Pensionärers identitetsskapande i åldrandeprocessen

• Main Authors: Sahlin, Kajsa, Pistone, Maria
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS) 2015
• Subjects: pensioner; identity; norm; ageing; retirement; Social Sciences; Samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-34435

The study investigated pensioners’ forming of identity during the ageing process and the correlation between norms and identity. Previous research has shown that there are norms and notions about elderly and what growing old well implies. There is missing research on the level of the individual with norms, ageing and the process of identity formation. There is a large population of pensioners in Sweden and the authors behind this study wish that the results of it will help study counsellors to approach pensioners’ in a norm critic way. The purpose behind the study was to analyse which markers of identity pensioners’ express when they age and to understand how these relate to the norms surrounding ageing. The research questions are thus, what markers of identity do pensioners’ use in relation to life and ageing? How can the correlation between formation of identity and the norms they adhere to be understood? The study has its basis in three theories of social gerontology; activity theory, disengagement theory and gerotranscendence theory. The result has been analysed using queer theory and five theoretical concepts: identity, reflexivity, norm, intersectionality and turning points. Qualitative method in the shape of in-depth interviews was applied in this study. Six pensioners of varying ages have been interviewed and the empirical data has been analysed using content analysis. The result showed that the pensioners do not have the same needs as when they were younger. They expressed being wiser, more harmonious and feeling safer as well as having an improved body and self-awareness. The pensioners notice, reproduce and resist norms and showed the importance of norms for the formation of identity.