Are Older Adult German Women Satisfied with Their Lives?

Abstract

Along with increased life expectancy, successful aging and possibilities for increasing well-being in old age have become important research topics in recent years. The present study (a) examines the relationship between satisfaction in several life domains (with respect to family, friendships, and health) and general life satisfaction of older adult women in Germany, and (b) determines which factors moderate the importance of satisfaction in these different life domains for the evaluation of general life satisfaction. More precisely, we examine the role of partnership status and self-construal. The sample consisted of 98 German women between the age of 58 and 83 years (M = 69.6 years; SD = 5.9 years) who were interviewed in the framework of the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural Value of Children Study. Results showed that for women living with a partner, satisfaction with family was most important for their general life satisfaction, whereas for women without a partner, satisfaction with friendships and with socioeconomic status had prominent roles. In addition, the kind of self-construal moderated the relations between (1) satisfaction with family and general life satisfaction and (2) satisfaction with health and general life satisfaction. Family satisfaction was less important for the general life satisfaction of women who were highly independently oriented; for women who had a strongly pronounced self-construal (either independent or interdependent), satisfaction with health was less important for general life satisfaction.