• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.42 no.7
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• pp.145-164
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to understand how late middle-aged women in our society view and adapt to “aging”. This is a crucial step forward linking two stages, the growing young age and the declining old age, which eventually improves the qualify of life in old a9e. This qualitative study used Personal narratives extracted from tape-recorded interviews of 20 late middle-aged women in their fifties and analyzed key experiences of late middle-aged women in their transition to old age. Participants were observed to perceive not only many limitations but also alternative potentialities. First, the major challenges due to the closing young era were ‘physical declines’, including health problems and wrinkles, and ‘leaving children’. Second, the potentialities to start a new era also could be found. Many participants found themselves to be generous enough to assist others in need. In addition, they looked to adapt to new challenges. It was likely that the many adversities that they had faced made them resilient. These results show that late middle-aged women were actively negotiating with themselves and their surroundings in order to overcome their losses, maintain their potentialities, and, in the process, acknowledge their impending old age for better preparation.