Correlates and Components of Subjective Well-Being Among the Elderly

Abstract

Interest in the subjective well-being of the elderly was kindled by social gerontologists'efforts to test theories of successful aging and to improve the quality of life of older people. Although a large body of studies have been amassed, critics have commented that this literature is contradictory and noncumulative. We review research on correlates and components of subjective well-being among the elderly. Drawing on quantitative and narrative reviews, we find that associations between indicators of subjective well-being and variables often correlated with them are generally weak. Our synthesis offactor analytic investigations among the elderly reveals that scales have more than one factor, and positive affect, negative affect, and cognition are components of subjective well-being. Implications are noted for understanding the relation between the objective environment and subjective well-being, program evaluation, and enhancing subjective well-being.