Life satisfaction and identity structure in late middle-aged men and women.
A total of 32 retirement-age subjects (17 men and 15 women) provided information about their lives by rating each of their identities in terms of a list of self-generated features. They also rank-ordered their currently enacted identities in terms of time spent in each and completed a life-satisfaction questionnaire. The Identities X Features matrices were analyzed by algorithms that generated a hierarchical model of identity structure for each subject based on feature ratings. The hierarchical levels of identities were combined with time-spent rankings to obtain an index of personal style, a measure that reflected the unique organization of identities for each subject. Personal style indices were then correlated with life-satisfaction scores. Results confirmed the prediction that life satisfaction in this age group is a function of the amount of time spent in identities that give expression to multiple aspects of the self.
Ogilvie
D M
DM
Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010553:Personality Development; D012931:Social Environment; D012933:Social Identification