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THE MAJOR FOCUS OF THIS STUDY WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSTRICTION OF TIME PERSPECTIVE AND PREFERENCES FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, AND LOCAL AFFAIRS. THREE GROUPS WERE FORMED ACCORDING TO AGE--UNDER 40, 40-59, AND 60 AND OVER. TABLES SHOW, IN PERCENTAGES, THE RESPONSES TO SUCH QUESTIONS AS WHAT THE UNITED STATES SHOULD DO IN KOREA, BOMBING OF COMMUNIST CHINA, FOREIGN AID, DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS, AND DELINQUENTS. RESULTS STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT A PERSON'S PREFERENCES FOR SOLUTIONS TO SUCH PROBLEMS ARE RELATED TO AGE. THE OLDER ADULTS PREFER SOLUTIONS WHICH TERMINATE PROBLEMS RAPIDLY. EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT THIS WAS A RESULT OF RESTRICTED TIME PERSPECTIVE AND THE TENDENCY TO ATTRIBUTE CAUSALITY TO THE ACT OR SITUATION, RATHER THAN ENVIRONMENT. THIS DOCUMENT IS CHAPTER 21, IN SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGING, EDITED BY IDA H. SIMPSON, AND JOHN C. MCKINNEY, WHICH IS AVAILABLE FROM DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS, DURHAM, N.C. (PT)

PREVIOUS THEORIES OF THE AGING PROCESS HAVE DERIVED BEHAVIOR AS NECESSARY FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL OR INDIVIDUAL VARIABLES. AN INTERMEDIATE THEORY, PERSONAL ORIENTATION, ALLOWS THE INDIVIDUAL THE POSSIBILITY OF CHOICE WITHIN HIS CAPACITIES AND SOCIAL SITUATION. THIS THEORY IS BASED ON A DISENGAGEMENT THEORY OF AGING THAT SUGGESTS THAT A PERSON WITHDRAWS SOCIALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY FROM HIS ENVIRONMENT AND THAT THESE PROCESSES ARE INTRINSICALLY DETERMINED. THE PRESENT THEORY CONSIDERS THE INDIVIDUAL'S AWARENESS OF HIS PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL WORLD AND THE RESTRICTION OF LIFE SPACE AND EMOTIONAL DECLINE AS TWO BASICALLY INDEPENDENT PROCESSES OCCURRING OVER THE SAME SPAN OF TIME. SECCESSFUL DISENGAGEMENT IS NOT INTRINSICALLY NECESSARY, BUT AN EQUILIBRIUM CONDITION THAT MOST OF THE POPULATION REACHES. PREVIOUS THEORIES HAVE OVEREMPHASIZED PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF AGING. A METHOD OF SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF SURVEY DATA WILL BE USED FOR EXPLORING THE PROCESSES OF AGING. THIS DOCUMENT IS CHAPTER 18 IN SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGING, EDITED BY IDA H. SIMPSON AND JOHN C. MCKINNEY, WHICH IS AVAILABLE FROM DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS, DURHAM, N.C. (PT)