There is a well-established relationship between age and job satisfaction. To date, there is little research about how many well-known predictors of job satisfaction, specifically job characteristics and core self-evaluations, may vary with age. Using a multi-worksite sample of 1,873 employed adults aged 17 to 81, this study evaluated the extent…

Fluctuations in cognitive task performance in older individuals have been reported. To examine intraindividual variability as a function of practice, 34 younger and 34 older female participants, aged 20-30 years and 70-82 years, respectively, performed a reading span task 16 times over four sessions. Each individual's recall accuracy was analyzed…

Preferences for and learning activity in instrumental and expressive education are examined. Interview data of 256 Nebraskans, 55 or older, show preference differences according to sex, race, marital status, and location grouping. Comparisons with earlier (1972) data are included. An increased, overall preference for instrumental education was…

Reviews problems with early survey research methods. Recent studies are examined in terms of characteristics of the stimuli and contexts, and characteristics of the perceivers employed in them. Methodological and conceptual issues in these three categories are used to organize the body of research that exists. (Author)

Interviewed 70 community-dwelling older adults and 70 nursing home residents to assess frequency of reminiscence activity and ratings of pleasantness associated with it. Found that, despite wide variability in use of reminiscence, certain specific factors of personality, psychological well-being, will to meaning, and negative life events were…

Concluding article to special journal issue devoted to social and cultural diversity among adults aged 85 years old and older highlights major contributions made by articles in this issue. Discusses implications of articles for issues of methodological nature. Concludes that articles examined differentiating effects of social structural…

Identified and described diversity in modes of retirement adaptation using 24 individual interviews. Comparisons among analyses yielded four distinct ways of conceptualizing and experiencing retirement--as a transition to old age, as a new beginning, as a continuation of preretirement life structure, and as an imposed disruption. Features of these…

Examined volunteering bias in racial, gender, and age groups in an adult development study. Results showed the middle-aged group volunteered at a higher rate, but this effect was restricted to Whites. Women volunteered more readily than men, except the elderly. Whites volunteered more readily than Blacks. (JAC)

Compared older adults who volunteered to work for community organization at office or in adult day care center on social-psychological and demographic predictors. Found that day care center volunteers were higher than office volunteers on sympathy whereas office volunteers were higher than day care center volunteers on educational attainment,…

Residents (N=27) of a Jewish home for the aged were given a battery of 25 tests of cognitive abilities. There were marked individual differences among participants. Poorer performance was associated with carrying a diagnosis of organic brain syndrome and with a number of other background variables. (Author)

Examined validity of the postulated perceptual style-personality dimension of modulation of stimulus intensity in two elderly samples. Results indicated a significant linear relationship between kinesthetic aftereffect and degree of social engagement, life attitudes, and items previously validated with young adults. Discusses implications for…

This article presents the characteristics of the life-lines drawn by older Finnish men and women. The study was part of the Evergreen Project, Finland. Seventy-eight persons aged 83-87 participated in an interview, in which they were asked to draw a life-line. The life-line was drawn on a standardized sheet as a continuous line which showed the…

Elderly participants (N=64) were classified as to high or low rigidity and completed the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire. Previous findings were supported in that subjects preferred not to make decisions. Subjects were more cautious in making decisions applying to younger individuals and rigidity was related to risky decisions. (RC)

Recent research has documented associations between subjective health ratings and objective indicators of disease and death. Less is known about relations between subjective health ratings and level of cognitive performance in older adults. In this study, we explored whether subjective health ratings are related to episodic memory performance,…

Multiple regression analysis of interview data from 102 non-institutionalized retired black men and women in a large urban area revealed a number of factors related to life satisfaction. Results are supportive of previous findings in whites, but questions raised regarding the applicability of prior findings to black aged. (Author)