The “Imperceptibly Narrowing Diamond” Generation—Adaptation Strategies of the Generation X Representatives Toward Their Old Age

Abstract

Population aging is becoming one of society’s priority issues. An assumption is that it is beneficial (the benefits for the individual and society are shown in the text) for people currently of working age (representatives of Generation X) to anticipate their old age. In this article, the results of a qualitative study are presented. The aim is to identify the adaptation strategies of representatives of Generation X toward their old age. The theoretical basis was set by reflections on generations, enriched by the metaphor of the “imperceptibly narrowing diamond.” The data collection method was an unstructured interview with a standardized list of information sought, conducted with ten people (with higher education) from Generation X. As a result of the thematic analysis, two adaptation strategies toward old age emerged for the representatives of Generation X: proactive and reactive.

Keywords

• generation x
• old age
• adaptation strategies
• proactivity
• reactivity