Possible Selves of Individuals With Alzheimer’s Disease Victoria Cotrell Portland State University Karen Hooker Oregon State University This study is one of the first to examine self-goals and their relationship to affect among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using the construct of possible selves, the authors collected data from 50 participants with mild to moderate AD and 50 demographically similar cognitively intact older adults. Findings suggest a resourcefulness and flexibility of the self-system in response to the presence of dementia-related concerns. Positive affect was associated with family-related self-goals of AD partici- pants, indicating particular importance of this domain. Some of these responses may represent goal modifications that result in a more satisfactory adjustment to the illness; further inquiry may lead to a better understanding of resiliency and quality of life in persons with AD. Keywords: dementia, self-concept, motivation, personality The possibility that one will develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or a similar dementing illness is a reality with which older adults live. Little is known about the experience and meaning of dementia to individuals with such an illness, but it is known that memory loss and concerns regarding forgetfulness are common among all ages of adults and are reportedly the least desirable and least controllable outcomes anticipated by older individuals (Lawton et al., 1999). Because of a pessimism about AD, we have not asked to what extent individuals with the illness can adapt to the pro- gressive losses and maintain a favorable sense of self and a positive experience of life. Similarly, we often assume that persons with AD are uniformly unreliable informants because of their cognitive deficits, especially deficits of memory. A recent ap- proach among researchers has been to accept as legitimate the individual‘s contribution to a complete understanding of the im- pact of the illness (e.g., Downs, 1997; Gillies, 2000; Gwyther, 1997; Sabat, 2001) and to demonstrate the validity and reliability of direct respondent assessment (Brod, Stewart, Sands, & Walton, 1999; Feinberg & Whitlatch, 2001; Logsdon & Albert, 1999). How persons with AD perceive and respond to their illness is likely to be an important factor in their ongoing adjustment. Theories of developmental regulation in adulthood (see Heck- hausen, 1999) emphasize the shifts in control strategies that take place in the face of losses, but researchers are just beginning to study processes underlying adaptive self-regulation (e.g., Wrosch, Scheier, Carver, & Schulz, 2003). Self-knowledge is central to understanding how individuals organize interpretations of the world and is used in conceptualizing strategies to adapt to chal- lenges such as serious illness (Cross & Markus, 1991; Hooker & Kaus, 1992; Markus & Nurius, 1986). Indeed, losses associated with AD are profound and eventually encroach on every domain of life. In this sense, studying persons with AD represents an extreme example of understanding what happens under the life-course scenario of accelerated loss and threats to self. Possible Selves The framework of possible selves may be particularly useful in studying the illness experience of persons with dementia. The possible selves concept captures the dynamic, goal-oriented as- pects of the personality, focuses on domains of greatest value to the individual, and is sensitive to significant life transitions and events, such as parenthood, care giving, and illness (Hooker, 1999). The possible selves concept extends self-concept research to include not only current self-knowledge, but also forward- thinking ideas about what an individual would like to become or fears becoming (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Also, the concept is one of the many goal constructs in the part of the personality system (see Hooker & McAdams, 2003) known as personal action con- structs (PACs; Little, 1983). The advantage of using possible selves, rather than other PACs such as goals, personal projects (Little, 1983), or current concerns (Klinger, 1975), is that possible selves allow for measurement of fears or avoidance motives (i.e., feared selves) in addition to the more commonly measured positive aspirations (i.e., hoped-for selves). Both approach and avoidance motives are important for understanding well-being (Updegraff, Gable, & Taylor, 2004). In addition, the temporal frame is not necessarily tied to the immediate future as it is for other PACs, allowing for interesting variability in projections of the self into the future. Why Possible Selves Are Important: Linkages to Important Life Outcomes Construction of possible selves may offer one strategy whereby older adults can maintain a positive sense of self and life satisfac- Victoria Cotrell, Graduate School of Social Work, Portland State Uni- versity; Karen Hooker, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University. This project was funded by an Individual National Research Service Award through Oregon State University (National Institute on Aging Grant F32 AG05810) and in part by the Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center (National Institutes of Health Grant P30 AG08017) of the Oregon Health Sciences University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Victoria Cotrell, Graduate School of Social Work, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751. E-mail: cotrellv@pdx.edu Psychology and Aging Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association 2005, Vol. 20, No. 2, 285–294 0882-7974/05/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.2.285 285 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.