Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie
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Late life is a period during which individuals are increasingly confronted with challenges and losses. These challenges can have a negative impact on late life functioning, which is often reflected in poor well-being or an increase in depressive feelings. Current research points out that positive psychological resources might enhance coping with late life stressors. ⋯ The idea of forgiveness being pivotal in late life can be framed within the life stage theory of Erikson. Erikson's psychosocial crisis in late life consists of finding a balance between feelings of despair and the achievement of ego-integrity and it is considered as a potential explaining process in the association between forgiveness and positive late life functioning. The results of three quantitative studies in older adults (75+) provide indeed preliminary evidence that forgiveness is a resource in late life. They show that the relationship between forgiveness and late life well-being can be partly explained by the developmental task of finding a balance between integrity and despair.