The Fourth Age in Prospect.

This article evaluates the theory by Higgs and Gilleard that the "fourth age"—a phase of deep old age characterized by frailty, abjection, and a moral imperative to care—is best understood as a "social imaginary," a shared cultural understanding about dependency and decline in later life. Through qualitative interviews with 138 independently living adults aged 70 and older across five sites in Czechia, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States, the study finds consistent recognition of frailty's onset, negative emotional responses to dependence (abjection), and concerns about the burden of care on others. Participants often expressed dread of losing independence, sometimes preferring death to becoming dependent, and acknowledged the complex social dynamics involved in receiving care. The findings support the claim that the fourth-age imaginary has a universal quality rooted in human corporeality and senescence, influencing how older adults anticipate and manage their futures across diverse cultural contexts.