title: Altruism, helping, and volunteering: pathways to well-being in late life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the influence of prosocial orientations including altruism, volunteering, and informal helping on positive and negative well-being outcomes among retirement community dwelling elders.
  
  
  METHODS
  We utilize data from 2 waves, 3 years apart, of a panel study of successful aging (N = 585). Psychosocial well-being outcomes measured include life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depressive symptomatology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ordinal logistic regression results indicate that altruistic attitudes, volunteering, and informal helping behaviors make unique contributions to the maintenance of life satisfaction, positive affect and other well being outcomes considered in this research. Predictors explain variance primarily in the positive indicators of psychological well-being, but are not significantly associated with the negative outcomes. Female gender and functional limitations are also associated with diminished psychological well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings underscore the value of altruistic attitudes as important additional predictors, along with prosocial behaviors in fostering life satisfaction and positive affect in old age.
authors: Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. exk@case.edu
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Kahana
authors: Tirth
authors: T
authors: Bhatta
authors: Loren D
authors: LD
authors: Lovegreen
authors: Boaz
authors: B
authors: Kahana
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Midlarsky
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000533:Altruism; D003863:Depression; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D016852:Housing for the Elderly; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*