.	This results in a “downward spiral” as older people accept the stereotype of old people being incompetent and useless to society, and behave accordingly.
Social Exchange theory	1975 1980	Dowd	The shift in opportunity structures, roles, and skills that accompanies aging means that older people and younger people have different levels of resources, leading to power differentials in social and personal interactions.	Withdrawal and social isolation can be seen as manifestations of an unequal exchange process between old persons and other members of society, rather than a result of choice.
Political Economy of aging	1979	Estes	Structural factors – age, class, gender, race, ethnicity – are barriers that limit opportunities, choices and experience in later life, reinforced by the actions of dominant groups within society.	Unbounded capitalism results in a loss of power and autonomy for old persons.
Life Course theory	1984 1985	Dannefer Elder	A sequence of socially-defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time. Incorporates the effects of history, social structures and individual meaning.	Events and roles do not proceed in a given sequence; individuals experience age-differentiated social phenomena that are distinct from life-cycle or life-span stages.
Continuity theory	1989	Atchley	With aging there is consistency in the manifestation of the self; an individual’s disposition becomes more pronounced or resists change.	Well-being arises from substituting similar types of roles for lost ones and maintaining typical ways of adapting to the environment.
Socio-emotional selectivity	1993	Carstensen	Fewer peripheral relationships but close social relationship are stable during later life. Social network are reduced not by default but by active shaping.	This theory holds that older adults are better able to control emotions and have more positive and fewer negative emotional experiences.
Gerotranscendence theory	1996	Tornstam	Life satisfaction in later life is maximized through a shift from an outward to inward orientation, from materialist-rationalist to cosmic-transcendent perspective, and reframing of reality.	Draws ideas from Erikson stage theory and what late life is about, but also from dis-engagement theory’s focus on the inner life more than outer reality.

Adapted from: Bengtson, V.L. (2014, June); Heinz et al. (2017); Jett (2012).

Table 2. Overview of the psychodynamic schools and their different directions, 1890–1940.

Direction	Emerged	(Co) Founder(s)	Core Ideas	Basic drives
Psychoanalysis	1896	Freud (1856–1939)	Freud asserts that all behavior is motivated	“Will to pleasure”
			by instinctual drives forced by sexuality and
			aggression. These drives are primarily active
			at the unconscious, id, level of the personality
			which, along with the superego and ego, makes
			up the three main structures of the personality.
			The aim of psychoanalytic therapy is to release
			repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. to make
			the unconscious conscious.
Individual psychology	1912	Adler (1870–1937)	Adler holds the idea that the human ego	“Will to power”
			is a fixed and united entity and is not composed
			of different parts, as Freud postulates. This fixed
			unity is kept up by the human striving toward
			synthesis and integration within the society.
Analytic psychology	1914	Jung (1875–1961)	A core idea in Jung´s psychology is the Self.	“Will to individuate”
			Jung stresses the idea that there are three levels
			of the Self: the conscious mind (ego), the
			unconscious mind, divided into the personal
			unconscious (repression) and the collective
			unconscious (inherited materials). The overarching
			goal of Jungian psychology is the attainment
			of self through individuation.
Object relation psychology	1930s	Klein (1882–1960)	Object relation theory focuses on the internalization	“Will to attachment”
			of interpersonal relations, their contribution to normal
			and pathological ego and superego development, and
			the mutual influences of intrapsychic and interpersonal
			object-relations. One of the goals in this theory is to
			alleviate the early anxieties and the harshness
			of internalized objects and inner persecutors.
Existential psychology	1930s	Frankl (1905–1997)	Existential psychology, i.e., logotherapy, is concerned	“Will to meaning”
			with the neurotic mode of being, in particular an
			awareness of human responsibility. Frankl asserts
			that humans become conscious of something spiritual
			or existential, contrary to psychoanalysis, which
			views the conscious from the instinctual. Frankl emphasizes
			the human as a spirit being, and the search for meaning as
			something to be discovered by humans. Logotherapy aims
			inter alia to help humans find their meanings in life.
Neo-analytic psychology	1930s	Fromm (1900–1980)	According to Fromm, the goal of humans is to be	“Will to being”
			free from the (evil) society. Paradoxically, this freedom is
			something that frightens and becomes a threat for the human.
			Either we embrace the freedom or we escape from it.
			Fromm makes a distinction between to have and to be;
			a productive psychological orientation in this regard
			is “state of being.”
Ego psychology	1940s	Erikson (1902–1994)	Erikson hearkened back to the legacy of Freud and	“Will to maturate”
			stressed the role of the ego as being more than
			a servant of the id. In Erikson´s stage of
			development the ego is the core concept that can
			develop either positively or negatively, according
			to the eight different stages. Among old persons,
			integrity is the positive pole or solution of the crisis
			and despair the opposite of the last stage of ego
			development. A goal for humans to strive for is to
			become integrated and reach wisdom.

Figure 1. The four-dimensional model of MSA. The MSA model illustrates the interplay of the four dimensions biological, psychological, social and spiritual. These four dimensions consist of eight components: activeness, bodily awareness, changeable, vigorous, dynamic, mental alertness, social support and spiritual support. Each dimension can be affected and strengthened by mindfulness and Buddhist teachings.

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Heinz, M., Coned, N., da Rosa, G., Bishop, A. J., & Finchum, T. (2017). Examining supportive evidence for psychosocial theories of aging within the oral history narratives of centenarians. Societies, 7(8), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc7020008

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