Successful aging: an elaboration of social and psychological factors

The purpose of the present research is to assess and elaborate the empirical relationships between a life satisfaction index (LSI) developed and validated by the author and a selected number (23) of social/demographic/psychological factors, using a multistage probability sample noninstitutionalized adults sixty years of age and older living in the continental U.S. in 1973. The data analysis indicated that marital status, occupational prestige, years of formal education, race, annual income, and a variety of specific satisfaction with life measures (p less than .01) were related to successful aging. These associations were elaborated by systematically introducing test factors, i.e., control variables. This statistical-methodological technique produced instances of replication, suppression, explanation, interpretation, and specification, all of which are reported in the body of the text.