@article{ref1,
title="Self-serving appraisal as a cognitive coping strategy to deal with age-related limitations: an empirical study with elderly adults in a real-life stressful situation",
journal="Aging and mental health",
year="2006",
author="De Raedt, Rudi and Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, I.",
volume="10",
number="2",
pages="195-203",
abstract="Elderly people are often confronted with stressful events that threaten psychological homeostasis. Nevertheless, the lack of a general age-related drop in life satisfaction remains intriguing. The objective of this study was to analyze the basic mechanisms of perceived control and self-protective processes. Eighty-four elderly adults who underwent a fitness-to-drive evaluation were asked how they appraised their performance in a driving simulation task and were classified as over-estimators versus people who estimated their performance correctly and people who didn't overestimate their performance. Decreased physical resources were related to self-serving appraisal and less depressive feelings. The results are in line with theories on self-immunizing processes and provide support for the use of cognitive therapies in dealing with age-related limitations.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1360-7863",
doi="10.1080/13607860500311904",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607860500311904"
}