{"title":"[Identity work among aged members of religious orders : Qualitative study with Jesuits and Sacré-Cœur sisters].","authors":"Ruth Mächler, Rosa Maria Erlenberg, Eckhard Frick","doi":"10.1007/s00391-025-02480-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Aged members of religious orders talked about their lives.</p><p><strong>Aim of the study: </strong>The aim of this study is to describe how identity work is manifested in old age among members of religious orders.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>Narrative interviews were conducted. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and communicatively validated in group discussions by the interviewees.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Interviews with 21 people aged 80-98 years were analyzed. It was found that the majority of the aged members of religious orders were concerned with questions of their own identity. An important area of their identity work is faith. They reflect on who God is for them and develop new images of God and themselves.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The results of the study suggest that even people with a high degree of life course continuity question their identity in old age and engage intensively in exploratory processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":49345,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Gerontologie Und Geriatrie","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Zeitschrift Fur Gerontologie Und Geriatrie","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-025-02480-y","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Aged members of religious orders talked about their lives.
Aim of the study: The aim of this study is to describe how identity work is manifested in old age among members of religious orders.
Material and methods: Narrative interviews were conducted. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and communicatively validated in group discussions by the interviewees.
Results: Interviews with 21 people aged 80-98 years were analyzed. It was found that the majority of the aged members of religious orders were concerned with questions of their own identity. An important area of their identity work is faith. They reflect on who God is for them and develop new images of God and themselves.
Discussion: The results of the study suggest that even people with a high degree of life course continuity question their identity in old age and engage intensively in exploratory processes.
期刊介绍：
The fact that more and more people are becoming older and are having a significant influence on our society is due to intensive geriatric research and geriatric medicine in the past and present. The Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie has contributed to this area for many years by informing a broad spectrum of interested readers about various developments in gerontology research. Special issues focus on all questions concerning gerontology, biology and basic research of aging, geriatric research, psychology and sociology as well as practical aspects of geriatric care.
Target group: Geriatricians, social gerontologists, geriatric psychologists, geriatric psychiatrists, nurses/caregivers, nurse researchers, biogerontologists in geriatric wards/clinics, gerontological institutes, and institutions of teaching and further or continuing education.
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