Dov Shmotkin

Dov Shmotkin (Hebrew: דב שמוטקין; born 1949) is professor emeritus in the School of Psychological Sciences and former head of the Herczeg Institute on Aging, both at Tel Aviv University.

Biography

Dov Shmotkin was born in 1949 in Rishon Le-Zion, Israel. He is professor emeritus in the School of Psychological Sciences[1] and former head of the Herczeg Institute on Aging,[2] both at Tel Aviv University, where he received his PhD. He is a senior clinical psychologist and was formerly head of the clinical psychology graduate program in the School of Psychological Sciences. Shmotkin was visiting scholar in the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan (1988–89) and honorary fellow in the Institute on Aging at the University of Wisconsin (1996–97). He served as senior researcher in the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study (CALAS)[3][4] and Israeli branch of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel),[5] surveys on Israel's older population. He directed a project which combined databases from these studies with others on Israel's aging populations.[6] Shmotkin was appointed Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.[7]

Research

Shmotkin's scientific work focused on a dialectical approach to human happiness and suffering, primarily on adulthood and old age.[8] His works explore psychological mechanisms through which people maintain well-being and resilience against adversity and aging processes inflicting trauma, decline and loss.[9] In his conceptual model, The Pursuit of Happiness in a Hostile World, Shmotkin, and his associates, developed a dynamic framework on the relationship between resilience and vulnerability.[10][11][12] His work in gerontology addressed combatting disintegration in later life through wellness, adaptational functioning and self-fulfillment.[13][14] A recurring theme across his works is the study of the relationship between well-being and distress.[15]

Shmotkin's was included in 100 top international experts in positive psychology, presented in The World Book of Happiness.[16] Elsevier and Stanford University included him in the top 2% most impactful scientists within gerontology based on his 2022 c-score.[17] He was ranked within the top 0.5% of scholars for his research on subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and well-being by ScholarGPS in 2022.[18]

The pursuit of happiness in a hostile world

Happiness is achieved through two major systems: subjective well-being and meaning in life.[19] While most approaches regard happiness as a mental outcome, Shmotkin's model considers it a process; both subjective well-being and meaning in life systems regulate personal conceptions of hostile-world scenarios.[11][20] The model's concept of hostile-world scenario[8] focuses on self-beliefs about disasters and inflictions, and is central to the image each individual has on their physical and mental integrity. For most people, the hostile-world scenario is an adaptive mechanism for scanning adverse conditions in life.[21] When under-activated, it may induce reckless behavior, and when over-activated, it may produce a sense of constant danger. Research has shown that reactions to hostile-world scenarios can influence the relationship between the scenario and mental health outcomes.[22][23][24] The concept of hostile-world scenario exposed derivative themes, such as perceived threats of evil in individuals with traumatic backgrounds.[25][23]

The model centers on the constant interaction between happiness-promoting systems and the hostile-world scenario. The pursuit of happiness allows individuals to function competently despite the presence of hostile-world scenarios.[8] In threatening conditions, the happiness-promoting systems may amplify or compensate for each other. Non-resilient mechanisms are possible when hostile-world scenarios involve increased depletion and vulnerability.[26][27][28]

The multiple appearances of happiness

Shmotkin's work explained multiple modules and configurations of happiness.[8] For example, different combinations of aspects of subjective well-being (for example, life satisfaction and positive affect) created different types of well-being among individuals.[29] Some of these types had imbalanced aspects, such as high life satisfaction and low positive affect. The studies observed individuals' subjective well-being in the past, present, and future, which allowed examination of how the individual's well-being evolved across their life.[30][31] He investigated how people compare their well-being to anchor periods, paramount experiences in one's remembered past. The studies showed that people formed an emotional matrix of happiness and suffering of their past experiences. These reflected congruent and incongruent feelings associated with current subjective well-being, reactions to trauma, and coping with aging.[32][15][33][34] These modules, within one's subjective well-being[8] and in combination with meaning in life,[19] provide many methods to cope with adversity.

Shmotkin advocated for the use of person-centered methods, rather than variable-centered methods, to describe subconscious function[35] and well-being.[9] This helped to contrast individuals who maintained congruity with related variables and those who did not. Incongruent relations may indicate conflicting or ambivalent inclination or encompass adaptational advantages; this aligns with Shmotkin's view that resilience and vulnerability, in disadvantageous conditions, coexist.[12][36]

Holocaust survivors and long-term effects of trauma

Holocaust survivors act as a model of how extreme trauma in early life has impacts into old age. Under Shmotkin's approach, their trauma is an example of the interaction of happiness-promoting systems and intensified hostile-world scenarios. By studying Holocaust survivors in an array of community and national samples,[37][38][39][40] Shmotkin and his colleagues concluded that older survivors usually manifested general resilience with specific vulnerabilities in pertinent psychosocial issues. Coping with the trauma was controlled by how survivors mentally framed their traumatization in time[41] and their ability to incorporate the trauma into their life story.[34] In reviews of research on Holocaust survivors, Shmotkin explained the interactions between long-term effects of the trauma with aging processes[36][14] and family constellation.[42]

To improve his methodology in his Holocaust survivor studies, Shmotkin carefully considered his focal and comparison groups. The question "Who is a survivor?" proved complex, and was approached by combining subjective and objective criteria. It was detailed that the precedent of a single comparison group in past studies on survivors was not methodologically suitable; several different groups were required for instructive comparison with the survivors' grouping.[37][38]

Shmotkin examined long-term traumatic effects through SHARE-Israel. Alongside collaborators, he described cumulative adversity, which characterized stressful experiences along the lives of older people; he differentiated these into self-oriented, where the primary harm was to oneself, and other-oriented, where the primary harm was to someone else, to describe all potentially traumatic events.[43] The team found that cumulative adversity, particularly self-oriented, was detrimental to physical and mental functioning.[44][45]

Gerontological research

Shmotkin's view extends into his gerontological work, where aging reflects the interaction between resilience and vulnerability, and survival and mortality. His work focuses on epidemiological national surveys—mainly CALAS and SHARE-Israel—where he juxtaposed physical and mental health; while physical health was an increasingly dominant factor in mortality in old age,[46][35] certain psychosocial factors remained significant.[47][48]

Another focus point of Shmotkin's gerontological work was the role of individuals' time perspective in understanding their later life.[49] At old age, people usually preserve high levels of happiness, even following harsh adversity in the past. Shmotkin's studies showed that older people organised positive and negative feelings from their past and buffered fears about their future;[15][33][50] notions of time perspective appeared embedded in people's adjustment to aging.[51][31]

Shmotkin studied scarcely examined aging-related issues. For example, he looked at the challenges of fatherhood and aging among gay and heterosexual men, particularly examining the vulnerability of gay men[52] who were children of Holocaust survivors.[25][53] These also included the continuity of adult's bonds with their deceased parents,[54] the inconsistency between objective and subjective indicators of one's memory in old age,[55] the disconnect between physical and mental health in very old age,[13] and the impact of the death of a child among aged parents.[56]

References

  1. ^ "Prof. Dov Shmotkin - Faculty of Social Sciences The Gershon H. Gordon". en-social-sciences.tau.ac.il.
  2. ^ "Prof. Dov Shmotkin, Ph.D. - The Herczeg Institute on Aging". herczeg.tau.ac.il.
  3. ^ "Photos - CALAS Event 2015 - The Herczeg Institute on Aging". herczeg.tau.ac.il.
  4. ^ "פרסומים CALAS - מכון הרצג לחקר ההזדקנות והזיקנה". herczeg.tau.ac.il.
  5. ^ "SHARE-Israel". igdc.huji.ac.il.
  6. ^ "IGDC - Harmonized Database". igdc.huji.ac.il.
  7. ^ "The Gerontological Society of America, GSA Fellow Status and Current GSA Fellows List (Behavioral & Social Sciences)".
  8. ^ a b c d e Shmotkin, D. (2005). "Happiness in Face of Adversity: Reformulating the Dynamic and Modular Bases of Subjective Well-Being". Review of General Psychology. 9 (4): 291–325. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.4.291. S2CID 5121235.
  9. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A. (2013). "Subjective Well-Being and Meaning in Life in a Hostile World: Proposing a Configurative Perspective". In J. Hicks; C. Routledge (eds.). The Experience of Meaning in Life: Classical Perspectives, Emerging Themes, and Controversies. New York: Springer. pp. 77–86. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_6. ISBN 978-94-007-6527-6.
  10. ^ Shmotkin, D. (2011). "Pursuit of Happiness: Alternative Conceptions of Subjective Well-Being". In L. W. Poon & J. Cohen-Mansfield (ed.). Understanding Well-Being in the Oldest Old. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 27–45. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511920974.004. ISBN 978-0-521-13200-8.
  11. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A. (2012). "On the Distinction between Subjective Well-Being and Meaning in Life: Regulatory Versus Reconstructive Functions in the Face of a Hostile World". In P.T.P. Wong (ed.). The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications (2 ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 143–163. ISBN 978-0-415-87677-3.
  12. ^ a b Palgi, Y.; Shrira, A.; Shmotkin, D. (2015). "Aging with Trauma Across the Lifetime and Experiencing Trauma in Old Age: Vulnerability and Resilience Intertwined". In K.E. Cherry (ed.). Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery: Coping with Disasters and other Negative Life Events. New York: Springer. pp. 293–308. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_16. ISBN 978-3-319-18865-2.
  13. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A.; Eyal, N.; Blumstein, T.; Shorek, A. (2014). "The Prediction of Subjective Wellness among the Old-Old: Implications for the "Fourth Age" Conception". The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 69 (5): 719–729. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbt052. PMC 4189654. PMID 23740093.
  14. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A.; Palgi, Y. (2011). "Does Trauma Linger into Old-Old Age: Using the Holocaust Experience as a Paradigm". In L.W. Poom; J. Cohen-Mansfield (eds.). Understanding Well-Being in the Oldest Old. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 81–95. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511920974.007. ISBN 978-0-521-13200-8.
  15. ^ a b c Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A. (2012). "Happiness and Suffering in the Life Story: An Inquiry into Conflicting Expectations Concerning the Effect of Perceived Past on Present Subjective Well-Being in Old Age". Journal of Happiness Studies. 13: 389–409. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9270-x. S2CID 144507783.
  16. ^ World Book of Happiness (2010). Editor-in-Chief: L. Bormans. Tielt, Belgium: Page One.
  17. ^ Loannidis, J.P.A (2023). "Bibliometrics". Updated Science-Wide Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators. Elsevier BV and Stanford University. 2023 Update. Vol. 6. Elsevier Data Repository. doi:10.17632/btchxktzyw.6.
  18. ^ "4 Top Scholars by Expertise: ScholarGPS metadata analysis of worldwide scholarly activity, 2022 Report".
  19. ^ a b Keyes, C.L.M.; Shmotkin, D.; Ryff, C.D. (2002). "Optimizing Well-Being: The Empirical Encounter of Two Traditions" (PDF). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 82 (6): 1007–1022. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007. PMID 12051575. S2CID 8426437.
  20. ^ Shrira, A.; Palgi, Y.; Ben-Ezra, M.; Shmotkin, D. (2011). "How Subjective Well-Being and Meaning in Life Interact in the Hostile World". Journal of Positive Psychology. 82 (6): 273–285. doi:10.1080/17439760.2011.577090. S2CID 144646828.
  21. ^ Lifhsitz, R.; Ifrah, K.; Markovitz, N.; Shmotkin, D. (2020). "Do past and prospective adversities intersect? Distinct effects of cumulative adversity and the hostile-world scenario on functioning at later life". Aging and Mental Health. 24 (7): 1116–1125. doi:10.1080/13607863.2019.1597014. PMID 30955342.
  22. ^ Bergman, Y.S.; Shrira, A.; Palgi, Y.; Shmotkin, D. (2021). "The moderating role of the hostile-world scenario in the connections between COVID-19 worries, loneliness, and anxiety". Frontiers in Psychology. 12 645655. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645655. PMC 8008141. PMID 33796056.
  23. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Bluvstein, I. (2024). "Inquiry on threats of evil within the Hostile-World Scenario: Emerging content and mental health concomitants among Holocaust survivors". Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma. 33 (10): 1173–1194. doi:10.1080/10926771.2024.2369068.
  24. ^ Ifrah, K.; Shenkman, G.; Shmotkin, D. (2024). "Psychological flexibility in the face of potential adversity: Examining wellness among gay and heterosexual men". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. doi:10.1037/ort0000770. PMID 38934906.
  25. ^ a b Shenkman, G.; Ifrah, K.; Shmotkin, D. (2024). "Evil-related threats and mental health concomitants among offspring of Holocaust survivors gay men". Aging & Mental Health. 28 (11): 1522–1531. doi:10.1080/13607863.2024.2363342. PMID 38907536.
  26. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Avidor, S.; Shrira, A. (2016). "The Role of the Hostile-World Scenario in Predicting Physical and Mental Health Outcomes in Older Adults". Journal of Aging and Health. 28 (5): 863–889. doi:10.1177/0898264315614005. PMID 26667306. S2CID 13225751.
  27. ^ Shrira, A. (2015). "Transmitting the Sum of all Fears: Iranian Nuclear Threat Salience among Offspring of Holocaust Survivors". Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 7 (4): 364–371. doi:10.1037/tra0000029. PMID 25793401.
  28. ^ Shenkman, G.; Shmotkin, D. (2013). "The Hostile-World Scenario among Israeli Homosexual Adolescents and Young Adults". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 43 (7): 1408–1417. doi:10.1111/jasp.12097.
  29. ^ Shmotkin, D. (1998). "Declarative and Differential Aspects of Subjective Well-Being and its Implications for Mental Health in Later Life". In J. Lomranz (ed.). Handbook of Aging and Mental Health: An Integrative Approach. New York: Plenum. pp. 15–43. ISBN 978-1-4899-0098-2.
  30. ^ Shmotkin, D. (1991). "The Role of Time Orientation in Life Satisfaction across the Life-Span". Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. 46 (5): 243–250. doi:10.1093/geronj/46.5.P243. PMID 1890291.
  31. ^ a b Palgi, Y.; Shmotkin, D. (2010). "The Predicament of Time near the End of Life: Time Perspective Trajectories of Life Satisfaction among the Old-Old". Aging and Mental Health. 14 (5): 577–586. doi:10.1080/13607860903483086. PMID 20480422. S2CID 9388046.
  32. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Berkovich, M.; Cohen, K. (2006). "Combining Happiness and Suffering in a Retrospective View of Anchor Periods in Life: A Differential Approach to Subjective Well-Being". Social Indicators Research. 77: 139–169. doi:10.1007/s11205-005-5556-x. S2CID 144896837.
  33. ^ a b Shrira, A.; Shmotkin, D. (2008). "Can the Past Keep Life Pleasant even for Old-Old Trauma Survivors?". Aging and Mental Health. 12 (6): 807–819. doi:10.1080/13607860802428018. PMID 19023733. S2CID 205781130.
  34. ^ a b Cohen, K.; Shmotkin, D. (2007). "Emotional Ratings of Anchor Periods in Life and their Relation to Subjective Well-Being among Holocaust Survivors". Personality and Individual Differences. 43 (3): 495–506. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2006.12.018.
  35. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Lerner-Geva, L.; Cohen-Mansfield, J.; Blumstein, T.; Eyal, N.; Shorek, A.; Kave, G.; Hazan, H. (2010). "Profiles of Functioning as Predictors of Mortality in Old Age: The Advantage of a Configurative Approach". Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 51 (1): 68–75. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2009.07.010. PMID 19748688.
  36. ^ a b Shmotkin, D. (2003). "Vulnerability and Resilience Intertwined: A Review of Research on Holocaust Survivors". In R. Jacoby; G. Keinan (eds.). Between Stress and Hope: From a Disease-Centered to a Health-Centered Perspective. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 213–233. ISBN 978-0-275-97640-8.
  37. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Lomranz, J. (1998). "Subjective Well-Being among Holocaust Survivors: An Examination of Overlooked Differentiations". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 75 (1): 141–155. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.141. PMID 9686455.
  38. ^ a b Shmotkin, D.; Blumstein, T.; Modan, B. (2003). "Tracing Long-Term Effects of Early Trauma: A Broad-Scope View of Holocaust Survivors in Late Life". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 71 (2): 223–234. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.71.2.223. PMID 12699017.
  39. ^ Shrira, A.; Palgi, Y.; Ben-Ezra, M.; Shmotkin, D. (2010). "Do Holocaust Survivors show Increased Vulnerability or Resilience to Post-Holocaust Cumulative Adversity?". Journal of Traumatic Stress. 23 (3): 367–375. doi:10.1002/jts.20524. PMID 20564370.
  40. ^ Shrira, A.; Palgi, Y.; Ben-Ezra, M.; Shmotkin, D. (2011). "Functioning and Mortality of Holocaust Survivors: Physical Resilience and Psychosocial Vulnerabilities". Journal of Loss and Trauma. 16: 67–83. doi:10.1080/15325024.2010.519297. S2CID 144081216.
  41. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Barilan, Y.M. (2002). "Expressions of Holocaust Experience and Their Relationship to Mental Symptoms and Physical Morbidity among Holocaust Survivor Patients". Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 25 (2): 115–134. doi:10.1023/A:1014880604065. PMID 11977434. S2CID 21062311.
  42. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Shrira, A.; Goldberg, S.C.; Palgi, Y. (2011). "Resilience and Vulnerability among Aging Holocaust Survivors and Their Families: An Intergenerational Overview". Journal of Intergenerational Relationships. 9: 7–21. doi:10.1080/15350770.2011.544202.
  43. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Litwin, H. (2009). "Cumulative Adversity and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults in Israel: The Differential Roles of Self-Oriented versus Other-Oriented Events of Potential Trauma". Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 44 (11): 989–997. doi:10.1007/s00127-009-0020-x. PMC 3547167. PMID 19288036.
  44. ^ Shrira, A.; Shmotkin, D.; Litwin, H. (2012). "Potentially Traumatic Events at Different Points in the Life Span and Mental Health: Findings from SHARE-Israel". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 82 (2): 251–259. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01149.x. PMC 3538172. PMID 22506527.
  45. ^ Keinan, G.; Shrira, A.; Shmotkin, D. (2012). "The Association between Cumulative Adversity and Mental Health: Considering Dose and Primary Focus of Adversity". Quality of Life Research. 21 (7): 1149–1158. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-0035-0. PMID 21983715. S2CID 12726262.
  46. ^ Ben-Ezra, M.; Shmotkin, D. (2006). "Predictors of Mortality in the Old-Old in Israel: The Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study". Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 54 (6): 906–911. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2006.00741.x. PMID 16776784. S2CID 32354267.
  47. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Blumstein, T.; Modan, B. (2003). "Beyond Keeping Active: Concomitants of being a Volunteer in Old-Old Age". Psychology and Aging. 18 (3): 602–607. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.18.3.602. PMID 14518819.
  48. ^ Ginzburg, A.; Shmotkin, D.; Blumstein, T.; Shorek, A. (2005). "A Gender-Based Dynamic Multidimensional Longitudinal Analysis of Resilience and Mortality in the Old-Old in Israel: The Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study (CALAS)". Social Science and Medicine. 60 (8): 1705–1715. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.08.023. PMID 15686803.
  49. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Eyal, N. (2003). "Psychological Time in Later Life: Implications for Counseling". Journal of Counseling and Development. 81 (3): 259–267. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2003.tb00252.x.
  50. ^ Shmotkin, D. (1992). "The Apprehensive Respondent: Failing to Rate Future Life Satisfaction in Older Adults". Psychology and Aging. 7 (3): 484–486. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.7.3.484. PMID 1388871.
  51. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Hadari, G. (1996). "An Outlook on Subjective Well-Being in Old Age: An Integrative Formulation". International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 42 (4): 271–289. doi:10.2190/JKMB-2TH6-YB74-L8PL. PMID 8835611. S2CID 46220537.
  52. ^ Shenkman, G.; Ifrah, K.; Shmotkin, D. (2023). "The contribution of couplehood and parenthood to the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being of older gay men". Journal of Happiness Studies. 24: 1419–1437. doi:10.1007/s10902-023-00645-3.
  53. ^ Shenkman, G.; Shrira, A.; Ifrah, K.; Shmotkin, D. (2018). "Interpersonal vulnerability among offspring of Holocaust survivors gay men and its association with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction". Psychiatry Research. 259: 89–94. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.017. PMID 29032166.
  54. ^ Shmotkin, D. (1999). "Affective Bonds of Adult Children with Living versus Deceased Parents". Psychology and Aging. 14 (3): 473–482. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.14.3.473. PMID 10509701.
  55. ^ Shmotkin, D.; Eyal, N.; Hazan, H.; Shkolnik, T.; Shorek, A. (2013). "Between the Subjective and the Objective: How Informative is Subjective Evaluation of Memory among the Old-Old?". Clinical Gerontologist. 36 (4): 294–315. doi:10.1080/07317115.2013.788115. S2CID 147645953.
  56. ^ Cohen-Mansfield, J.; Shmotkin, D.; Malkinson, R.; Bartur, L.; Hazan, H. (2013). "Parental Bereavement Increases Mortality in Older Persons". Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 5: 84–92. doi:10.1037/a0029011.
  • Aging in a Hostile World: A conference for the presentation of a study on the pursuit of happiness in a hostile world (July 2017). (in French)
  • "Beyond Good and Bad": On the work of Prof. Dov Shmotkin. Published in The World Book of Happiness: The Knowledge and Wisdom of One Hundred Happiness Professors. Author and Editor-in-Chief: Leo Bormans. Singapore: Page One Publishing, 2010.
  • "Re-evaluating the Time of Your Life": An interview with Prof. Dov Shmotkin about his study. Released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (originally published by the American Friends of Tel Aviv University), October 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.