Good health, involvement in social activity, and the presence of a confidant have all been found to be important factors for life satisfaction of the elderly. However, there is a significant minority of the elderly for whom these findings do not hold. The results of this study indicate that individuals' separation orientation helps explain the differential impact of important environmental factors on life satisfaction. Those who are overly dependent tend to be more adversely affected by poor self-rated health and inadequate formal activity than balanced or overly self-sufficient participants. In contrast, the presence of a confidant was associated with higher life satisfaction scores for overly dependent participants, but was associated with decreased life satisfaction for overly self-sufficient participants.
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