Framing the construct of life satisfaction in terms of older adults' personal goals.

Abstract

Older adults' life satisfaction can be better understood in light of their personal goals. This study of 179 elders examined (a) how goals correlate with satisfaction, (b) whether elders maintain satisfaction by accommodating goals to past losses, and (c) how correlations between satisfaction and key predictors differ among groups with different goals. Satisfaction was related positively to social maintenance and energetic life-style goals and negatively to concerns for improvement, disengagement, stability, and reduced activity. Past losses were correlated with current goals but not with satisfaction, consistent with the notion of accommodation. A cluster analysis identified 5 patterns of goals: high demand, age prescribed, self-focused, socially engaged, and low demand. Correlations between satisfaction and other predictors differed by cluster, suggesting that the determinants of elders' satisfaction depend on personal goals.

Life resources and personal goals in old age

“…In earlier studies, the most common personal goals reported by older people have consistently been related to health, family and other close relationships, basic daily activities, independent living and leisure-time activities (Lapierre et al 1992(Lapierre et al -1993Lawton et al 2002;Saajanaho et al 2014a;Smith and Freund 2002). Among older people, higher age has been associated with fewer personal goals in total (Lawton et al 2002;Smith and Freund 2002) and less goal striving, especially in relation to leisure-time activities (Lawton et al 2002), an energetic lifestyle (Rapkin and Fischer 1992) and personal characteristics (Smith and Freund 2002). Spiritual goals (Lapierre et al 1992(Lapierre et al -1993Lawton et al 2002), health goals (Frazier et al 2002;Lapierre et al 1992Lapierre et al -1993Smith and Freund 2002) and goals related to independence and public services (Rapkin and Fischer 1992) have been reported to be more common among the oldest old.…”

“…These intentions, which describe motivational features behind people's actions, have been conceptualized as, for example, current concerns (Klinger 1975), personal strivings (Emmons 1986), possible selves (Markus and Nurius 1986), personal projects (Lawton et al 2002;Little 1983), and personal goals (Freund and Riediger 2006;Lapierre et al 1997;Rapkin and Fischer 1992). In the present study, we use the concept of personal goals, which has been defined as states that people strive to achieve or avoid in the future (Freund and Riediger 2006).…”

“…Among older people, higher age has been associated with fewer personal goals in total (Lawton et al 2002;Smith and Freund 2002) and less goal striving, especially in relation to leisure-time activities (Lawton et al 2002), an energetic lifestyle (Rapkin and Fischer 1992) and personal characteristics (Smith and Freund 2002). Spiritual goals (Lapierre et al 1992(Lapierre et al -1993Lawton et al 2002), health goals (Frazier et al 2002;Lapierre et al 1992Lapierre et al -1993Smith and Freund 2002) and goals related to independence and public services (Rapkin and Fischer 1992) have been reported to be more common among the oldest old. According to socio-emotional selectivity theory, goals reflecting the need for emotional closeness tend to be emphasized in old age (Carstensen et al 2003).…”

“…Among older people, higher education has been associated with having more personal goals, and, more specifically, with having more goals related to leisure-time activities and relationships (Lawton et al 2002;Rapkin and Fischer 1992). Those with lower education have reported more goals related to health maintenance (Lapierre et al 1992(Lapierre et al -1993 and independence (Rapkin and Fischer 1992).…”

“…Those with lower education have reported more goals related to health maintenance (Lapierre et al 1992(Lapierre et al -1993 and independence (Rapkin and Fischer 1992). Living alone has been associated with more relationship goals (Holahan 1988;Lapierre et al 1992Lapierre et al -1993 and goals related to leisure-time activities (Holahan 1988).…”