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Subjective Quality of Life, Perceived Control and Dispositional Optimism Among Older People
Author(s) -
Maher Elise,
Cummins Robert A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2001.tb01776.x
Subject(s) - optimism , normative , quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , clinical psychology , gerontology , medicine , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology , psychotherapist
Book reviews in this article: Objectives : To examine whether the subjective quality of life (QOL) of elderly people is held under homeostatic control, and to investigate the role of perceived control and dispositional optimism in the maintenance of subjective QOL. Method : 100 older people (M=75.6 years) and a control group of 107 younger people (M=20.1 years) completed a self‐report survey. Results : Both groups had a level of subjective QOL within the normal range. The older group reported higher levels of secondary control and optimism, but similar levels of primary control, as the younger group. Primary control and optimism predicted subjective QOL for both groups. Secondary control was a significant predictor for the younger group, however it was only marginally significant for the older group. Optimism accounted for the most subjective QOL variance for both groups. Conclusions : The finding that the subjective QOL of the older group lay within the normative range supports the proposal that their subjective QOL is being successfully maintained under homeostatic control. However, they appear to have an increased reliance on secondary control. The fact that dispositional optimism captures the predictive variance of perceived control, is an important finding adding to the understanding of subjective QOL maintenance.