Psycho-behavioral Factors Related to Subjective Well-Being in Elderly People

Although it is known that subjective well-being among elderly people is related to generativity, which refers to the interest in establishing and leading the next generation, no studies have examined the relationship between frequency of intergenerational interaction, adaptation strategies of difficulty (i.e., coping style) and subjective well-being among elderly people. We hypothesized that generativity and frequency of interaction with younger people would be related to subjective well-being. For this purpose, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 100 older adults, which also included other factors expected to be related to subjective well-being such as subjective economic status, subjective health status, and coping style (e.g., wishful thinking and distraction). Multiple regression analysis of the associations of these factors with subjective well-being revealed that generativity was the strongest predictor of subjective well-being, while frequency of interaction with younger people, subjective economic status, and wishful thinking were also significant predictors. On the other hand, subjective health status and distraction were not significant predictors. The findings suggest that not only generativity but also frequency of interaction with different generations and the coping style of wishful thinking are important psycho-behavioral factors that predict subjective well-being among elderly people.