On the Relationship between Values and Adjustment in Old Men

Abstract

It was hypothesized that values should reflect the ontogenetic development of the individual, and that a person should develop values that are appropriate to his role, development, and function within the society. Forty white middle-class males were given the Havighurst Life Satisfaction Scale and several values to be rated on the Semantic Differential. It was shown that adjusted old men considered work related values to be much less important than unadjusted men. Further, a comparison of the present older sample with a middle-aged sample revealed that the older individuals rated hedonistic values as much more important than the middle-aged sample.