A salutogenic view on subjective well-being in active elderly persons

In this paper, subjective well-being as an indicator for successful aging is investigated from a salutogenic perspective that states that the sense of coherence plays a key role for psychological adaptation. It should be demonstrated that the sense of coherence mediates the relationship between generalized resistance resources and subjective well-being. One-hundred-and-seventy psychophysically active elderly persons (37 men) filled out a questionnaire assessing the sense of coherence, subjective well-being and resistance resources (such as age, education, physical health, activity level, social support and personality variables). It was found that resources co-varied with the sense of coherence and subjective well-being, accounting for 52 and 48% of the variance, respectively. The most important predictors were self-efficacy, self-esteem and education. After controlling for resources, the sense of coherence accounted for an additional 6% of the variance in well-being. The sense of coherence clearly mediated the relationship between resources and well-being. The findings corroborate the salutogenic idea that the sense of coherence creates, or maintains, a form of psychological integrity as represented by subjective well-being. The promotion of a strong sense of coherence should be a major aim of gerontological interventions.