In the typology of F. Giese, three types of old people and old age are distinguished:
1) an old negativityist who denies any signs of old age;
2) an extroverted old man, recognizing the onset of old age through external influences and by observing changes (young people have grown up, disagreement with them, the death of loved ones, a change in their position in the family, changes-innovations in the field of technology, social life, etc. );
3) an introverted type, which is characterized by an acute experience of the aging process. A person does not show interest in the new, is immersed in memories of the past, is inactive, strives for peace, etc.
I.S. Kon identifies the following socio-psychological types of old age Kon I.S. Constancy of personality: myth or reality? / In the book: Reader in psychology / Comp. V.V. Mironenko; Ed. A.V. Petrovsky.- M., 1987.:
The first type is active creative old age, when veterans, leaving for a well-deserved rest, continue to participate in public life, in educating young people, etc. — they live a full-blooded life without experiencing any kind of inferiority.
The second type of old age is characterized by the fact that pensioners are engaged in activities for which they simply did not have time before: self-education, recreation, entertainment, etc. Those. this type of old people is also characterized by good social and psychological adaptability, flexibility, adaptation, but the energy is directed mainly at oneself.
The third type (and these are predominantly women) finds the main application of their strength in the family. And since homework is inexhaustible, women who do it simply have no time to mope, get bored. However, as psychologists note, life satisfaction in this group of people is lower than in the first two.
The fourth type is people whose meaning of life is taking care of their own health. Various forms of activity and moral satisfaction are connected with this. At the same time, there is a tendency (more often in men) to exaggerate their real and imaginary illnesses, increased anxiety.
Along with the selected prosperous types of old age, I.S. Kohn also draws attention to the negative types of development:
a) aggressive, old grumblers, dissatisfied with the state of the world around them, criticizing everyone except themselves, teaching everyone and terrorizing with endless claims;
b) disappointed in themselves and their own lives, lonely and sad losers, constantly blaming themselves for real and imaginary missed opportunities, thereby making themselves deeply unhappy.
A rather original interpretation is given by A. Kachkin, a sociologist from Ulyanovsk. He divides older people into types depending on the interests that dominate their lives:
- Family type — aimed only at the family, its well-being.
- Lonely type. The fullness of life is achieved mainly through communication with oneself, one’s own memories (a variant of loneliness together is possible).
- Fading type. A person who could not or did not want to compensate for the former fullness of life with some new occupation, did not find application for his strength.
- Sick type. People of this orientation are busy not so much maintaining their own health as monitoring the course of their diseases. Many old people become deviants; people of deviant behavior (drunkards, vagrants, suicides).
- religious type.
- The political type fills his life with participation (active or passive) in political life.
- Creative type. It does not have to be engaged in artistic creativity, this type can realize itself in the garden.
- Social type — a retired social worker, engaged in socially useful deeds and events.
In her theory of development, the French psychologist Charlotte Buhler identifies five phases of development; the last, fifth phase begins at the age of 65-70. The author believes that during this period, many people stop pursuing the goals that they set for themselves in their youth. The remaining forces they spend on leisure, quietly living the last years. At the same time, they review their life, experiencing satisfaction or disappointment. A neurotic person usually experiences disappointment, because a neurotic does not know how to rejoice at success at all, he is never satisfied with his achievements, it always seems to him that he did not receive something, that he was not given enough. With age, these doubts intensify.
The eighth crisis (E. Erickson) or the fifth phase (Sch. Buhler) mark the end of the previous life path, and the resolution of this crisis depends on how this path was passed. A person sums up, and if he perceives life as an integrity, where neither subtract nor add, then he is balanced and calmly looks into the future, as he understands that death is the natural end of life. If a person comes to the sad conclusion that life was lived in vain and consisted of disappointments and mistakes, now irreparable, then he is overtaken by a feeling of powerlessness. The fear of death comes.
However, the fear of death is a purely human feeling, not a single animal has this, which is why it can be overcome. Philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle, sought to overcome the tragedy of death, to free a person from the fear of it. The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus gave a simple and witty argument against the fear of death: “Death does not really exist for a person, he “does not meet” with it. As long as it exists, there is no death. When it is there, it is not. Therefore, she should not be afraid. Francis Bacon remarked on the same occasion: “People are afraid of death, like little children in the dark… But the fear of it as an inevitable tribute to nature is a weakness.”