PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS OF SUCCESSFUL AGING

The aim of the article is to review and benchmark the current concepts in the psychology of human successful aging. The diverse nature of the process of aging underlies the distinction between normal, pathological and successful aging. Psychological concepts of successful aging in humans adopt common assumption that it is possible to take certain actions substantiating optimal course of this process. At the same time a summary of approaches appropriate to particular concepts allows for their classification, which results in the separation of three specific groups of them. Their specificity may be expressed by the following terms: "lifestyle", "description" and "mechanism". This article includes characteristics of emerged groups of concepts and indicates the extent of their usefulness and limitations