It was predicted that VA domiciliary members would differ from a comparable group of Senior Citizens with regard to psychological referents for two legal criteria used in selection of domiciliary members. Intelligence and pattern of central life interests were used as referents. When compared with the Senior Citizens group, the domiciliary members were lower in intelligence, more concerned with matters of physical self-maintenance and less concerned with social or psychological gratification. The findings with regard to central life interests supported one aspect of Maslow's theory of motivation.
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