Comparison and Examination of Psychosocial Maturation Concepts in Late Adulthood: Focus on Self-transcendence, Gero-transcendence, and Post-traumatic Growth

The purpose of this study was to compare the relationships among the concepts of self-transcendence, gero-transcendence, and post-traumatic growth using data from 441 Korean adults in late adulthood. In addition, this study examined the effects of influential variables (age, education level, religion, subjective health, and loss experiences) on these concepts using empirical data. For these purposes, descriptive statistics, correlations, and hierarchical regressions were analyzed with SPSS 29.0. The main results were as follows: First, self-transcendence, gero-transcendence, and post-traumatic growth were significantly related to each other. Second, individuals in late adulthood who reported higher subjective health and greater relational loss experience also reported higher self-transcendence. In addition, gero-transcendence increased with age, educational level, religion, and relational loss. Next, post-traumatic growth increased with educational level, religion, relational, and health loss experiences. These results were discussed in terms of adult education and counseling programs.