The goal of the present study was to identify subgroups of older participants on the basis of unique configurations of variables among functions of reminiscence, personality traits, life attitudes, and perceived stress by means of cluster analysis. Ninety-three older adults (M = 66.7 years of age) completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, the Life…

Volunteer workers over sixty-five were compared to retired elderly who did not engage in work activity. Volunteers had significantly higher degree of life satisfaction, stronger will to live, and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization. No differences were found on demographics or background. (Author)

We used a person perception paradigm to investigate whether ascriptions of personal traits differ for a young versus old target being interviewed for a volunteer position that will require the performance of memory-related tasks. Perceivers (52 men and 92 women, ages 18 to 75 years) read a script in which a young or old target interviewee was…

Using data from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study described reasons reported by pre- and early-retirement populations for perceived changes in global health status over a 2-year period. It then analyzed the association between self-perceptions of change and the actual changes in objective health…

Positive psychology has recently developed a classification of human strengths (Peterson & Seligman, in press). We aimed to evaluate these strengths by investigating the strengths and life satisfaction in three adult samples recruited from the community (young adult, middle-aged, and older adult), as well as in the surviving men of the Grant study…