The Affective Self: Perseverance of Self-Sentiments in Late-Life Dementia

Abstract

The self has long been construed as a rational, cognitive construct; the cognitive decline of dementia has therefore been largely viewed as the loss of self. Through qualitative interviews, we find that persons with dementia strive to maintain a coherent self despite their increasing disability. Using the theories of affect control theory (ACT) and ACT-Self, we illustrate their shift from using denotative (cognitive) meanings to reliance on connotative (affective) meanings in defining the situation and choosing identities to enact. As persons with dementia lose the cognitive ability to access shared definitions and reflected appraisals, their connection to the social world narrows to affective meanings of established sentiments and emotional reactions from others. Our findings underscore the creative agency of self and the limitations of the rationalistic bias of sociology by recognizing an affective self that stands in complement to the generally acknowledged cognitive self.