Sense of Purpose and Maladaptive Personality Traits in Older Adulthood

The current study examined the relationships between sense of purpose and 10 forms of maladaptive personality traits among older adults. In addition, we aimed to explore whether a sense of purpose was more strongly associated with these maladaptive personality traits than another well-being indicator, life satisfaction. Participants included 1,011 older adults (M_Age = 71.93, 56.15% female, 74.10% White, 23% Black) enrolled in the St Louis Personality and Aging Network study. Correlational analyses were conducted between sense of purpose, life satisfaction, and maladaptive personality traits. Results suggest that older adults who report high levels of maladaptive personality traits also tend to report a lower sense of purpose. Dependent, antisocial, borderline, narcissistic, avoidant, and histrionic traits were more strongly negatively associated with the sense of purpose than life satisfaction. These findings suggest the importance of considering the sense of purpose in future measurement and therapy to help promote well-being among older adults with maladaptive personality traits.