If You Had Your Life to Live over Again: What Would You Do Differently?

Abstract

The goal of this study was to identify what elderly people would do differently if they had their lives to live over again. A random sample of 122 retired persons completed a questionnaire assessing life revision in the areas of friends, family, work, education, religion, leisure, and health. The results of this study indicate that education is the area with the greatest amount of desired change. Over any other area in life, men would spend more time pursuing their education, and women would spend more time developing their mind or intellect. While controlling for health, social activity, and income, educational level was found to be the most significant predictor of life revision. This suggests that education is highly valued when looking back on life.

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