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…

Much information is available about physical and functional health among very old adults, but little knowledge exists about the mental health and mental health changes in very late life. This study reports findings concerning positive and negative affect changes among centenarians. Nineteen centenarians from a Midwestern state participated in four…

Little is known about how different lifestyle factors mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health among middle-aged and older adults in Korea. Using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, this study examined the direct effects of SES on self-rated health and how lifestyle factors mediate the relationships…

This study examines the hypothesis that the outcome of the Eriksonian crisis of integrity vs. despair is dependent on successful coping with four developmental tasks: maintenance of active involvement, reevaluation of life satisfaction, developing a sense of health maintenance, and reevaluation of the sense of coherence (SOC). A selective sample…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of background, psychological, and social variables on older adults' well-being, and how this may differ for men and women. Participants included 800 adults from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), aged 60 to 101 years old (M = 71.22, SD = 8.46), who completed the optional positive…

Examined assumptions about universality of life review and reviewed findings from previous studies. Conducted study in which 43.8% of centenarians (n=105), 44.7% of 80-year olds (n=94), and 51.1% of 60-year olds (n=90) had not reviewed their lives. Findings call into question some aspects of the life review. (Author/NB)

Responses to questions on 1984 Supplement on Aging to National Health Interview Survey revealed that two-thirds of interviewees reported never having episode of confusion during preceding year. For those who admitted occasional confusion, memory loss and forgetfulness emerged as single best predictors of how often respondent reported getting…

Interviews with 520 older adults living independently in own homes revealed highly positive statements on health and life satisfaction. Opinions on life satisfaction varied with type of health problem. Overall, current, and anticipated levels of satisfaction expressed were associated significantly with historical perspective or lifeview of…

Surveyed retired persons (n=122) to identify what they would do differently in the areas of friends, family, work, education, religion, leisure, and health if they had their lives to live over again. Results indicated education was area with greatest amount of desired change. Men would spend more time pursuing their education women would develop…

Examined relationship between locus of control and self-reported psychopathology in 139 residents of retirement complex. Correlation coefficients computed for locus of control and each of nine symptom dimensions of the Brief Symptom Inventory indicated that locus of control was correlated with self-reported psychopatholgoy for older women but not…

Examines standards used by the elderly to evaluate their abilities in terms of social comparison and temporal comparison. Proposes that temporal comparison standards are used more often, reversing a tendency found earlier in life. Reviews social, cognitive, and physical reasons for the shift. (JAC)

Compared health need perceptions of 269 community-based elderly persons and 80 health-care professionals. Found high degree of incongruence between perceptions of elderly and of professionals. Health professionals were not good predictors of the health status of the elderly, and they did not accurately predict the barriers faced by the elderly…

Explored relationship between two dimensions of social interaction and well-being (quantity and adequacy of social contact) in 1050 older Australians. Results indicated that respondents' assessments of the adequacy of their social contacts, rather than the amount of social contact per se, was a critical determinant of well-being in old age.…

Examined the possibility that retirement contributed to decline in self-reported health. Within-individual changes in self-reported health for retirees were compared with changes among 386 age peers who continued to work. Eventual retirees had no greater age-adjusted incidence of health decline than did continuing workers. (Author)

Translated Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, Life Satisfaction Index, and Affect Balance Scale into Castilian Spanish and Catalan and obtained responses to instruments from 151 elderly persons living in Spain. Reliability estimates for Life Satisfaction Index and Affect Balance subscales were comparable to those for English-speaking…