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‘What Can I Plan at This Age?’ Expectations Regarding Future and Planning in Older Age

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  • Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková

    (Charles University, Czech Republic)

  • Eva Soares Moura

    (Charles University, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Time has become one of the most researched topics in the field of sociological, but especially psychological, research. While broad attention has been paid to the impact of chronological age on planning and the perception of time, much less is known about these processes in (advanced) old age. Drawing on 30 in-depth qualitative interviews with people aged above 70 years (half of which are conducted with people aged above 80 years), this article explores the type of plans people make in older age and how they relate to the idea of planning face-to-face the shortening time perspective. This research indicates the significant ambivalences in how older people relate to plans and the future. While making short-term plans represents an essential part of their lives, the participants problematise the idea of planning as unreasonable concerning their chronological age. Two dominant approaches to formulating plans are identified: (1) framing future plans referring to the future achievement of a loved one and (2) emphasising ‘living in the present’. The findings also indicate that the social imaginary of the fourth age plays a vital role in how older adults frame the time ahead of them. In conclusion, we summarise our findings and argue that mortality represents just one of the horizons accompanied by other possible milestones structuring the time remaining and redefining the meanings attached to such time.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková & Eva Soares Moura, 2024. "‘What Can I Plan at This Age?’ Expectations Regarding Future and Planning in Older Age," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(1), pages 120-136, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:29:y:2024:i:1:p:120-136
    DOI: 10.1177/13607804231158989
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chris Gilleard & Paul Higgs, 2015. "Social death and the moral identity of the fourth age," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 262-271, September.
    2. Michael Anderson & Frank Bechhofer & Lynn Jamieson & David McCrone & Yaojun Li & Robert Stewart, 2002. "Confidence amid Uncertainty: Ambitions and Plans in a Sample of Young Adults," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(4), pages 44-60, February.
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