Improvising Survival Without Guarantees: A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Attitudes Toward Aging Among Middle-Aged Gay Men in Cebu City, Philippines

Abstract

This study developed a substantive grounded theory explaining how middle-aged gay men in Cebu City, Philippines, construct their attitudes toward aging. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, 12 middle-aged gay men aged 35 to 50 were recruited through purposive and theoretical sampling and participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data analysis employed initial, focused, and theoretical coding, guided by constant comparative analysis. The core category, Improvising Survival Without Guarantees, emerged as the central explanatory process through which participants navigate aging outside the normative Filipino life course. Ten substantive categories were organized into three domains: Material Improvisation, Relational Improvisation, and Psychological Improvisation, with Seeing Futures in Others’ Lives serving as a bridging category across all domains. Findings challenge static models of aging attitudes and demonstrate how marginalized populations exercise creative agency in constructing pathways toward security, meaning, and dignity in later life. Theoretical propositions and implications for queer aging research, Filipino psychology, and decolonial gerontology are discussed.