TY - JOUR
T1 - Is age-related stability of subjective well-being a paradox? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Berlin aging study
AU - Kunzmann, Ute
AU - Little, Todd D.
AU - Smith, Jacqui
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Subjective well-being is thought to remain relatively stable into old age despite health-related losses. Age and functional health constraints were examined as predictors of individual differences and intraindividual change in subjective well-being, as indicated by positive and negative affect, using cross-sectional (N = 516) and longitudinal (N = 203) samples from the Berlin Aging Study (age range 70-103 years). In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, age and functional health constraints were negatively related to positive affect but unrelated to negative affect. Cross-sectionally, controlling for functional health constraints reversed the direction of the relationship between age and positive affect and produced a negative association between age and negative affect. Findings suggest two qualifications to the average stability of overall subjective well-being: Only some dimensions of subjective well-being remain stable, while others decline; age per se is not a cause of decline in subjective well-being but health constraints are.
AB - Subjective well-being is thought to remain relatively stable into old age despite health-related losses. Age and functional health constraints were examined as predictors of individual differences and intraindividual change in subjective well-being, as indicated by positive and negative affect, using cross-sectional (N = 516) and longitudinal (N = 203) samples from the Berlin Aging Study (age range 70-103 years). In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, age and functional health constraints were negatively related to positive affect but unrelated to negative affect. Cross-sectionally, controlling for functional health constraints reversed the direction of the relationship between age and positive affect and produced a negative association between age and negative affect. Findings suggest two qualifications to the average stability of overall subjective well-being: Only some dimensions of subjective well-being remain stable, while others decline; age per se is not a cause of decline in subjective well-being but health constraints are.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033819177&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0882-7974.15.3.511
DO - 10.1037/0882-7974.15.3.511
M3 - Article
C2 - 11014714
AN - SCOPUS:0033819177
SN - 0882-7974
VL - 15
SP - 511
EP - 526
JO - Psychology and aging
JF - Psychology and aging
IS - 3
ER -