A vivência do perdão, da gratidão e da espiritualidade no contexto da psicologia positiva em pessoas idosas

Abstract

The older population in Brazil is continuously growing, representing 15.6% of the overall Brazilian population, equivalent to more than 32 million people. Among alternatives to promote quality of life and healthy aging is Positive Psychology, which focuses on enabling positive experiences and preventing or reducing psychopathological indices that arise while aging. In Positive Psychology, there are six universal virtues that are divided into 24 character strengths, which are common in everyone. The main goal of this study was to identify some of the character strengths, such as gratitude, forgiveness, and spiritual experience in older adults in the context of Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs), Protestant churches, and an environment for sports practice at one University. The nature of this study is quantitative, descriptive, and relational. The number of participants was 116 older adults between 60 and 89. The instruments used were the Sociodemographic Data Sheet, the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), the Gratitude Index, the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), and the Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). The findings pointed out the presence of gratitude among different religions and the substantial difference between positive and negative affect, considering the education degree of the participants. Forgiveness was scored lower in older adults living alone than those living with relatives and in long-term care facilities. Our study's participants interpreted the religiosity scale differently, so unexpected results were observed. Thus, results revealed the benefits of practicing forgiveness, gratitude, and spirituality in promoting better well-being while aging.