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Table of Contents
How We Change
Most of us know that young adults act different from older adults. They think differently; they hold different values; they pursue different priorities. The explanation for these changes is not generational, but gerontological. Considerable research has been done in the developmental stages of aging and found that our mental-processing methodology changes predictably with our age.
Senior-adult researcher, David Wolfe, summarizes the major changes that occur in our worldview as we age.1 What implications might these changes suggest for an effective ministry with older adults? How would senior-adult ministry differ from younger adults?
YOUNG ADULTS
Heavily influenced by peers
Highly materialistic values
More objective
More extrospective
Perceptions in black and white
More rigid
More subordinated to others
More predictable behavior
More price sensitive
Simple ways of determining values
Detail oriented |
MATURE ADULTS
Declining influence by peers
Declining materialistic values
More subjective
More introspective
Perceptions in shades of gray
More flexible
More individualistic
More discretionary behavior
More quality sensitive
Complex ways of determining values
Whole-picture oriented
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1. David Wolfe, "Targeting the Mature Mind," American Demographics, March 1994, 32.
Charles Arn, Ed.D., Monrovia, California.
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