ABSTRACT
Nonetheless, age would seem important from the perspectives of both indi viduals and social structures, of self and society. For example, social psychologists and anthropologists have suggested that age functions as a convenient dimension with which to map social and cultural expectations about experiences and roles. Individuals use these age-linked “mental maps” to organize their own lives, the lives of others, and their general expectations about the life course (Elder, 1995; Fry, 1986; Hagestad, 1990; Hagestad & Neugarten, 1985; Hogan, 1985; Keith & Kertzer, 1984; Neugarten & Neugarten, 1986; Nydegger, 1986a; Riley, 1987). These maps, in turn, serve an important human need for order and predictability. Of course, lives as they are actually lived may sway from these cultural models of the life course (Rindfiiss, Swicegood, & Rosenfeld, 1987). Nonetheless, individuals’ perceptions of these models, and the degree to which age is embedded in them, may be powerful forces in determining how the life course is actively negotiated and experienced (Fry, 1996).
