Page No. 98-103
Athar Rajabi, Somaye Kazemian and Masume Esmaeili
AllamehTabataba’ i University, Iran
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between early incompatible
schema and perception of aging among elders in Iran. For this study, 150 retired
employees of the oil and gas company named South Oil were selected by a cluster
sampling method. Participants responded to Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ)
and the short form of Primary Incompatible Schema (YSQ-SF). The data were analyzed
by the Pearson correlation and Stepwise Regression Analysis using SPSS 18 software.
The result showed that there is significant relationship between “perception of aging”
and schema of “Abandonment/instability”, “Social isolation”, “Shame/defectiveness” &
“Dependence/incompetence”. Regression analysis demonstrated that the variables of
“Emotional inhibition” , “Self-sacrifice” , “Failure” & “Emotional deprivation” had the most
important role in predicting “perception of aging”, and the largest predictive role related
to “Self-sacrifice”. It was concluded that schemas have an important role in personality
and mental health, especially of the aged, and attention to them is essential for the well
being of elderly population.