Personal goals of older adults: issues in assessment and prediction

This study identifies dimensions of individual difference in the content of older adults' personal goals and examines demographic, loss-related, and contextual influences on these goals. Results are based on the responses of 179 elders to a 112-item inventory designed to tap achievement, maintenance, disengagement, and coping goals in 16 life domains. Factor analyses yielded 10 dimensions that describe themes of global motivation, concerns about support and desired pace, and complexity of life. Demographic disadvantages and age-related transitions were related to greater desire for disengagement, support, and stability. Elders who were married and healthy were more likely to report a desire for an energetic life-style. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research on elders' goals as a context for understanding the meaning of self-evaluation and environmental influences on aging.