No Historical Change in Views on Aging and Their Correlates: Emerging Evidence From Germany and the United States

To examine historical changes in views on aging, we compared matched cohorts of older adults within two independent studies that assessed differences across a two-decade interval, the Berlin Aging Studies (BASE, 1990/93 vs. 2017/18, each n = 256, Mage = 77) and the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS, 1995/96 vs. 2013/14, each n = 848, Mage = 67). Consistent across four different dimensions of individuals’ subjective views on aging (age felt, age appeared, desired age, attitudes towards own aging) in the Berlin Aging Studies and corroborated with subjective age felt in the MIDUS, there was no evidence whatsoever that older adults of today have more favorable views on how they age than older adults did two decades ago. We discuss reasons for our findings, including the possibility that individual age views may have become increasingly decoupled from societal age views.

DISSECTING IMPLICIT MEANING IN TEMBANG DOLANAN: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

This article uses discourse analysis to examine dolanan songs such as Sluku-Sluku Bathok, Cublak-Cublak Suweng, Lir-Ilir, Gundul-Gundul Pacul, and Kloso Bedah. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative method so that the data can be described as clearly and objectively as possible by the researchers' subjective views. To avoid bias on the validity of the research results, triangulation was carried out by comparing the researchers' interpretations with some supporting literature. The result of this research is that five dolanan songs contain many meanings. The songs offer a deep meaning about the condition of the environment that grows around it to increase the value of character, good behavior, the environment - especially cleanliness, health, and religious life. The character values are conveyed through satire or humor. Dolanan songs have meanings, both explicit and implicit, about this life. These songs are neatly arranged both in terms of structural both physically and mentally. Javanese children's songs contain poetry filled with language games, such as alliteration, assonance, poetry, and rhythm.

Health and Subjective Views on Aging: Longitudinal Findings from the ActiFE Ulm Study

Objectives Previous research supports that subjective views on aging (VoA), such as older subjective age (SA) and negative attitudes toward own aging (ATOA) go along with negative outcomes. A differentiated treatment of health and disease as antecedents of VoA is largely lacking. Therefore, our objective was to estimate the relationship between generally framed physical, affective, and cognitive health as well as specific diseases and VoA, operationalized both as SA and ATOA. Methods Data was drawn from the ActiFE-Ulm study for which a representative sample of community-dwelling older people (65-90 years) was recruited at baseline. Follow-ups were conducted 7.7 years (median) after recruitment (N=526). Health and disease related data at baseline, based on established assessment procedures for epidemiological studies, were regressed on VoA (1-item SA indicator, 5-item ATOA scale) measures at follow-up. Results Reported severity of affective health problems such as depression was the strongest general risk-factor for both older SA and negative ATOA. Also, some but not all major diseases considered were associated with VoA. Notably, back pain predicted negative ATOA, while cancer was associated with older SA. Rheumatism was linked with more negative ATOA along with higher SA. Throughout analyses, explained variance in ATOA was considerably higher than in SA. Conclusions Affective health problems, such as depression, should be regarded as a major correlate of subjective aging views. Interestingly, diseases do not have to be life-threatening to be associated with older SA or negative ATOA.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Self-Perception of Aging Among Older Adults

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a pattern of physical distancing worldwide, particularly for adults aged 65+. Such distancing can evoke subjective feelings of negative self-perception of aging (SPA) among older adults, but how this pandemic has influenced such SPA is not yet known. This study, therefore, explored SPA at different time phases of the COVID-19 pandemic to explain the pandemic’s impact on SPA among older adults. The analysis employed a sample of 1,990 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 to 95 (mean age = 72.74 years; 43% female) in Switzerland. Data collection from different older adults within one study occurred both before and after Switzerland’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. The descriptive analysis revealed that negative SPA increased, and positive SPA decreased, after the Swiss government recommended physical distancing. After the Federal Council decided to ease these measures, negative SPA slightly decreased and positive SPA increased. According to the multivariate analysis, individuals interviewed after the lockdown were more likely to report greater levels of negative SPA and lower levels of positive SPA. Age, income, and living alone also correlated with SPA. The results suggest that the pandemic has affected older adults’ subjective views of their own aging, and these findings help illustrate the pandemic’s outcomes.

Il socialismo liberale: Carlo Rosselli

In order to investigate issues somehow neglected, the paper tries to carefully outline both the economic and institutional aspect and the origins and development of the Florentine anti-fascist thought. Much has been written about Carlo Rosselli's liberal socialism; still interpretations are often based more on subjective views than on in-depth studies, and this is especially true when it is the current political situation which tries to interpret Rosselli’s thought. Several scholars approached Carlo Rosselli’s thought assuming that the adjective ‘liberal’ can be translated as ‘liberalistic’, that the noun ‘socialist’ can be replaced with ‘welfare’ (of a moderate sort in addition), and finally that the State he theorized proves little interventionist in social and economic life; but this does not seem to be a correct interpretative key.

Are Different Diseases in Old Age Connected With Different Attitudes Toward Own Aging and Subjective Age?

Subjective views on aging (VoA; e.g., subjective age, attitude toward own aging “ATOA”) are regarded as important biopsychosocial markers of aging but their antecedents are not entirely clear. Besides general risk factors (depression, cognition, activities of daily living), we compared multiple disease groups to establish connections between specific morbidities and risk for negative VoA. Data was drawn from the ActiFE-Ulm study for which a representative sample of community-dwelling older people (65-90 years) was recruited. Follow-ups were conducted 7.7 years (median) after recruitment (T2; N=526). Self-reported depression at T1 was the strongest general risk-factor for negative VoA at follow-up (both subjective age and ATOA). Back pain predicted negative ATOA, whereas rheumatism was associated to both negative ATOA and older subjective age. We conclude that diseases are differentially associated with VoA. Further, mental health problems such as depression seem to be of higher importance for VoA as compared to other factors.

How do students perceive their own and their peers' progress in e-learning?

PurposeInterest is currently growing in open social learner modeling (OSLM), which means making peer models and a learner's own model visible to encourage users in e-learning. The purpose of this study is to examine students' views about the OSLM in an e-learning system.Design/methodology/approachThis case study was conducted with 40 undergraduate students enrolled in advanced programming and database management system courses. A Likert-type questionnaire and open-ended questions were used to obtain the students' views. System usage data were also analyzed to ensure the richness and diversity of the overall data set.FindingsThe quantitative data of the students' views were analyzed with descriptive statistics; the results are presented as graphics. The qualitative data of the students' views were examined by content analysis to derive themes. These themes are organized into four subtopics: the students' positive views, their negative views, their improvement suggestions and their preferences about using similar OSLM visualizations in other e-learning systems. The students' subjective views are discussed in the context of their recorded interactions with the system.Research limitations/implicationsCompetition due to seeing peer models was considered by participants both as positive and negative features of the learning system. So, this study revealed that, the ways to combine peer learner models to e-learning systems that promote positive competition without resulting social pressure, still need to be explored.Practical implicationsBy combining open learner models with open peer models, OSLM enhances the learning process in three different ways: it supports self-regulation, encourages competition and empowers self-evaluation. To take advantage of these positive contributions, practitioners should consider enhancing e-learning systems with both own learner and peer model features.Originality/valueDespite increasing interest in OSLM studies, several limitations and problems must be addressed such as sparsity of data and lack of study of different contexts and cultures. To date, no published study in this area exists in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by examining OSLM features in an e-learning system from the perspectives of Turkish students by using both their system interaction data and their subjective views.