Social Psychiatry, Vol. 49 No. 4, 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2021.259
Psychological and Health Correlates of Successful Aging: Gender, Age and Educational Differences
Neala Ambrosi-Randić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6032-7409
; Faculty of Humanities, Jurja Dobrila University of Pula, Pula, Croatia
Ivana Tucak Junaković
orcid.org/0000-0003-2166-1089
; Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Marina Nekić
; Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
Contemporary research in the field of aging no longer focuses only on chronic diseases and loss of function, but also
encompasses positive aspects of aging, such as the maintenance and development of potential and abilities and the
quality of life in later years. The population of older people is very heterogeneous and there are proposals to differentiate
the group according to education, gender, age, functional abilities, and other characteristics. The main objective of this
paper was to investigate whether there are age-, gender-, and education-specific differences in successful aging together
with some of its correlates, such as health and psychological well-being. The study was conducted on a sample of 329
participants. The results of the analysis show that men (regardless of age) rate their physical health significantly higher
than women. Older elders are more satisfied with their finances than younger elders, and younger elders are more open to
new life experiences than older elders in the female subsample only. Younger old women rate their aging process as more
successful and are more generative than younger old men, but older old men are more successful and have a greater sense
of generativity than older old women. Significant differences were also found between people with different educational
status. These findings suggest that people in old age should not be treated as a homogeneous population and confirm
the importance and need to consider older people as heterogeneous subgroups.
Keywords
Successful Aging; Sociodemographic Characteristics; Well-Being; Health
Hrčak ID:
276090
URI
Publication date:
6.5.2022.
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