Social support has been shown to buffer the relationship between life stress and psychological distress in late life. However, little attention has been paid to personality variables that are associated with the capacity to effectively utilize social support. Although the buffering effects of social support were replicated in our sample of 134…

Examined work-to-retirement process, using quantitative and qualitative evaluations to verify whether pre-, intra-, and postretirement periods are different from one another when individual's internal organization is examined. Findings from 17 experimental and 22 control subjects, aged 65, revealed that at quantitative level retirement transition…

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)

The mythicizing of significant figures, evidenced in reminiscence among the elderly, can be interpreted as an adaptational response that is different from making sense out of one's life. Later in life the past becomes unique, and in the myth becoming the reality, one's life becomes justified. (Author)

Since the global item of subjective health has emerged as a strong predictor of important health outcomes such as mortality, there have been many attempts to uncover its correlates. In this study, we tested whether personality as assessed via the five-factor model of personality predicted subjective health when physician-rated health and…