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This thesis uses a resource theoretical approach to study and analyze social psychological phenomena in different age-cohorts. Resources are seen as any asset the person has access to in a certain situation. Access to resources are crucial to meet the demands of the surrounding environment. When the resources are sufficient to cope with the surrounding environment there will be a greater freedom of choice to manipulate or to not be unnecessarily manipulated by the environment. In older age cohorts access to resources is lower than in younger age cohorts, where access depends on aging, cohort, and/or historical reasons. The model suggests three different categories of resources: individual, interpersonal, and institutional. Individual resources are exemplified by health, interpersonal by social network, and institutional by social position. The gap between actual and perceived resources can be understood by a construct called the self-reference system. The actual resources and the way these are perceived influence feelings and behavior such as activity level, loneliness, and life satisfaction. This also means that the use of age or age cohorts to explain feeling and behavior often is misleading. It is much more convincing to categorize people according to access to resources rather than to their age. Some aspects of the model were empirically studied in a non-proportional stratified random sample of 130 persons in 5 age cohorts. The results provided strong support to the model. (Author/LLL)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert