might not be consciously aware. Veroff, Depner, Kulka, and Douvan
(1980) used the TAT for this purpose in two national surveys, con -
ducted in 1957 and 1976. They scored the stories for evidence of the
needs for achievement, affiliation, and two forms of power: fear ofweakness and hope of power. When controlled for time of testing andeducation, men showed higher hope of power in middle age andwomen showed lower need for affiliation in old age. In each sex, theother three needs showed no significant cross-sectional differences.
The technique of eliciting stories from pictures as a basis for assess -
ing needs, traits, and defenses has been particularly popular with geron -
tologists. Gutmann (1970) used TAT cards for his research on the con -
cept of ego mastery . He scored TAT stories in terms of active, passive,
and magical mastery . Cross-cultural longitudinal studies suggested thatas men age they pass from a stage of active mastery (in which TATheroes forcefully tackle the problems of their world) to a stage of pas-sive mastery (in which they acquiesce in the demands of the environ-ment) and then to a stage of magical mastery (in which problems aredenied or wished away). Gutmann’s description of ego mastery style asa measure of coping style or adaptational ability suggests that it shouldhave some consequences for the ways in which older people adapt tostress.
The use of magical mastery in old age is consistent with some clini-
cal views that hold that older people tend to use more primitive formsof defense, such as blatant denial of reality (Pfeiffer, 1977). These viewsmay accurately reflect the behavior of older people with dementing dis -
orders, but they are highly suspect when applied to cognitively intact
older individuals. Once we move away from the patently bizarre delu -
sions of psychotic or demented individuals, it is often difficult to know
if behavior or attitudes are truly reflections of denial (Costa, Zonder -
man, & McCrae, 1991). For example, older individuals, despite the
proximity of death, generally do not show a heightened fear of death(Kastenbaum & Costa, 1977). To claim this as an instance of denial, wewould have to assert that death really is a threat that should be feared—and we have no objective basis for such an assertion. Some people viewdeath as a release or as a passage to a new and better life. Are theymerely rationalizing? Who can say?
Stereotypes of old age have portrayed it as a dismal portion of the
lifespan, and evidence that older men and women are generally ashappy and satisfied with life as are younger individuals (Costa & Mc -Ego Psychologies and Projective Methods 159