title: Social Usefulness: Theory and Evidence Concerning a Late Life Identity Construct.
abstract: To clarify the construct of social usefulness by merging several influential theoretical perspectives on the findings of a qualitative investigation of late life prosociality.
  
  
  
  In-depth interviews with 20 older adults probed the meaning and psychological significance of the socially useful relationships they maintained with people and organizations.
  
  
  
  Based on identity theory, the thematic analysis yielded nine classes and more than 100 distinct properties of social usefulness. Self-determination theory was employed to organize and interpret the findings in relation to older adults' needs for relatedness, autonomy, and competence.
  
  
  
  Also addressed are the study's implications for multidimensional measurement of social usefulness in future epidemiological and psychosocial studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology , University of Guelph Laval University, Ontario, Canada bgottlie@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Benjamin H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Gottlieb
authors.affiliation: Département de Médecinefamiliale, Centre D'excellence Sur le Vieillissement de Québec (CEVQ), Hôpital St-Sacrement, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrée
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sevigny
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: generativity theory; identity theory; self-determination theory; socioemotional selectivity theory; thematic analysis