The apprehensive respondent: failing to rate future life satisfaction in older adults.
Rating scales relating to the individual's past, present, and future were administered to subjects aged 60 to 90; those who completed all ratings (N = 589) were compared with others who specifically failed to rate the future (N = 150). The groups were differentiated by age, gender, health, and marital status. Total subjective well-being did not differ, but specific subjective well-being factors concerning time and aging could serve as discriminators. These differences suggest that these older adults might be apprehensive about their future, and that skipping future-related questions is a genuine reaction with both psychological and methodological implications.
Shmotkin
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Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life