PsychCentral reports on a new study from the American Journal of Men’s Health that reveals teenage boys are changing in ways most would never have predicted - they are choosing more secure and honest relationships. But to keep things within the realm of the familiar, they want these relationships within a sexual relationship. Hormones and heart - a big step forward for teen boys.

More Teen Boys Look for Relationships, Not Flings

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 16, 2014


A new study determines teenage boy’s desire intimacy and sex in the context of a meaningful relationship and value trust in their partnerships.

The finding may be a surprise to those who view teenage males as testosterone-laden aggressors.

Investigators from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health believe the study provides insights into the development of masculine values in adolescence, an area that has been understudied.

The researchers have published their findings online in the American Journal of Men’s Health.

For the study, researchers studied 33 males who ranged from 14 to 16 years of age to learn more about how their romantic and sexual relationships developed, progressed, and ended. The participants were recruited during routine medical visits at a community adolescent clinic that serves low-income, predominately African-American adolescents.

The group’s sexual history began earlier than the national average, putting them at increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

Participants were asked open-ended questions about relationships and sex, such as desirable partner characteristics, intimacy, closeness, and trust.

“Prevailing values in our culture suggest adolescent males want sex, not relationships. However, values and behaviors related to sex and relationships are likely more complex than typically portrayed,” said first author David Bell, M.D., M.P.H.

“In fact, very few of the participants described sex as the main goal of opposite-sex interactions and relationships.”

The study advances an understanding of adolescent males’ early relationships in two significant ways.

First, close relationships were important to the participants. Second, they desired intimate and caring relationships, expressed vulnerability and dependence, and placed great importance on trust in relationships.

Few participants described trying to trick or talk a partner into having sex, and few evidenced pride and boastfulness about numbers of sexual conquests. An area of vulnerability expressed by the males was the lack of knowledge about sex and concerns about their own capacity to sexually perform.

These findings starkly contrast with descriptions of older, sexually experienced adolescent males, according to Bell, in which older adolescents consistently endorse the belief that relationships should be focused around sex, an avoidance of intimacy, and the treatment of females as sex objects.

“Our sample was primarily lower-income African-American adolescent males and the results, while not generalizable, are transferrable to similar populations of adolescent males,” noted Bell, who is also medical director of New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Family Planning Clinic/Young Men’s Clinic.

Investigators will now study the method by which early adolescent masculine beliefs evolve over time toward more predominant masculine beliefs.

These findings can assist clinicians to better address young men’s sexual health needs and incorporate an understanding of adolescents’ developing masculinity into health promotion.

* Source: Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health
* Happy teenage couple photo by shutterstock.

This is an interesting article from Esquire - It's short, so below it is a longer piece from the Association for Psychological Science. Below that is the abstract - the full article is hidden from public view behind a greedy pay wall.

The data for this study comes from an open access data collection project, available here and here.

Full Citation:
Hill, PL & Turiano, NA. (2014, May 8). Purpose in Life as a Predictor of Mortality Across Adulthood. Psychological Science. doi: 10.1177.0956797614531799

Have a Purpose, Live Much Longer

It doesn't matter what it is. If you care for something other than yourself, you'll live much longer.

By Ned Hepburn on May 12, 2014

Is your passion riding a bike with a bunch of boxes on it? Good. You'll live longer. 
Unless you die in a horrible bike/box accident.

Life got you down? Can't get a handle on things? Staring into the abyss of your soul, turning frantically to whiskey, weird drugs and the dredges of society in the hopes that you'll feel something, anything? Well, first, perhaps switch to beer. Second, maybe find yourself a purpose. Because if Navin R. Johnson has a special purpose, you should, too.

Seriously. Scientists are saying that "having a purpose" in life will add years onto said life.

Six thousand people from all walks of life were part of a 14-year study. Some admitted to wandering aimlessly while others were focused and driven. Unsurprisingly, the most focused people -- the ones that had a "purpose" -- lived longer. Interestingly, 9% of the subjects died in the 14 year period and those that died had reported of having a lower purpose in life.

"Purpose" is defined here by living for something other than yourself. Be it religion, your job, a kid, your folks, family, your career, whatever -- life is better, and now longer, if you have a reason to get up in the morning.

Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada, who conducted the study explains:

"There are a lot of reasons to believe that being purposeful might help protect older adults more so than younger ones. For instance, adults might need a sense of direction more, after they have left the workplace and lost that source for organizing their daily events. In addition, older adults are more likely to face mortality risks than younger adults. To show that purpose predicts longer lives for younger and older adults alike is pretty interesting, and underscores the power of the construct."

Now that these scientists spent 14 years studying a concept as vague as "purpose," maybe they could be spend a year or so on a deoderant that works past lunch. Just a suggestion that might make your life even longer, scientists.

* * * * *

Having a Sense of Purpose May Add Years to Your Life

May 12, 2014  

Feeling that you have a sense of purpose in life may help you live longer, no matter what your age, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The research has clear implications for promoting positive aging and adult development, says lead researcher Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada:

“Our findings point to the fact that finding a direction for life, and setting overarching goals for what you want to achieve can help you actually live longer, regardless of when you find your purpose,” says Hill. “So the earlier someone comes to a direction for life, the earlier these protective effects may be able to occur.”

Previous studies have suggested that finding a purpose in life lowers risk of mortality above and beyond other factors that are known to predict longevity.

But, Hill points out, almost no research examined whether the benefits of purpose vary over time, such as across different developmental periods or after important life transitions.

Hill and colleague Nicholas Turiano of the University of Rochester Medical Center decided to explore this question, taking advantage of the nationally representative data available from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study.

The researchers looked at data from over 6000 participants, focusing on their self-reported purpose in life (e.g., “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them”) and other psychosocial variables that gauged their positive relations with others and their experience of positive and negative emotions.

Over the 14-year follow-up period represented in the MIDUS data, 569 of the participants had died (about 9% of the sample). Those who had died had reported lower purpose in life and fewer positive relations than did survivors.

Greater purpose in life consistently predicted lower mortality risk across the lifespan, showing the same benefit for younger, middle-aged, and older participants across the follow-up period.

This consistency came as a surprise to the researchers:

“There are a lot of reasons to believe that being purposeful might help protect older adults more so than younger ones,” says Hill. “For instance, adults might need a sense of direction more, after they have left the workplace and lost that source for organizing their daily events. In addition, older adults are more likely to face mortality risks than younger adults.”

“To show that purpose predicts longer lives for younger and older adults alike is pretty interesting, and underscores the power of the construct,” he explains.

Purpose had similar benefits for adults regardless of retirement status, a known mortality risk factor. And the longevity benefits of purpose in life held even after other indicators of psychological well-being, such as positive relations and positive emotions, were taken into account.

“These findings suggest that there’s something unique about finding a purpose that seems to be leading to greater longevity,” says Hill.

The researchers are currently investigating whether having a purpose might lead people to adopt healthier lifestyles, thereby boosting longevity.

Hill and Turiano are also interested in examining whether their findings hold for outcomes other than mortality.

“In so doing, we can better understand the value of finding a purpose throughout the lifespan, and whether it provides different benefits for different people,” Hill concludes.

Preparation of the manuscript was supported through funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant T32-MH018911-23), and the data collection was supported by Grant P01-AG020166 from the National Institute on Aging.

* * * * *

Purpose in Life as a Predictor of Mortality Across Adulthood

Patrick L. Hill [1], Nicholas A. Turiano [2]

1. Department of Psychology, Carleton University
2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

Abstract

Having a purpose in life has been cited consistently as an indicator of healthy aging for several reasons, including its potential for reducing mortality risk. In the current study, we sought to extend previous findings by examining whether purpose in life promotes longevity across the adult years, using data from the longitudinal Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) sample. Proportional-hazards models demonstrated that purposeful individuals lived longer than their counterparts did during the 14 years after the baseline assessment, even when controlling for other markers of psychological and affective well-being. Moreover, these longevity benefits did not appear to be conditional on the participants’ age, how long they lived during the follow-up period, or whether they had retired from the workforce. In other words, having a purpose in life appears to widely buffer against mortality risk across the adult years.

Dr. Sarah McKay - How Finding Your Purpose Protects Your Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains

Do you know what your purpose is in life? Why you are here? Is there a set of values or beliefs around which you organize.

How Finding Your Purpose Protects Your Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains

By Dr. Sarah McKay
March 23, 2014


What is your purpose in life? Your passion. Your bliss. Your calling … Whatever you call it, we’re all searching for it to some extent. Mastin Kipp’s words sum it up for me: “Your bliss and your purpose are the same thing.”

If finding your north star is an elusive task, then perhaps taking a scientific approach to defining and measuring "purpose" might work as a discovery strategy.

Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist who specializes in Alzheimer's research defines "purpose in life" as: “the psychological tendency to derive meaning from life’s experiences and to possess a sense of intentionality and goal directedness that guides behavior.”

To measure purpose in life, researchers from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago asked over 900 older folks living in residential communities to rate their level of agreement from 1 to 5, to each of the following statements:

• I feel good when I think of what I have done in the past and what I hope to do in the future.
• I live life one day at a time and do not really think about the future.
• I tend to focus on the present because the future nearly always brings me problems.
• I have a sense of direction and purpose in life.
• My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me.
• I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a waste of time.
• I enjoy making plans for the future and working them to a reality.
• I am an active person in carrying out the plans I set for myself.
• Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.
• I sometimes feel as if I have done all there is to do in life.

The researchers found that a high purpose in life score was linked to many positive health outcomes including:

• Better mental health
• Less depression
• Happiness
• Satisfaction
• Personal growth, self-acceptance
• Better sleep
• Longevity

Startlingly, in the seven years of the study, 155 of 951 people developed Alzheimer’s disease. A more detailed analysis showed that those folks with high purpose in life scores had:

• Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease
• Less mild cognitive impairment
• Slower rate of cognitive decline in old age

Explaining her findings to Science Daily, Patricia Boyle explained: "Somehow, having a purpose allows people to cope with the physical signs of Alzheimer's disease."

So what might be is the biological basis linking purpose and passion with brain health?

The researchers in this study weren’t 100% sure, but neuroscience tells us that a lack of purpose in life is associated with the follower indicators of poor health:

• High levels of the stress hormone cortisol
• Markers of inflammation
• Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (the "good" cholesterol)
• Abdominal fat

We know these factors probably combine to diminish the brain’s resilience to degeneration and aging. Brain resilience is also referred to as "brain reserve"—its ability to cope with increasing damage while still functioning adequately. So, if you’re still searching, neuroscience might just be able provide some pretty compelling evidence about why you should foster your purpose and passions. And maybe thinking about the questions posed to the older folks might just guide you to your north star.

If you're totally lost when it comes to your purpose, this piece may offer some pointers.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

The Meaning of Masculinity - How Three 2013 Films Depict Masculinity in a Time of Societal Flux

Via The Washington Free Beacon (a seriously right wing paper - sorry about that), this article reviews three films from 2013 in terms of what they reveal about masculinity in a time when it's in flux, both for individual men and for the society as a whole. I haven't seen any of these, but they all sound interesting.

The Meaning of Masculinity

The Place Beyond the Pines, The Spectacular Now, and Dallas Buyers Club on what it means to be a man

December 6, 2013



As awards season kicks into high gear, critics are inundated with screeners for films they may have missed the first time around. Here are three prestige pictures—The Place Beyond the Pines, The Spectacular Now, and The Dallas Buyers Club—that are interesting for the competing ways in which they present masculinity in a time of societal flux.

###

Luke: He can get his own kid. That’s every man’s right.

The Place Beyond the Pines

Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines is a story of fathers and sons, and the way sons become their fathers. But it is more than that, a look at masculinity in America and what it means to be a man in a changing world where opportunities are scarce.

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a carnival daredevil who discovers that during his last turn through upstate New York he fathered a child. He is forced to choose: quit his act and get involved with his kid’s life or push on, same as always. Sticking around, of course, isn’t enough. He needs to earn the respect of Romina (Eva Mendes), his son’s mother. To do that, he needs to earn money. And to do that … well, how does a carny with no work experience, no skills, and a tendency to get violent do that?

In post-industrial America—an America in which there’s minimum-wage work and not much else for the unskilled—Luke doesn’t have many options. He is desperate to live up to his ideal of manhood—a father to his son, a provider to his lover—and that desperation eventually boils over. So he takes to robbing banks, upping the stakes until, eventually, he gets crushed.

###

Dan: If I were your father, I guess this would be the part where I give you a lecture.

Sutter: If you were my father, you wouldn’t have to give me a lecture.

The Spectacular Now

For much of The Spectacular Now, there is a noticeable lack of male role models in the life of the hard-drinking Sutter (Miles Teller). Sutter lives with his mother, a nurse doing her best to get by while raising a kind but troubled kid.

But then we see what has become of Sutter’s father and we understand that no influence can be better than a bad influence. His dad Tommy (Kyle Chandler) is a drunken lout, more interested in hooking up with the local slattern than having a beer or three with his long-neglected son. Indeed, he sticks Sutter with the tab as he scoots off to catch a case of the clap.

The closest things to positive male role models in Sutter’s life are Dan (Bob Odenkirk), his boss at a men’s clothing boutique, and Mr. Aster (Andre Royo), Sutter’s long-suffering math teacher. Each takes a different approach to straightening Sutter out: Mr. Aster offers the stick (do better in math or I’ll fail you and you won’t graduate) while Dan offers the carrot (you can avoid being downsized by promising not to come into work hammered). But neither has enough influence over the boy to set him on the right path.

Sutter needs a father, not a father figure. But the dissolution of the nuclear family and the lack of stability that results have destroyed whatever chances Sutter might have had at success. And it’s not long before his pathologies threaten the stability of Aimee (Shailene Woodley), another fatherless child floating through modern America, trying to find something on which to grab hold.

###

Ron: I got a newsflash for y’all: ain’t nothin’ out there that can kill Ron Woodruff in 30 days.

Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club isn’t terribly interested in fathers. But it is fascinated by the way traditional conceptions of masculinity initially may have facilitated the spread of AIDS—and then helped get the disease under control.

Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) is a man’s man in mid-1980s Dallas, running scams at the rodeo when he isn’t fixing the electrical systems on oil rigs or bedding trailer trash skanks two at a time, coke-rings around his nose and Jack Daniels in his gut. That excess comes back to haunt him, however, as he catches HIV from one of his conquests.

When the doctor who diagnoses him asks if he has engaged in homosexual relations recently, Ron snarls that he’s no “faggot.” HIV? That’s for queers and junkies. He loves the ladies and takes his drugs nasally, thank you very much.

But Ron definitely has HIV. And as he comes to grips with that fact, he must also come to grips with the fact that his friends have abandoned him. He’s no longer welcome in his local watering hole or at his place of business. He even gets evicted from the trailer park in which he lives. After overdosing on the retroviral AZT—at the time going through FDA testing—he heads to Mexico to concoct a cocktail of unapproved drugs.

Discovering a better way to keep his disease under control, Ron also stumbles into a business opportunity: He can sell his blend of drugs to similarly desperate men. This brings him into contact with the “faggots” he once so despised—and with them comes a modicum of compassion. His fight to live (and to save the lives of others) gives him new purpose, and helps him redefine what it means to be a man.

###

All three of these examinations of masculinity are interesting in spurts and all three have their problems. The Place Beyond the Pines is the most ambitious, in part due to its disregard for narrative conventions surrounding time lapsed on screen. Cianfrance discards the flow of the story in order to rather pedantically drive home the point he wants to make: The sins of the father are revisited upon the son.

The Spectacular Now, meanwhile, is the most heartfelt of these pictures. There’s a real pain in Sutter’s eyes; you can feel him struggling to make sense of his life in a world that doesn’t quite know what to do with him. Unfortunately, it feels a bit slight.

Dallas Buyer’s Club is probably the best of the three, and McConaughey deserves the buzz he’s receiving for his starring turn. But the film feels something like a Hallmark-special-by-way-of-HBO. We are in the theater to learn a lesson about tolerance and compassion and acceptance, and we’re rarely allowed to forget that fact.

Discussing Purpose in Life with Very Old Men (80+ Years Old)

As part of the Umeå 85+ study in the north of Sweden, which focused on the health and outlook of the very old, researches combed the data to try to understand how older men look at purpose in life. From the original sample, twenty-three men who were administered the purpose in life (PIL) scale narrated about their meaning or purpose in life. Eight of the participants were 85 years old, ten were 90 years old, and five were 95 years of age or older.

The participants talked about purpose in life from various perspectives, which were categorized into three main discourses: 1) Talking of purpose of life in general, including the categories work, struggle, forming a family, and confidence, 2) Talking of own purpose in life, including the categories happiness, adaptation, and looking forward, and 3) Reflecting on purpose in life including the categories limited meaning, health, an honorable life, and the ability to face death.

This is an interesting study.

I'm not sure I want to live to be 90 or older*, but it feels like a good thought exercise to imagine myself at that age and looking back on what I felt to be the meaning or purpose in my life.

I do not have a family and never wanted children. Generally I have sought work I can enjoy rather than work that makes me a lot of money. And unlike these men, the idea of an honorable life has never occurred to me. From this alone, my reflections will be different than many of these men, and rightfully so since I half their age.

[* Unless I am still healthy in body and mind.]

Full Citation:
Hedberg, P. , Gustafson, Y. , Brulin, C. and Aléx, L. (2013). Purpose in life among very old men. Advances in Aging Research, 2(3), 100-105. doi: 10.4236/aar.2013.23014

Purpose in life among very old men

Pia Hedberg, Yngve Gustafson, Christine Brulin, and Lena Aléx

Copyright © 2013 Pia Hedberg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

This paper provides very old men’s experiences of and reflections on purpose in life. The answers from an interview question about purpose in life from 23 men were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed three content areas: talking of purpose of life in general, talking of own purpose in life and reflections on purpose in life. Our findings showed that very old men experienced purpose in life most strongly when remembering the past and describing their earlier work. The old men reflected on purpose in life not just from their own individual perspectives, but also from a more reflective and analytic perspective.

1. INTRODUCTION

This study is part of the Umeå 85+ study in the north of Sweden, which focuses on health and outlook on life in the very old. The research in the Umeå 85+ study has resulted in several theses e.g. [1-5] describing the very old from various perspectives—both the good aging and the threats against the good aging. The intent of this study was to describe how very old men experience and reflect on purpose in life. In the first part of the 20th century, men and women lived mainly in separate spheres; being a man in Sweden was characterized by being the breadwinner of the family, while being a woman was characterized by taking care of the children and the household [6]. Hirdman [7] pointed out that in Swedish society men have usually been seen as the norm and have been more highly valued than women. Her theory, however, was grounded on men and women who still active in society. Research into various life experiences among older men is lacking. Courtney [8] has found that old men do not fully use the physical and mental health services available for their physical and mental health needs, nor do they seek medical help as often as women. Courtenay [9] also suggests that men commonly suffer in silence, deal with their problems alone, and may refuse to seek medical help because their ideas about normative masculinity demand an appropriately stoic behavior from a man. However, gender researchers have pointed out that there is more than one masculinity, and these various masculinities can be constructed in different ways depending on historical and societal circumstances [10,11].

Knodel and Ofstedal [12] argue that old men are made invisible in research about old people and that it is necessary to focus on this group. Calasanti and King [13] suggest that old men struggle not only against society’s attitudes toward very old people, but also against society no longer seeing them as men, as age quickly overshadows gender in how they are viewed. Because old men tend both to keep silent about their needs and to be overlooked by society, it is important that their lives and perceptions be further researched.

The very old age group in Sweden is increasing, and the average life expectancy for men at birth in Sweden is now 78.4 years [14]. Research on purpose in life in the elderly has been carried out in various ways. For example Pinquart [15] found that having a high quantity and quality of social contacts are associated with higher purpose in life among older people.

Earlier research has shown that men aged over 75 years who live alone were more isolated than women and had less developed social networks compared to women in the same age [16,17]. Davidson et al. [17] showed that old men in day centers are not involved in social organizations to the same extent as older women. Because social contacts have been shown to be associated with purpose in life and old men live more isolated lives, we were interested in studying old men’s experiences of purpose in life.

Purpose or meaning in life is a psychological construct that refers to people’s ability to find meaning in their life experiences and their everyday situations [18]. Frankl [18] posited the will to find meaning as the primary driving force for all human beings. Failure to find meaning in life, he wrote, produces negative psychological effects, especially feelings of boredom and emptiness, described as an existential vacuum [19].

Several cross-sectional studies of purpose in life in middle-aged men focus on the association between purpose in life and various health problems that men may live with, for example HIV [20,21], recovery from knee surgery [22], and spinal cord injury [23]. An earlier study within the Umeå 85+ study focused on purpose in life among very old women [24], but as far as we know no study has yet described experiences of purpose in life among very old men.

Research in purpose in life in very old men is very sparse and should be further investigated. The aim of this study, therefore, is to illuminate very old men’s experiences of and reflections on purpose in life.

2. METHOD

This study was performed in the years 2000 and 2002 and included people living in a medium-sized town and surrounding rural areas in a county in northern Sweden. As part of the Umeå 85+ project [1,2], invitation to participate was extended to all individuals aged 95 or over, all individuals aged 90, and every second individual aged 85. The inclusion criteria were age, being able to answer Likert-type questionnaires, and having the strength to participate in interviews. The participants were assured confidentiality and anonymity in the presentation of the results, and they were assured they could withdraw from the study without having to give a reason. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty, Umeå University (Um dnr 99-326, 00-171).

2.1. Participants

Of the 69 men who had answered the purpose in life (PIL) scale [24], 51 were interviewed about various aspects of their experiences of becoming and being very old. These interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. In the first step of the selection of the text, all the text containing various aspects of their lives, such as experiences of aging, difficult and positive life events, and PIL from 30 interviews (10 interviews from those measuring highest and 10 from those measuring lowest and 10 from those who had estimated themselves as average of the PIL scale) was analyzed. After this first analysis of all the text only the text from the specific questions about PIL was chosen for analysis. Twenty-three men out of 30 had narrated about their meaning of purpose in life and these narratives were included in this study. Eight of the participants were 85 years old, ten were 90 years old, and five were 95 years of age or older. A majority of the men lived alone (n = 18), five lived in an institution, ten were independent in activities in daily life (ADL), two had impaired reading vision, and ten of the men had impaired hearing. None of the men included in the study was diagnosed as depressed.

2.2. Data Collection

The participants were informed about the study and invited to take part by letter and by telephone. Initially, the participants answered a number of questionnaires, including the Purpose in Life test [25]. On a second occasion specific to this study, about one week later, narrative interviews were performed at the participants’ homes. The interviews lasted between 30 and 90 minutes each and were conducted by two men and five women, all nurse researchers belonging to the same research team. In this study, we focus on answers from the specific questions asked about purpose in life.

2.3. Analysis

The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis a method useful in analysis of person’s experiences, reflections, and attitudes as described by [26- 28]. In the first step all the text about PIL was read through by two of the authors to obtain an overall picture of how purpose in life was narrated. The interviews were divided into “meaning units” (sentences and fragments with latent meanings), codes, and categories, and sorted into three content areas. Thereafter we looked for discourses about the way PIL was being addressed and “talked” about. The analysis was performed separately by two of the authors and discussed in depth by two of the authors until consensus was reached. To confirm the results, the categories and the found discourses (as shown in Table 1) were discussed and reflected upon several times by all the authors. The results are presented in three content areas with underlying categories illustrated by quotations.

3. RESULTS

The participants talked about purpose in life from various perspectives, which were categorized into three main discourses: 1) Talking of purpose of life in general, including the categories work, struggle, forming a family, and confidence, 2) Talking of own purpose in life, including the categories happiness, adaptation, and looking forward, and 3) Reflecting on purpose in life including the categories limited meaning, health, an honorable life, and the ability to face death.

3.1. Talking of Purpose of Life in General

Table 1. Content areas and categories.

Work was stressed as an important source of purpose for men who had worked hard earlier in life, whose work had dominated their lives, and who described themselves as “workaholics.” Work building their own homes was very important to their experiences of purpose in life, as were feelings of self-respect and personal worth from their previous work: “Purpose in life is primarily work. I had a fantastic job and I was keen to manage my job well.” The men had experienced hard times and lack of resources, and their earlier lives were described as dominated by hard work.

Struggle was expressed in terms of the struggle for money, and this struggle gave the very old generation strength and purpose. “In my childhood there was never 25 cents left, and that was of course a hard time.” While they were proud of their earlier struggles, the old men felt that younger people did not respect or appreciate the older generation’s hard work to survive. Some thought that people today made too much money for too little effort compared with the old days when it was much harder to earn a living.

Forming a family was also a main purpose in life— both living with a loving wife and feeling that the marriage had been totally perfect without any disputes. One man’s purpose in life was expressed in terms of the joy of having married, settled down, and “created a family.”

One man said: “I met my lovely wife, and we have had it very nice together and got very nice children and grandchildren, so it has always been positive.” Having children and grandchildren was stressed as important for purpose in life. One man talked about how taking care of his grandchild for long periods contributed to his having a purpose in life.

To have confidence in relation to other people, society, and a higher power were stressed as important for experiencing purpose in life as a whole. The confidence in God was expressed as the ability during life to rely on God and place everything in God’s hands. To have confidence and rely on God made both daily news and the reality of death understandable, as one man said: “When I read the newspaper and see all the obituaries, I feel confident that there is a higher power, and this faith gives me strength.”

3.2. Talking of Own Purpose in Life

Experiencing purpose in life was also described as being happy in everyday life and thinking positively in every situation. Making the most of one’s day was expressed as a purposeful act: “I see the positive in every day, and tomorrow is a new day.” Finding joy in everyday situations and taking each day as it comes were important for purpose in life: “I take the day as it comes. I never dig myself into things. I always see things from the bright side. I go to the shop and talk to people.”

Being able to adapt to bodily changes, to continue to feel satisfied in life despite functional decline, and maintaining everyday activities were also mentioned as contributing to purpose in life: “For me, purpose in life is being able to get up in the morning and get dressed. That is worth a great deal. If you can’t do that and you just lay in bed, there would be no purpose in life at all.” Adaption was described by one man who expressed relief about knowing that he would soon move into an apartment in a block with services for the elderly and not have to worry about his daily shopping anymore.

Continuing with hobbies was also stressed as giving purpose in life: “I went fishing this spring in the river, and I got seven large graylings, and I have fish left in the freezer. I have always had this as a hobby.” Looking forward, continuing with life, and making plans for the future despite very old age were important. One man’s plans for the summer and for the future were especially ambitious: “I have very clear goals and purpose; I have announced that I will plant six acres of forest.” Maintaining interest in life and what is happening in the world and looking ahead contributed to meaningfulness. Despite the fact that some of the men were prevented by disability from continuing to work outside the home, it was still important to feel that they could do their duty to make life meaningful: “I have to fill in my income-tax return and do my duty.”

3.3. Reflection on Purpose in Life

Reflections on purpose in life included questioning whether there was a purpose in life at all, feelings of complete boredom, and the sense that every day was exactly the same as the day before. The view that purpose in life was limited was expressed assertions that all humans were totally bound by heredity and environment and was therefore powerless to do or say anything to change that fact. “Well, you see, I have in fact given up on everything.”

Reflecting on purpose in life in relation to their physical abilities, the men talked about their treatment by other people who see them as no longer physically capable. “Since I retired, it is like I have to break in to get my voice heard in a conversation.” Within this category they stressed the importance of being healthy, both for themselves and for their families.

Living an honorable life, being good to others, knowing they had done their best and been decent were important to feeling purpose in life: “Just to live decently, you don’t need to live like a king.” Some men said it was important to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Living an exciting and challenging life was also seen to contribute to purpose in life. One man talked about his experiences of traveling around the world and seeing different things as an old man; however, he wondered whether traveling could be the purpose in life, or whether it was just something fun or pleasurable to do. “It was nice to travel, but I’m not really sure if this is really the meaning, because before we had those opportunities to travel, there was also meaning in life.” The narratives indicated that the men experienced more purpose in life when they were younger. “When I was younger I wanted so much. I wanted to go forward, so I think purpose in life was greater then.” The men reflected on why people are born, work all their life, and then die, and what might happen after death. Their reflections upon death were told without any fear and with acceptance that there was nothing they could do to avoid it. “You have to face death when it comes.”

4. DISCUSSION

The aim of the study was to illuminate very old men’s experiences of and reflections on purpose in life. The results revealed three content areas: purpose of life as a whole; purpose in everyday life; and reflections on purpose in life. The joy of work was prominent in almost all of the narratives and pride in previous work was stressed as important to purpose in life. From the historical perspective, in the first part of the 19th century “being a man” entailed being the provider and usually the sole financial support for the household [6]. These men’s emphasis on their own physical hard work as important for purpose in life can be seen in light of Connell’s [29] (1995) theory of hegemonic masculinity, which is the masculinity that is the most valued in a specific historical society and requires all men to position themselves in relation to it [10]. Men’s emphasis on the importance of work in this study was probably influenced by the importance of the traditional role requirement of a man to be a strong man. The men had also experienced poverty as children, and their lives were characterized by that hard work was a possibility to increase their economic status.

The men told with pride how they had built their own houses and created their homes. Russell [30] reported that older men and women discuss the meaning of home differently. Men attribute their feelings for home in terms of building and renovating their physical houses, which they see as identical to forming the home. The meaning of home for women, on the other hand, is deeply connected to their personal identities: women see the home as both an extension of themselves and the place where they should be [30].

The men described their ability to adapt as important to their ability to experience purpose in life. Men who belonged to the oldest old spoke of adapting in terms of the importance of being able to get up and get dressed. Baltes and Baltes [31] have constructed a model of successful aging called selective optimization with compensation (SOC). The SOC model builds on the assumption that throughout life people have both opportunities and limitations, including illnesses that can be managed or mastered by using a combination of the three components of the model: selection, optimization, and compensation [31]. Freud and Baltes [32] found that people who used SOC life-management behaviors such as compensation were more satisfied in life. Reflecting on past achievements to reconnect to associated self-respect and personal worth is one way older people may independently, or with use of the SOC model use as a strategic model for maintaining purpose in life.

Our study showed that the oldest old men experienced and reflected over purpose in life which can be seen as a contradiction to other descriptions of belonging to the oldest old as for instance in Ferrucci et al., [33] who describe that very old people just tend to be described as a homogenous group with functional decline and high consumption of health care resources. Calasanti and King [13] have reflected over how old men are described in media. They argued that a more refined form of agism is an attempt to portray old men in a more positive light by setting up middle-aged men as the standard of virility and health. Doing so the description of being a man seems not be congruent with being old in reality. Green [34] argued that views on very old men are focused on the predominant effort to understand men’s aging bodies and health problems, in particular their medical problems. He means that it t is vitally important that very old men are seen as a heterogeneous group with various levels of strength and abilities instead of a homogeneous group defined by frailty [34]. Our study shows that in spite of their very old age, the oldest old men do experienced purpose in life.

Our study shows the importance of having hobbies and making future plans in maintaining purpose in life. Being healthy was stressed as important for purpose in life. Healthy aging is a complex process of adapting to physical, psychological, and social changes across the life span [35]. According to Rowe and Khan’s [36] model of healthy aging, it is necessary for older people to play an active role in maintaining their physical and mental health and to optimize their capacity as much as possible until the end of life and Purpose in life has long been hypothesized to be an important determinant for physical health and well-being [37]. Thus, these concepts seem to be closely interrelated.

This study shows that very old men experience purpose in life mainly when remembering the past and when making future plans, which is in contrast to the Hedberg et al. [38] study of purpose in life in very old women. The women in that study seemed to enjoy life and were grateful even for small daily things, such as having the strength to wipe off the table. The women expressed purpose in life as taking the day as it comes, and having family and friends around for a chat was seen as purposeful, while the men’s narratives of purpose in life focused mainly on their previous work. Very old men and women seem to find purpose in life in different terms, with very old men finding purpose in life either in the past or in the future, and very old women finding purpose in the present and their everyday life. Men, however, seem to reflect more over the concept purpose in life than women do [5]. This finding may be interpreted as men are socialized to become reflecting subjects, while women are socialized to become immanent objects.

One man in our study expressed negative feelings about purpose in life and said that he had practically given up. From the perspective of Frankl [18], he can be seen as living in an existential vacuum and; from a biological medical perspective he is likely depressed. It is essential in the care of very old men and women to help them maintain purpose in life in order to prevent the risk of existential vacuum, which can lead to psychological ill-health. Purpose in life seems to be relevant and worth being reflected on for very old men even in their latest part of life. Likewise if there were statements that showed that purpose in life was connected to faith in god, no men told about that in addition to purpose in life there also could be a purpose in death.

5. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION

For this study we analyzed data about purpose in life from 23 men who completed the PIL questionnaire. Throughout the process we discussed the analysis and our interpretation in depth, both among the authors and within a seminar group, in order to ensure that we did not over-interpret the text. Our analysis is also strengthened by our first analysis of 30 interviews. The PIL scores among the 23 included men ranging from 77 to 134, and can therefore be seen as a representative sample of all men answering the PIL test (n = 69) in the larger study. One limitation of this study is that the participants were a selected group of cognitively healthy individuals who cannot be assumed to be representative of the entire population of very old people. However, we believe that our results may be transferable to other very old people in a similar context.

6. CONCLUSION

Our findings showed that very old men talked about PIL in various ways. They experienced purpose in life most strongly when remembering the past and describing their earlier work. The old men also reflected on purpose in life not just from their own individual perspectives, but also from a more reflective and analytic perspective. From a nursing perspective it ought to be of importance to listen to, and open up for how old men talk about PIL for enhancing their possibility to either experience PIL, or their ability to create PIL in their everyday life.

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful an anonymous referee for helpful comments. All errors are ours.

REFERENCES

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From Open Culture, this is an excellent reminder that making money is not the same as being happy. Watts encourages us to examine our lives and ask ourselves, Are we putting money ahead of happiness and meaning?

I faced this decision a few years ago and changed my life to fit with my purpose. I stopped working in the production sector (marketing for a giftware company) and shifted my life to the service sector (personal trainer). The world will not be a better place if more people buy coasters, but I can help one person at a time get healthy and, maybe, be happier.

And now I am creating even more alignment as I develop my career as a psychotherapist.

I had to give up income for a while and live more frugally as I realigned my life. But I have never been happier with the way I earn my living - to the point that if I did not need the money, I would still be doing what I am doing right now.

What If Money Was No Object?: Thoughts on the Art of Living from Eastern Philosopher Alan Watts

October 9th, 2012

 

Alan Watts came to San Francisco during the early 1950s, wrote his bestseller Way of Zen, and became one of the foremost popularizers of Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and various forms of Eastern philosophy. His TV show, Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life (1960), introduced Americans to the seemingly exotic concept of meditation (watch here). And his radio show and lectures forced listeners to pause and look at their lives from a fresh perspective. Again and again, Watts challenged the Western emphasis on money-making to the exclusion of all else. We’ve heard Watts rail against this soul-crushing value in a lecture animated by the creators of South Park. (I’m not kidding you.) And, in the newly-produced video above, he continues along the same trajectory. So, as you drink your morning coffee and ponder your day, ask yourself: Are you putting money-making before happiness itself? Or are you pursuing the passions that bring happiness, achieving excellence, and then letting the money follow? With that, I’ll let you continue with your day.

H/T @KirstinButler

Related Content:

• The Art of Living: A Free Stanford Course Explores Timeless Questions
• Alan Watts On Why Our Minds And Technology Can’t Grasp Reality

Short Film - The Man in the Glass Case

This short film (under 20 mins.) from Maxwell Addae is called "The Man In The Glass Case," and is based on Albert Camus’ absurdist masterpiece, The Stranger (L’Etranger). The film won the Best US Short award at the 2010 Rome International Film Festival, and was the People’s Choice Award winner at the 2010 Arizona Black Film Festival.

The writer/director credits Camus' The Stranger, but the final conversation between James and Rob sounds like something out Dostoyevsky - a definite absurdity to the conversation given the context. James is an enigmatic character - worthy of some thought and consideration.

The original source of this material (bio, interviews, etc) is Shadow and Act.

The Man In The Glass Case

Maxwell Addae

Director's Statement:

Albert Camus' The Stranger was the inspiration behind "The Man in the Glass Case." I have an affinity for characters whose minds operate on a plane just this side of normal. What fascinates me about James is how complex his character really is. From one angle, James is a sociopath, a creepy killer who should be locked up forever, but from another angle, James sees the world as it truly is: void of any value aside from what we as humans have assigned to it. Why should the death of a person be any more significant than grabbing lunch with friends? They are both, simply actions. While I personally do not hold such an extreme view of the world, I do feel it is worth investigating as a method to reevaluate ideas such as normal, classic, natural, truth, etc. I feel that James sees a side of the world that we fear considering for a variety of reasons, but maybe on his side, our side can be observed a little clearer.

                                                                            - Maxwell Addae

Credited cast:
	Akume	...	Co-Worker - Victor
	Kerri Duncan	...	Alexis
	Christopher Guetig	...	Hugo
	Cicero Salmon III	...	Faruq
	Dru Lockwood	...	Rob
	Jai Maddox	...	James

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[The Conversation] Maxwell Addae

Posted by Margo

Maxwell Addae is a young writer/director based in Los Angeles, CA who is finalizing his premiere short film “The Man in the Glass Case” for festival release. From acquiring his BFA in Film and through his personal projects, a wealth of information about budgeting time and money was learned. He takes that knowledge to each new project. His eye for subtle details and the study of human behavior has lent itself to this young man’s writing and the ability to bring his characters to life in an intriguing way. Also in the works, Maxwell is in development with his first feature film, a psychological character-driven drama titled “Mean World Theory”. We talked to Maxwell about his interests and his career.

TBBO: What movie influenced you most?

- City of God (Cidade de Deus) by Fernando Meirellesis is a film that contains a range of characters, humbling story (executed perfectly as a visual novel), naturalistic performances and the ability to find breathless beauty in the slums. While the subject matter was familiar, it overcame the limits generally imposed by the genre. I was transported to a world, knew the characters intimately, and they stayed with me long after the movie was over. As a filmmaker, this movie influenced my preconceived notion about what was required to tell a story with cinematic and artistic integrity. Here’s a film made with no celebrities, no Hollywood writers or directors, and no special effects and yet still managed to exhibit the power of film. It is a movie that grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. This is a very important film to see.

TBBO: Who would play you in a biographical role?

- As of right now, my story could probably be told in a 3 minute internet video. So, taking into account what I plan to accomplish in my life and career, I’d tap the underestimated Mr. Nick Cannon. The reason he’d be a great choice is because I’m at a very early stage in my career and I feel that I have a lot of potential as a filmmaker/artist that only time will be able to accurately exhibit; I feel the same about Mr. Cannon’s dramatic acting career. Therefore, our predicted paths would equate to an actor and story worth merging.

TBBO: What movie would you love to star in?

- Toussaint L’ouverture, the Haitian revolutionary. His story of overcoming oppressors to free a society is a perfect example of triumph, perseverance, and the overthrowing of oppressive powers. He was able to accomplish so much with his life that it’s a great example of how one person can make a huge difference in the world. I find it hard to believe that this story has yet to be told on the epic scale which it deserves. I’m aware that Danny Glover has been attempting to get this heroic tale to the big screen, in the face of what seems like a strategic effort to block the film, but I look forward to one day seeing this movie made… even if I’m not in it.

TBBO: What is the worst movie you ever saw?

- Irreversible, a French film by Gaspar Noé pushed me to the limits on what I could tolerate. I’m a person who appreciates films with dark tones and subject matter, like Requiem for a Dream and Three Extremes. However, in this film in which I’m basically referring to two graphic scenes, one specifically being a nine minute rape scene, challenged my level of acceptance. But the combination of violent, realistic-imagery plus a well executed cinematic film and performances left me conflicted, shook, and drained…too drained!

TBBO: Favorite piece of modern technology?

- The internet, primarily because the way it has allowed various forms of media and communication to converge in ways never before available. Now, I watch TV whenever I want to online, I communicate in real time to long lost friends and family, and there’s practically no subject that I can’t learn about in a thorough summary, love that Wikipedia. It has helped and continues to revolutionize the world.

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INTERVIEW: Maxwell Addae

Written by Vy Pham

Local filmmaker Maxwell Addae has always had a love for creating stories and an equal love for movies. He talks to RAW about his new film and his work. Be sure to RSVP to see a special screening of "The Man in the Glass Case" at the next RAW showcase at Cinespace in Hollywood on Thursday, August 5th!

Tell us about yourself. I’m from a modest-sized city between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas called Arlington. Creating stories has always been a skill that I would marvel at. From a coup led by GI Joe action figures over an evil robotic island, to the secret world of invisible gargoyles that protected me in my third grade class, I’ve always been interested in characters, fiction, and journeys. So, deciding to become a writer/director was an eventual no-brainer that I revel in. Watching some of the masters at their craft is great motivation. I hope to be able to challenge, confuse, entertain, and inspire for quite a long time.

How did you first get started in film? After an unfulfilled attempt at pursuing a biology major, I kicked my parents out of my room (and my head) and vowed to follow my passion. After months of meditation, I realized that I had always told stories as a young man. The ability to create entire lives from your mind and to have those characters and stories internalized by people forever was always something that fascinated me. Whether it was by toys, invisible friends, my younger brother, or reluctant neighborhood kids, I realized that my affinity to create stories and my love of movies lead me to this beautiful, frustrating, visceral, fickle, career as a filmmaker.

Tell us about "The Man in the Glass Case.” My short is about a very diligent warehouse employee named James who has a unique perspective about life. James sees most things in life as absurd, or pointless and he really operates on a essential needs basis. Food, sleep, companionship, work, etc. He does this so naturally and honestly that when he commits a violent act against a co-worker, he truly has no concept of its significance. This causes trouble when he is confronted and challenged about his morality by his employer. Albert Camus’ beautifully told story The Stranger was the inspiration behind my film and helped set the film’s tone.

Any other films you've produced? Yes, but I’ve tucked those away in a very secluded and dark place never to be seen by human eyes as they were done while I was still in school, therefore the technical issues were not only obvious, but a character all its own.

From where do you draw inspiration for your work? A little bit of everywhere, but lately, from different types of people. Noticing the way they talk, walk, dress, their background, ideas, their relationships and contradictions.

Do you engage in, or draw inspiration from, any other forms of art? Photography has always been a great way to study composition, lighting and learning about the ability to tell an entire story in one shot. I think the freedom that literature allows leaves me in awe. And music’s influence over the entire vibe of anything is powerful.

What does a typical film-making day look like for you? A complete and thorough meltdown, then a rebuilding of my entire being from the ground up (privately). After that, I go over shots with my cinematographer, go over the upcoming scenes with the actors and start shooting. I like doing a few days of rehearsing to flesh out ideas, so on the day of shooting I leave the performance up to the actors and I try to allow them the freedom to freely go where the scene takes them.

When you are not filming, how do you like to spend your time? Usually staring at walls, but I’ve tried to incorporate more film viewing, collaborating with other artists and discovering Los Angeles’ many hidden gems.

All time favorite film? My all time favorite film has changed every few years, but currently I have to say City of God. The story, the characters, the politics, the energy, everything about this film reminded me about the power that film viewing experience can give. What added to the enjoyment was the lack of special effects and Hollywood actors. Here was a great film because it was a great film, every aspect of what makes a movie was first class.

Are there any filmmakers, past or present, who strongly inform and influence your work? Alfonso Cuaron, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, F. Gary Gray, Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Zack Snyder, Woody Allen, M. Night Shyamalan, Park Chan Wook, Takashi Miike, just to name a few.

Are there any specific reoccurring themes or subjects that you explore and deal with most in your work? I’ve really been into the idea of mental illness or mental instability as an opportunity to discover new perspectives about life. From A Clockwork Orange to The Dark Knight’s the joker, I like views that may be considered “off” as a great base to redefine our world and how we perceive each other. I think it’s a form of rebellion against practically everything and story-wise, that rebellion can be explored from different angles.

Why showcase with RAW? RAW is the perfect venue to introduce my film to a diverse audience. At festivals, everyone attending is interested in the film medium, but at a RAW event, attendees know that they will be experiencing an array of different art forms. That audience may have a wider knowledge of art mediums to pull from when creating their opinion about my film, creating a more perceptive audience and one that I am excited to share my film with.

Any current rising stars within the genre that you would recommend we look out for? A young student filmmaker from Little Rock, Arkansas named Julian Andrew Walker.

To learn more about filmmaker Maxwell Addae, visit: www.maxwelladdae.com

Jospeh Gelfer & Laki Sideris - Men and Meaning

Joseph Gelfer has a new project that looks pretty cool - he is providing text for photographs by Laki Sideris. There are only five entries so far, but it looks like it has excellent potential as an eventual book.

Here is the announcement from Gelfer's blog.

Men and Meaning

The start of a new project I’m developing with Laki Sideris: Men and Meaning is a photographic and textual exploration of how men go about constructing meaning in their daily experiences. This meaning-making journey unfolds on two primary levels: what it means to be a man and perform masculinity, and more generally how the subjects derive meaning from the world around them. The images are a mixture of the staged and the documentary, the text a mixture of the biographical and the imagined.

And here is one of the first few posts, a simple but moving photo - Photographs by Laki Sideris | Words by Joseph Gelfer.

04 Desire

Žižek clearly tells us that, “Desire named as desire in this Other is what we think we have chosen, while in fact, by a logic we are not aware of, it was the only choice allowed.” So I have thought long and hard about this desire. From where does it come? Does something stir in the DNA at the sight of these child-bearing hips? Is it the passive availability in her stance that piques my conditioned need to dominate and consume? Could it be—more romantically, more spiritually—the elusive search for completeness? And then I cannot decide if its potency is evidence of the fact that it is indeed the only choice allowed, or whether it is evidence to the contrary (assuming, of course, that such potency can only be authentic). In the end, after all these years, all I know is the net effect of desire: the dissolving away of all things so there is nothing but her and me.