A taxonomy of situations for an elderly population: generating situational criteria

The present study examined the feasibility of a taxonomic strategy for generating situational criteria useful in the assessment of competence for older adults, with competence viewed as adaptive responding in specific situations. The first phase of the strategy involved (a) sampling a population of situations relevant to the experience of an older urban population, (b) selecting and empirically testing the reliability of four attribute dimensions (social-nonsocial; high-low activity; common-uncommon: supportive-depriving), which, in combination, taxonomized 16 classes of 80 situations, and (c) adapting these situations to a Q-sort technique. In the second phase, taxonomized situations were Q-sorted by 20 older individuals(x age = 71 years) on three response dimensions (self-rated ease of coping, affect, and frequency of encounter). Significant MANOVA main effects and interactions for each response dimension were found. Implications of this approach for generating ecologically-valid situational criteria useful in assessing adult competence are discussed.