Future expectations of quality of life and present evaluations of quality of life were measured in three age groups using four measures. Expectations were found to exceed present evaluations on all four measures. There was a significant correlation between age and the Faces Scale for future expectations. Age also related to differences between future expectations and present quality of life estimates. Expectations, the cognitive dimension of hope, merit more intensive study.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndrewsF. M. and WitheyS. B., Social Indicators of Well-Being: America's Perception of Life Quality, Plenum Press, New York, 1976.
2.
CampbellA.ConverseP. E., and RodgersW. L., The Quality of American Life, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1976.
3.
DienerE., Subjective Well-Being, Psychological Bulletin, 95, pp. 542–575, 1984.
4.
LarsonR., Thirty Years of Research on the Subjective Well-Being of Older Americans, Journal of Gerontology, 33, pp. 109–125, 1978.
5.
OkunM. A.StockW. A.HaringM. J., and WitterR. A., Health and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 19, pp. 111–131, 1984.
6.
DalkeyN. C.RourkeD. L.LewisR., and SnyderD., Studies in the Quality of Life, D. C. Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, 1972.
7.
FordyceM. W., A Program to Increase Happiness: Further Studies, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 30, pp. 483–498, 1983.
8.
BryantF. B. and VeroffJ., The Structure of Psychological Well-Being: A Sociohistorical Analysis, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, pp. 653–673, 1982.
9.
WarrP.BarterJ., and BrownbridgeG., On the Independence of Negative and Positive Affect, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, pp. 644–651, 1983.
10.
GeorgeL. K., The Happiness Syndrome: Methodological and Substantive Issues in the Study of Social-Psychological Well-Being in Adulthood, The Gerontologist, 19, pp. 210–216, 1979.
11.
CampbellA., The Sense of Well-Being in America: Recent Patterns and Trends, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1981.
12.
MichalosA. C., Satisfaction and Happiness in a Rural Northern Resource Community, Social Indicators Research, 13, pp. 225–252, 1983.
13.
BradburnN. M., The Structure of Psychological Well-Being, Aldine, Chicago, 1969.
14.
HerzogA. R. and RodgersW. L., The Structure of Subjective Well-Being in Different Age Groups, Journal of Gerontology, 36, pp. 472–479, 1981.
15.
WilsonW., Correlates of Avowed Happiness, Psychological Bulletin, 67, pp. 294–306, 1967.
16.
BeckA. T.KovacsM., and WeissmanA., Hopelessness and Suicidal Behavior: An Overview, Journal of the American Medical Association, 234, pp. 1146–1149, 1975.
17.
SeligmanM. E. P., Helplessness: On Depression, Development and Death, Freeman, San Francisco, 1975.
18.
FordyceM. W., Development of a Program to Increase Personal Happiness, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24, pp. 511–521, 1977.
19.
KammannR. and FlettR., Affectometer 2: A Scale to Measure Current Level of General Happiness, Australian Journal of Psychology, 35, pp. 257–263, 1983.
20.
MasonR. and FaulkenberryG. D., Aspirations, Achievements, and Life Satisfaction, Social Indicators Research, 5, pp. 133–150, 1978.
21.
MichalosA. C., Satisfaction and Happiness, Social Indicators Research, 8, pp. 385–422, 1980.
22.
CronbachL. J. and FurbyL., How Should We Measure “Change”—Or Should We?, Psychological Bulletin, 74, pp. 68–80, 1970.
23.
StaatsS.R., and StassenM.A., Hope: An Assessment of Expected Positive Affect, paper presented at the ninety-third annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1985.
