The purpose of the study was to measure life satisfaction and the factors believed to influence it. The study involved 105 very old people, ninety years and above, who were not cognitively impaired, living in the inner part of Stockholm, Sweden. In order to assess life satisfaction, the Life Satisfaction Index-B (LSI-B) and Life Satisfaction Index-Z (LSI-Z) were used. Information about life events, activities, personality and social contacts were collected in order to determine their relative influence on life satisfaction. Factors associated with life satisfaction were also investigated in a content analysis to find out what the elderly themselves believe gives them life satisfaction. Results showed that health and an emotionally stable personality were, independently of other factors, the most important factors for life satisfaction among the very old.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndrewsF., & WitheyS. B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: America's perception of life quality.New York: Plenum Press.
2.
ArgyleM. (1987). The psychology of happiness.London: Methuen.
3.
BaiyewuO., & JegedeO. (1992). Life satisfaction in elderly Nigerians: Reliability and factor composition of the life satisfaction index Z. Age and Ageing, 21, 256–261.
4.
BigotA. (1974). The relevance of American life satisfaction indices for research on British subjects before and after retirement. Age and Ageing, 3, 113–121.
5.
BowlingA. (1990). Associations with life satisfaction among very elderly people living in a deprived part of inner London. Social Science and Medicine, 31, 1003–1011.
6.
BowlingA. (1991). Measuring health: A review of quality of life measurement scales.Milton Keynes; Open University Press.
7.
BowlingA., & FarquharM. (1996). Associations with changes in life satisfaction among three samples of elderly people living at home. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 11, 1077–1087.
8.
BowlingA., & GrundyE. (1997). Activities of daily living: Changes in functional ability in three samples of elderly and very elderly people. Age and Ageing, 26, 107–114.
9.
CampbellA.ConverseP. E., & RodgersW. L. (1976). The quality of American Life.New York: Sage.
10.
ChatfieldW. F. (1977). Economic and sociological factors influencing life satisfaction of the aged. Journal of Gerontology, 32, 593–599.
11.
CohenJ., & CohenP. (1975). Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
12.
CokeM. M. (1992). Correlations of life satisfaction among elderly African Americans. Journals of Gerontology, 47, 316–320.
13.
CostaP. T.Jr., & McCraeR. R. (1980a). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668–678.
14.
CostaP. T.Jr., & McCraeR. R. (1980b). Still stable after all these years: Personality as a key to some issues in adulthood and old age. In BaltesP. B. & BrimO. G.. (Eds), Life Span Development and Behavior, 3, (pp. 66–102). New York: Academic Press.
15.
CostaP. T.ZondermanA. B.McCraeR. R.Cornoni-HuntleyJ. C.LockeB. Z., & BarbanoH. E. (1987). Longitudinal analysis of psychological well-being in a national sample: Stability of mean levels. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 50–55.
16.
DeNeveK. M., & CooperH. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197–229.
DienerE., & DienerC. (1996). Most people are happy. Psychological Science, 7, 181–185.
19.
DienerE., & LarsenR. J. (1993). The experience of emotional well-being. In LewisM., & HavilandJ. M. (Eds.), Handbook of emotions.New York: Guilford Press.
20.
EdwardsJ. N., & KlemmackD. L. (1973). Correlates of life satisfaction: A reexamination. Journal of Gerontology, 28, 479–502.
21.
EysenckM. W. (1990). Happiness; Facts and myths,.United Kingdom: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd.
22.
EysenckS. B. G.EysenckH. J., & BarrettP. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 21–29.
23.
FarberH. J.BrodM., & FeinbloomR. I. (1991). Primary family contacts and emotional health in the institutionalised elderly. Family Practice Research Journal, 11, 309–317.
24.
FisherB. J. (1995). Successful aging, life satisfaction, and generativity in later life. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 41, 239–250.
25.
FolsteinM. F.FolsteinS. E., & McHughP. R. (1975). Mini Mental State: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.
26.
FratiglioniL.ViitanenM.BäckmanL.SandmanP. O., & WinbladB. (1992). Occurrence of dementia in advanced age: The study design of the Kungsholmen project. Neuroepidemiology, 11, 29–36.
27.
FratiglioniL.ViitanenM.Von StraussE.TontodonatiV.HerlitzA., & WinbladB. (1997). Very old women at highest risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease; Incidence data from the Kungsholmen Project, Stockholm. Neurology, 48, 132–138.
28.
GfellnerB. M. (1989). Perceptions of health, abilities and life satisfaction among very old adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 203–209.
29.
GraysonD. A. (1988). Limitations on the use of scales in psychiatric research. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 22, 99–108.
30.
HeadeyB., & WearingA. (1992). Understanding happiness: A theory of subjective well-being.Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
31.
HeavenP. (1992). Life span development.Australia: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Group.
32.
HilleråsP. K.JormA. F.HerlitzA., & WinbladB. (1999). Activity patterns among the very old: A survey on a cognitively intact sample aged 90 years and above. Age and Ageing, 28, 147–152.
33.
HilleråsP. K.JormA. F.HerlitzA., & WinbladB. (1998). Negative and positive affect among the very old: A survey on a sample aged 90 years or above. Research on Aging, 20, 593–610.
34.
HoytD. R.KaiserM. A.PetersG. R., & BabchuckN. (1980). Life satisfaction and activity theory: A multidimensional approach. Journal of Gerontology, 35, 935–941.
35.
Hulter-ÅsbergK., & SonnU. (1989). The cumulative structure of personal and instrumental ADL: A study of elderly people in a health service district. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation and Medicine, 21, 171–177.
36.
KoyanoW., & ShibataH. (1994). Development of a measure of subjective well-being in Japan: Construct validity and reliability of the life satisfaction index K. In FittenL. J. (Eds.), Facts and research in gerontology.New York: Springer Publishing Co.
37.
LarsonR.ManellR., & ZuzanekJ. (1986). Daily well-being of older adults with friends and family. Psychology and Aging, 1, 117–126.
38.
LattenJ. J. (1988). Life-course and satisfaction. Equal for everyone?Social Indicators Research, 21, 599–610.
39.
LevinJ. S. (1989). Religious factors in aging, adjustment and health: A theoretical overview. In ClementsW. M., (Ed.), Religion, aging and health: A global perspective. Complied by the World Health Organization. New York: The Haworth Press.
40.
LevinJ. S.ChattersL. M., & TaylorR. J. (1995). Religious effects on health status and life satisfaction among black americans. Journal of Gerontology, 50, 154–163.
41.
LongJ. D.AndersonJ., & WilliamsR. L. (1990). Life reflections by older kinsmen about critical life issues. Educational Gerontology, 16, 61–71.
42.
MantonK. G., & SoldoB. J. (1985). Dynamics of health changes in the oldest-old: New perspectives and evidence. Health and Society, 63, 206–285.
43.
MatonK. I., & WellsE. A. (1995). Religion as a community resource for well-being: Prevention, healing, and empowerment pathways. Journal of Social Issues, 51, 177–193.
44.
McCraeR. R., & CostaP. T. (1990). Personality in adulthood.Now York: The Guilford Press.
45.
McCraeR. R., & CostaP. T. (1991). Liebe und Arbeit: The full fire-factor model and well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 227–232.
46.
MorganK.DallossoH. M.ArieT.ByrneE. S.JonesR., & WaiteJ. (1987). Mental health and psychological well-being among the old and very old living at home. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 801–807.
47.
MyersD. G., & DienerE. (1995). Who is happy?Psychological Science, 6, 10–15.
48.
NeugartenB. L.HavighurstR. J., & TobinS. S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology, 16, 134–143.
49.
NewsonJ. T., & SchulzR. (1996). Social support as a mediator in the relation between functional status and quality of life in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 11, 34–44.
50.
OkunM. A., & StockW. A. (1987). Correlates and components of subjective well-being among the elderly. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 6, 95–112.
51.
PavotW.DienerE.ColvinR., & SandvikE. (1991). Further validation of the satisfaction with life scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149–161.
52.
RayR. O. (1979). Life satisfaction and activity involvement: Implications for leisure service. Journal of Leisure Research, 11, 112–119.
53.
Reyes-OritzC. A.AyeleH., & MulliganT. (1996). Religious activity improves quality of life for ill older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 44, 1139.
54.
SalthouseT. A.KauslerD. H., & SaultsJ. S. (1990). Age, self-assessed health status, and cognition. Journal of Gerontology, 4, 156–160.
55.
SiegelJ. (1990). Stressful life events and use of physician services among the elderly: The Moderating role of pet ownership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1081–1086
StonesM. J., & KozmaA. (1985). Structural relationships among happiness scales. Social Indicators Research, 17, 19–28.
58.
ThomasE. L., & ChambersK. O. (1989). Phenomenology of life satisfaction among elderly men: Quantitative and qualitative views. Psychology and Aging, 4, 284–289.
59.
TombaughT. N., & McIntyreM. A. (1992). The Mini-Mental State Examination: A comprehensive review, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40, 923–935.
60.
VeenhovenR. (1984). Conditions of happiness.Netherlands: D. Reidel Publishing Company.
61.
VeenhovenR. (1996). Developments in satisfaction-research. Social Indicators Research, 37, 1–49.
62.
WoodL. A., & JohnsonJ. (1989). Life satisfaction among the rural elderly: What does the numbers man?Social Indicators Research, 21, 379–408.
63.
WoodV.WylieM., & SheaforB. (1969). An analysis of a short self-report measure of life satisfaction: Correlation with rather judgments. Journal of Gerontology, 24, 465–469.
