Long Life in the 21st Century
Laura Carstensen - Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy, Professor of Psychology, Director, Stanford Center on Longevity
Wednesday, 9 December 2009 - 7:30 AM Breakfast, 8:00 – 9:00 AM session
Session description
We are approaching a watershed moment in human history. In just a few years, the number of Americans over 60 will surpass the number of children under 15. By the time our children reach old age, living to 100 will be commonplace.
Rather than perceiving this as good news, most people respond to extended longevity with discussions about coping with or halting the aging process. Yet, to the extent that people arrive at old age mentally sharp, physically fit, and financially secure, long-lived societies will thrive.
As leaders of organizations, we need to equip ourselves with the understanding of how cognitive processing, decision-making and motivation changes as our employees age.
Professor Carstensen argues that among the most pressing needs of the modern world is the development of “longevity science.” Science and technology offer alternatives to catastrophic predictions about societies that are overburdened by frail elders. Advances in science can form the basis of a culture in which we improve quality of life at all ages, and psychological science must be an essential part of that process.
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Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity
Laura L. Carstensen, PhD is Professor of Psychology and founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. For more than twenty years her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging; in 2005 she was honored with a MERIT award which extends this support another decade.
Carstensen is best known for socioemotional selectivity theory, a life-span theory of motivation. With her students and colleagues, she has published more than 100 articles and chapters on life-span development.
Her most current empirical research focuses on ways in which motivational changes influence cognitive processing. In her newly released book, A Long Bright Future, Carstensen unwraps myths and misconceptions about aging.
"We’re living in a time when five generations of a family may all be alive at the same time. Everything will change: education, work, financial markets. And we—as individuals and as a nation—need to be prepared. In a reassuring and respectful tone, this optimistic and highly informative guide to smart aging will show readers the steps they need to take to ensure that long life becomes synonymous with good life."
Carstensen is a fellow in a number of professional organizations including the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association.
Her honors include Stanford University's Deans Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Richard Kalish Award for Innovative Research.
In 2003, she was selected as a Guggenheim Fellow and received funding for her research on "Extended life expectancy in the 21st century." In 2006 she received the Distinguished Career Award from the Gerontological Society of America (Behavioral and Social Sciences Section). She received her B.S. from the University of Rochester and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University.
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