Transitions to Older Adulthood: Exploring Midlife Women’s Narratives Regarding Purpose in Life

Abstract

Purpose in life has been shown to affect important outcomes related to healthy aging. However,quantitative studies have consistently found lower purpose in life among older adults. Aqualitative inquiry into purpose in life may offer insights into why there appears to be a declinein later life, and for whom. This study investigated two waves of life narratives from late midlifewomen to explore how they expressed meaning and purpose regarding their life paths. White andBlack women (N = 16) with higher and lower purpose in life were sampled based on a priorquantitative study (Ko, Hooker, Geldhof, & McAdams, 2016). Using a grounded theory approachand a life course perspective lens, we analyzed two waves of life stories over five years tounderstand how participants experienced their purposes in life over time. Three common themesemerged including the centrality of family relationships, the negotiation of work, and the pursuitof agency. Those with higher and lower purpose in life scores varied in how they defined andenacted purpose in life based on prior and current life experiences. Being proactive in directingone’s life course was shown to differentiate those with higher versus lower purpose in life. Intransitions into older adulthood, having a proactive approach to the world may be salient for apurposeful aging process.