Purpose in Life Links Positive Aging Views to Life Satisfaction: A Within-Person Analysis Spanning 13 Years

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationship between positive perceptions of aging, purpose in life, and life satisfaction in older adults. It was hypothesized that purpose in life mediates the relationship between positive perceptions of one’s aging and life satisfaction. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of older American adults from four waves of the Health and Retirement Study collected at 4-year intervals between 2008 and 2020 (N = 11,546, mean age in 2008 = 62.772). The random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to separate within-person and between-person sources of variance. Mediation was tested at the longitudinal within-person level and was supported. Results suggest that an increase in positive perceptions of aging is associated with a future increase in purpose in life, which in turn is associated with higher future levels of life satisfaction. The findings inform interventions promoting positive aging, purpose, and life satisfaction in older adults.

Keywords

purpose in life life satisfaction mediation RI-CLPM perception of aging

What this paper adds

• This study advances our understanding of the longitudinal relationships among positive perceptions of aging, purpose in life, and life satisfaction.

• It identifies a pathway by which positive perceptions of aging lead to increased purpose in life, which in turn leads to greater life satisfaction.

• This study makes a novel contribution by unraveling the within-person associations between these variables.

• Negative self-perceptions regarding aging can diminish one’s sense of purpose during old age.

Applications of study findings

• Interventions targeting positive perceptions of aging may enhance purpose in life and life satisfaction among older adults.

• Emphasizing purpose within interventions targeting positive perceptions of aging may further enhance their effectiveness.

Introduction

Perceptions of one’s own aging refer to the beliefs and attitudes that individuals hold about their aging process. They involve seeing aging in a positive or negative light, as growth or decline. Perceptions of aging play an important role in determining the well-being and quality of life of older adults (Diehl et al., 2021). Studies have consistently shown that those with positive perceptions of aging exhibit better mental health and lower symptoms of distress (Segel-Karpas et al., 2022; Hausknecht et al., 2019; Joshanloo, 2022). For instance, it has been demonstrated that older adults with positive perceptions of aging are more likely to be socially active and engaged (Schwartz et al., 2020). According to a review by Diehl et al. (2021), adults’ positive self-perceptions of their aging are predictive of important developmental outcomes, such as longevity, engagement in healthy behaviors, normal cognitive functioning, and reduced risk of developing dementia.

As shown by the results of a few studies, one of the outcomes of self-perceptions of aging is life satisfaction (Hajek & König, 2020; Veenstra et al., 2021). For example, Smith and Bryant (2019) found a positive association between positive aging perceptions and a negative association between negative aging perceptions and life satisfaction. A study found that positive self-perceptions of aging protect against a decline in older adults’ life satisfaction in the long run (Huo & Kim, 2021). Despite these findings, the underlying mechanisms that drive this association remain largely unexplored. The present study aims to address this gap by examining the potential role of a sense of purpose in life as a mediator of the relationship between aging self-perceptions and life satisfaction.

The association between self-perceptions of aging and a sense of purpose in life remains an underexplored area of research. Broadly speaking, purpose in life is the feeling of having a direction and purpose in one’s life. It is characterized by having clear goals and direction in life, feeling that one’s present and past life has meaning and significance, having belief systems that provide a sense of purpose, and having specific aims and objectives (Ryff et al., 2021). There are a few studies that have investigated the relationship between positive self-perceptions of aging and purpose in life or similar concepts. For example, Baumann and Eiroa-Orosa (2016) found a strong positive correlation between positive self-perceptions of aging and meaning in life. Similarly, Kim et al. (2019) found that self-perception of aging predicted purpose in life. The findings from a qualitative study by Craciun (2011) revealed that older participants had predominantly negative representations of old age, often associating it with a lack of purpose in life. These elders emphasized that to achieve well-being in older age, it is crucial to engage in continuous learning, plan for the future, and accept one’s past and present. These are all related to having a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Together, these findings indicate the importance of purpose and meaning in life in adulthood and support the prediction that positive perceptions of aging contribute to purpose in life. Research also shows that having a sense of purpose leads to improved physical, psychological, and behavioral outcomes in adulthood (for a comprehensive review, see Pfund & Lewis, 2020). In particular, having a purpose in life is a robust predictor of life satisfaction (e.g., Burrow et al., 2013; Cotton Bronk et al., 2009; Gudmundsdottir et al., 2023).

Based on these findings, it was hypothesized that individuals who have a positive perspective on their aging process are more likely to experience an enhanced sense of direction and purpose in their lives. Positive self-perceptions of aging include the recognition of positive aspects of aging, such as the acquisition of wisdom and life experiences (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022), as well as the perception of aging as an opportunity for personal growth and development (Steverink et al., 2001). These adaptive perceptions play an important role in fostering a sense of purpose and direction in life (Laceulle & Baars, 2014). In addition, positive self-perceptions of aging can be viewed as a fundamental element of self-acceptance in older age. Accepting a positive self-image despite acknowledging one’s weaknesses (e.g., physical limitations) reflects self-acceptance (Ryff, 1989). The extant literature has highlighted self-acceptance as a key source of meaning and purpose in life (Schnell, 2011; Wong, 1998). Thus, it was expected that positive self-perceptions of aging would contribute to an enhanced sense of purpose in life. Conversely, negative self-perceptions of aging, characterized by self-defeating attitudes rather than self-acceptance, are associated with a sense of meaninglessness in life (Laceulle & Baars, 2014). Individuals who maintain such negative perceptions may have difficulty finding a sense of purpose, setting new goals, and staying motivated to pursue their goals. As a result, they may feel disengaged and lack the drive to achieve their aspirations (de Paula Couto & Rothermund, 2022). Therefore, it was hypothesized that positive perceptions of aging contribute to life satisfaction, in part, by fostering a sense of purpose.

Although various factors may mediate the effects of self-perceptions of aging on well-being (Wurm et al., 2022), this study focused on purpose in life for three key reasons. First, the importance of purpose and meaning in promoting optimal aging has received increasing attention in previous studies (Pfund & Lewis, 2020). The existing literature highlights the importance of purpose in life as a determinant of well-being among older adults. The present study aimed to add more depth to this understanding by investigating within-person dynamics and examining how purpose in life serves as a mechanism in the impact of perceptions of aging. Second, even though purpose in life can be experienced at any life stage through meaningful engagement, a systematic review suggested that purpose in life tends to decline with age (Irving et al., 2017). By examining the within-person links between purpose and self-perceptions of aging, this study sought to shed light on a potential factor underlying the decline in purpose in life among older adults, that is, negative perceptions of aging. Third, despite the burgeoning literature on the interplay between self-perceptions of aging and well-being (Boeder & Tse, 2020; Hu & Li, 2022; Sabatini et al., 2021), the specific role of purpose in life as a mediator has remained unexplored. The present study is the first attempt at assessing this mediational hypothesis.

This study used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to test the hypothesized mediation. Cross-sectional studies offer a limited perspective on the relationships between variables, providing only a snapshot of the associations at a single point in time. As a result, they do not allow for a comprehensive examination of the true directionality of associations between variables, nor do they provide insight into potential bidirectional relationships. Furthermore, the use of cross-sectional data makes it challenging to establish the temporal ordering of the variables, as all variables are measured simultaneously, raising questions about which variable is the antecedent and which is the outcome (Maxwell & Cole, 2007). In contrast, the use of longitudinal data in the present study allows for a more robust examination of the temporal relationship between variables, providing a significant advantage over cross-sectional data for testing mediational hypotheses (Jose, 2013).

Another important aspect of the analysis conducted in this study is that it examines the proposed mediation at the within-person (intra-individual) level. Using a statistical technique called the Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM; Hamaker et al., 2015), the time-invariant components of the variables were first partitioned out. To infer the significance of the indirect path, temporal within-person relationships between variables were examined. At the within-person level, the question is not whether people who generally have high scores on positive self-perceptions of aging also have high scores on purpose in life, but whether an increase in positive perception of aging is followed by a future increase in life purpose. These within-person associations are temporal and reflect the increase or decrease in the individual’s scores relative to his or her own averages over time. Examining within-person relationships is important for understanding the temporal ordering of the variables under study. A mediation hypothesis is essentially a temporal within-person hypothesis that postulates a specific time ordering for three variables (predictor → mediator → outcome). A within-person approach is better suited to this task than a cross-sectional between-person approach (Jose, 2013).

In summary, this study examined whether an increase in positive perceptions of aging predicts a future increase in life satisfaction via a future increase in the sense of purpose. To investigate this, an RI-CLPM was tested to estimate all reciprocal relationships between variables at the within-person level. Therefore, in addition to the paths involved in the indirect effect (i.e., positive aging perception → purpose and purpose → life satisfaction), all other bidirectional relationships were also examined (e.g., satisfaction → positive aging perception).

Methods

Participants

The data used in this study are from the HRS, a nationally representative longitudinal study of persons aged older than 50 years in the United States. The study began in 1992 and has been conducted every two years since then. For this study, data from the Psychosocial-Lifestyle module were used. Since 2006, self-report questionnaires have been used to collect information on participants’ assessment of psychosocial conditions and lifestyle (i.e., living conditions, subjective well-being, and personality). This information is collected every 2 years from a randomly selected half of the core panel participants. Thus, longitudinal data are available for each subsample every four years. This study uses data from subsample B collected in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Of a total sample of 17,393 participants, 5847 participants were excluded because of a complete lack of responses for the primary variables across the four waves of the study. The final sample of the study consists of 11,546 participants (mean age in 2008 = 62.772, median age = 62, SD = 12.617, women = 58.6%). In 2008, 18.9% of the participants had no formal education, 5.1% had a General Educational Development certificate, 44% had a high school diploma, and 29.8% had a more advanced degree, such as a two-year college degree or a master’s degree (3% missing responses). Regarding racial and ethnic distribution, 73.3% identified as White/Caucasian, 18% as Black or African American, and 8.4% reported other races/ethnicities (less than 1% missing data). Regarding marital status in 2008, 39.7% were married, 9.1% were separated/divorced, 14.3% were widowed, and 1.9% had never been married. Marital status information was missing for 34.9% of the sample.

Measures

Self-Perceptions of Aging

Eight items were used to measure attitudes toward own aging on a scale from 1 = Strongly disagree to 6 = Strongly agree (Lawton, 1975; Liang & Bollen, 1983): “Things keep getting worse as I get older” (reversed scored; R), “I have as much as pep as I did last year,” “The older I get, the more useless I feel” (R), “I am as happy now as I was when I was younger,” “As I get older, things are better than I thought they would be,” “So far, I am satisfied with the way that I am aging,” “The older I get, the more I have had to stop doing things that I liked” (R), and “Getting older has brought with it many things that I do not like” (R). Some items were reverse-coded so that the overall scale reflects a positive attitude toward one’s own aging. Cronbach’s alphas ranged between .809 and .818 across the four waves.

Purpose in Life

Seven items were used to measure purpose in life on a scale from 1 = Strongly disagree to 6 = Strongly agree (Ryff, 1989): “I enjoy making plans for the future and working to make them a reality,” “My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me” (R), “I am an active person in carrying out the plans I set for myself,” “I don’t have a good sense of what it is I’m trying to accomplish in life” (R), “I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life” (R), “I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future” (R), and “I have a sense of direction and purpose in my life.” Cronbach’s alphas ranged between .756 and .776 across the four waves. Some items were reverse-coded so that the total score reflected a higher purpose in life.

Satisfaction with Life

Five items were used to measure general life satisfaction on a scale from 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree (Diener et al., 1985): “In most ways my life is close to ideal,” “The conditions of my life are excellent,” “I am satisfied with my life,” “So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life,” and “If I could live my life again, I would change almost nothing.” Cronback’s alphas ranged between .876 and .885 across the four waves.

Covariates

Gender (male = 0, female = 1), age, years of education (0–17 years), self-rated health (ranging from 1 = Excellent to 5 = Poor, reverse-scored), and financial strain were included as time-invariant covariates (all variables measured in 2008). Financial strain was measured using the question “How difficult is it for (you/your family) to meet monthly payments on (your/your family’s) bills?” (on a 5-point scale from 1 = Not at all difficult to 5 = Completely difficult). Descriptive information for these variables is provided in the Supplementary Material.

Statistical Analysis

RI-CLPM

The Cross-Lagged Panel Model (CLPM) is a widely used method for analyzing longitudinal data, which examines the relationships between two variables over time by considering the past values of each variable (Selig & Little, 2012). However, the CLPM has come under criticism because it assumes that individuals change over time only relative to the group average, ignoring the fact that individuals also change longitudinally around their personal averages (Hamaker et al., 2015). This limitation can complicate the understanding and interpretation of CLPM results, especially when the focus is on temporal within-person relationships between variables. To address these limitations, this study uses the Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM; Hamaker et al., 2015). The RI-CLPM is a modified version of the traditional CLPM that distinguishes between stable differences between individuals with respect to the grand mean and changes within individuals over time. By accounting for differences between individuals in the estimation of within-person effects, the resulting within-person effects capture only the associations of the time-varying components of the variable, that is, the state components. This allows for a more precise and pure examination of the within-person temporal associations between the two variables of interest (Berry & Willoughby, 2016). Using the RI-CLPM, one can examine the direction of associations between two variables by determining whether deviations from the typical level of one variable are associated with subsequent deviations from the typical level of the other variable (Hamaker, 2012). An RI-CLPM was tested simultaneously with all three variables. This model is shown in Figure 1. Age, gender, years of education, subjective health, and subjective financial strain were included as time-invariant covariates of the observed variables across time points. Autoregressive and cross-lagged effects were restricted to equality across time.

Figure 1.

The RI-CLPM for three variables and four waves. P = purpose in life. L = life satisfaction. A = positive perceptions of own aging. The observed variables were regressed on covariates. Some parameters (e.g., residual variances) are not shown for simplicity.

Model Estimation and Fit Evaluation

Models were estimated using Robust Maximum Likelihood (MLR) in Mplus. A good fit of the model was determined by comparing the values of the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) against established thresholds. A CFI value of >.95, an RMSEA value of <.07, and an SRMR value of <.08 were used as criteria for good model fit in this study (e.g., Kline, 2015). The model tested in this study was over-identified with 43 degrees of freedom.

Mediation Analysis

This study tested indirect effects at the within-person part of the RI-CLPM. Thus, the hypothesis is that higher than typical positive perceptions of aging at any time point leads to a higher than usual level of purpose in life in the next time point which per se leads to a higher than usual level of life satisfaction in the next time point. Asymmetric bootstrap confidence intervals were employed for inference about the indirect effect, a widely accepted method for mediation analysis (Hayes, 2022). Bootstrapping is a technique for estimating the sampling distribution of a statistic of interest, such as an indirect effect, by repeated sampling with replacement. This method is used to construct a confidence interval for the indirect effect by providing an empirically derived representation of its distribution. If the confidence interval does not include zero, mediation is supported. The bootstrapping was conducted in Mplus after changing the MLR estimator to the ML estimator and using 5000 bootstrap samples.

Missing Data Handling

Only participants who did not respond to any of the study measures across the four time points were excluded from the analysis (N = 5847). Of the included participants (N = 11,546), 16% participated at all four time points, and the remaining participants had at least one missing wave. A missing data indicator was calculated with values ranging from 0 (no missing wave) to 3 (three missing waves). This variable was correlated with the variables in the study at time 1, and the results are shown in Table 1. There were weak correlations between the number of missing waves and the main study variables. Correlations for other time points are shown in the Supplementary Material. These results suggest a general tendency for individuals with more missing waves to have lower positive perceptions of aging, life satisfaction, and purpose in life, although generally with small effect sizes. Given this, the Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) was used to handle missing data. This method is a widely used and powerful approach for dealing with missing data (Mirzaei et al., 2022). It estimates the missing parameters by maximizing the likelihood function using all available information.

Table 1.

Correlation Matrix at First Time Point.

	Aging	Purpose	Satisfaction	Age	Female
Positive self-perceptions of aging	1
Purpose in life	.494^***	1
Life satisfaction	.491^***	.337^***	1
Age	.182^***	.140^***	−.070^***	1
Female	.006	−.011	−.026^*	−.010	1
Number of missing waves (0–3)	−.227^***	−.186^***	−.117^***	−.078^***	−.067^***

Note. ^***p < .001, ^*p < .05.

Results

Table 1 shows the correlations among the variables at time 1. Correlations among the variables at all four time points can be found in the Supplementary Material. A RI-CLPM with the three variables was tested (Figure 1). The model was a good fit to the data, as indicated by the chi-square value of 146.129, 43 degrees of freedom, a p-value of less than .001, RMSEA of .014, a 90% confidence interval for RMSEA of .012–.017, CFI of .996, and SRMR of .017. Table 2 presents the parameter estimates of interest. The correlations among the trait components indicate that the variables have moderate to strong relationships at the between-person level. However, these correlations provide little information about how the variables are related over time. They primarily reflect synchronicity and/or common causes. The results at the within-person level provide information about the temporal relationships between the variables. The autoregressive effects are all positive and statistically significant, indicating that a within-person change in one variable is associated with a within-person change in the same variable in the same direction at the next time point. This means that a person who has a higher score on one variable than his or her typical level is more likely to have a higher score on that variable at the next time point as well. This is a common result with panel data, and increases or decreases in a variable usually persist over time to some degree.

Table 2.

Parameter Estimates for RI-CLPM.

Predictor	Outcome	Unstandardized Coefficient	p	95% CI		Standardized Coefficient
Predictor	Outcome	Unstandardized Coefficient	p	Low	Up	Standardized Coefficient
Autoregressive
Aging →	Aging	.182	.000	.137	.228	.167
Satisfaction →	Satisfaction	.121	.000	.079	.163	.112
Purpose →	Purpose	.174	.000	.121	.226	.171
Cross-lagged
Aging →	Satisfaction	.178	.000	.121	.235	.099
Aging →	Purpose	.085	.000	.048	.121	.085
Satisfaction →	Purpose	.024	.019	.004	.044	.040
Satisfaction →	Aging	.045	.000	.023	.066	.067
Purpose →	Aging	.059	.007	.016	.103	.053
Purpose →	Satisfaction	.117	.000	.054	.179	.064
Trait covariances
Aging	Satisfaction	.272	.000	.238	.306	.526
Satisfaction	Purpose	.208	.000	.175	.241	.380
Purpose	Aging	.213	.000	.190	.236	.559
State covariances (time point 1)
Aging	Satisfaction	.201	.000	.166	.236	.277
Satisfaction	Purpose	.131	.000	.097	.164	.183
Purpose	Aging	.112	.000	.091	.133	.260
State covariances (time point 2)
Aging	Satisfaction	.279	.000	.244	.314	.339
Satisfaction	Purpose	.158	.000	.125	.190	.211
Purpose	Aging	.139	.000	.115	.162	.304

Note. CI = confidence interval. All regression paths were held equal across time points. The standardized regression coefficients presented pertain specifically to the paths between time 1 and time 2 state components. Similar standardized coefficients were obtained between other time points, but are not reported due to space limitations. The state covariances for other time points are also consistent with those reported, but are not included in the table for the same reason.

Cross-lagged effects are the focus of this study. All of the cross-lagged effects were significant. These cross-lagged associations at the within-person level suggest that a higher-than-usual value on one variable is associated with a higher-than-usual value on the other variable at the next time point. Following Orth et al. (2022), the effect sizes can be classified as weak to strong. Importantly, the within-person paths from aging to purpose and from purpose to life satisfaction were significant and their confidence intervals did not include zeros. This provides evidence in support of the mediation hypothesis of the study (Yzerbyt et al., 2018). To test the hypothesis with the commonly used index approach, a 95% bootstrap confidence interval for the indirect effect was calculated. Because this interval (.004–.018) does not include zero, the mediation hypothesis is supported.

Discussion

This study focused on the associations between positive perceptions of aging and purpose in life and life satisfaction, which has not received much attention. Some previous cross-sectional results show positive associations between these variables (e.g., Baumann & Eiroa-Orosa, 2016). The current results for the between-person comparison are also consistent with the previous findings. The results show that the three variables are moderately or strongly associated at the between-person level. Therefore, if an adult has a high score on one of these variables, he or she is also likely to have a high score on the other variables. At the within-person level, significant bidirectional associations were found between all variables. A significant within-person association indicates that an increase or decrease in one variable will be followed by an increase or decrease in the other variables in the future. Unraveling these within-person associations is an important contribution of the present study, as these longitudinal associations are usually assumed only based on cross-sectional results and are not tested directly. The results obtained at the within-person level provide a more reliable foundation for psychological interventions than cross-sectional results (Hamaker et al., 2015).

The two paths forming the indirect proposed in this study were significant. That is, an increase in positive perceptions of aging was associated with an increase in future purpose in life, and an increase in purpose was associated with an increase in future life satisfaction. This provides a solid basis for inferring mediation, which was also confirmed by the bootstrapping results. It can be concluded that a positive perception of aging leads to a higher future life purpose, which in turn leads to higher future life satisfaction. These results are consistent with the idea that a positive perception of aging can lead to the identification of new growth opportunities, as outlined by Diehl and Wahl (2009). These positive perceptions can inspire people to make new, meaningful plans and take action. Positive perceptions can lead people to engage in activities that are meaningful and fulfilling, which can contribute to greater well-being (Hooker et al., 2020). Older adults need to remain socially, cognitively, and physically active to maintain their mental and physical health. Research has shown that participating in more physical and social activities can reduce the risk of cognitive and physical decline in older age (Hirsh et al., 2009; James et al., 2011; Wilson & Rhodes, 2021). Positive self-perceptions of aging can significantly enhance one’s purposeful approach and overall proactive behavior. In contrast, negative beliefs about aging can prove detrimental, potentially leading to a decline in one’s sense of purpose and diminished motivation to engage in activities critical to maintaining overall well-being.

It is noteworthy that the mediating mechanism uncovered in this study operates in a complex system that involves feedback loops between the three variables included, as well as possibly other variables not included in this study. For example, while changes in perceptions of aging precede changes in life satisfaction, changes in life satisfaction also precede changes in perceptions of aging. This highlights the importance of considering the dynamic nature of the relationship between these variables. Therefore, it is most useful to view the mediating mechanism of this study as a continuous and/or recurrent dynamic system that is embedded in a web of interconnected mutual relationships and interactions among variables.

While purpose in life has received considerable attention as a critical aspect of optimal aging (Pfund & Lewis, 2020), the relationship between self-perceptions of aging and purpose in life remains an underexplored area of research. With a dearth of studies focusing primarily on this relationship, a lack of integration between investigations of purpose and perceptions of aging is evident. Furthermore, previous interventions targeting negative perceptions of aging have not adequately incorporated purpose-related components (Diehl et al., 2022). The present study is the first to demonstrate that purpose in life acts as a mechanism through which positive perceptions of aging influence outcomes. Furthermore, the present findings suggest that future interventions targeting negative perceptions of aging may enhance their effectiveness by integrating purpose-related activities such as meaning-making, goal-setting, and participation in purposeful pursuits. The extensive literature on meaning and purpose interventions (Shin & Steger, 2014) can inform the development of interventions targeting perceptions of aging. Additionally, existing research consistently a decline in purpose and meaning in life as individuals age, although this decline is not absolute and irreversible (Irving et al., 2017). The present study provides novel empirical evidence that the prevalence of negative self-perceptions of aging contributes to this decline, suggesting a potential strategy to ameliorate this trend by actively promoting positive perceptions of aging. Given the different ways in which individuals find meaning and purpose at different stages of life, researchers studying meaning should be mindful of this age-specificity. When developing interventions aimed at promoting purpose in older adults, it is important to tailor them to an individual’s specific life stage and subjective perceptions they have of their life stage. In summary, making connections between the research on purpose and self-perceptions of aging can provide important insights and opportunities for developing interventions that effectively promote aging perceptions, purpose, and well-being in older adults.

The study had some limitations that should be considered when interpreting the results. First, the sample used in this study was limited to older American adults, and hence the results may not be generalizable to other populations or cultures. There are cross-cultural differences in perceptions of aging (Loeckenhoff et al., 2009) and ageism (Jung & Kim, 2023). The study focused on older adults and the results may not be generalizable to younger populations. In addition, a general public sample was used, so the results may not be generalizable to clinical samples. Second, the study relied on self-reported measures of positive perceptions of aging, sense of purpose, and satisfaction with life, which may be subject to bias and social desirability effects. Third, the study used only data collected over a 13-year period, which may not capture the full range of variation in the variables of interest over a lifetime. Finally, the issue of attrition is also important in this study. While this can have a negative impact on the validity and generalizability of the results, it is an unavoidable problem in longitudinal research. To address this limitation, the study employed one of the most widely used and effective methods for dealing with missing data, the FIML. This method allows the use of all available data, which increases the power of the analysis and reduces bias. While attrition remains a limitation of the study, the use of FIML has helped to mitigate its effects and ensure that the conclusions drawn from the available data are not highly biased. Overall, the results of the study should be interpreted with these limitations in mind, and future research may aim to replicate these findings in other populations and explore other potential mechanisms by which positive perceptions of aging may lead to greater life satisfaction.

In summary, positive perceptions of aging influence life satisfaction in part through a process of sense-making and directedness. Positive perceptions of aging foster purpose in life because they promote certain constructive goals and actions (Diehl & Wahl, 2009). Negative perceptions of aging can decrease overall life satisfaction by interfering with the process of sense-making, goal-setting, and engagement in activities. The present within-person findings provide more insight into the direction of relationships among these variables. The present findings provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between aging perceptions and life satisfaction. This knowledge can be used to create more effective interventions and programs that aim to enhance the well-being of older adults.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material - Purpose in Life Links Positive Aging Views to Life Satisfaction: A Within-Person Analysis Spanning 13 Years

Supplemental Material for Purpose in Life Links Positive Aging Views to Life Satisfaction: A Within-Person Analysis Spanning 13 Years by Mohsen Joshanloo in Journal of Applied Gerontology

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics Statement

ORCID iD

Mohsen Joshanloo

Supplementary Material

Supplemental material is available online at

References

Baumann

Eiroa-Orosa

F. J.

(2016). Mental well-being in later life: The role of strengths use, meaning in life, and self-perceptions of ageing. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 1(1–3), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-017-0004-0

Berry

Willoughby

M. T.

(2016). On the practical interpretability of cross-lagged panel models: Rethinking a developmental workhorse. Child Development, 88(4), 1186–1206. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12660

Boeder

Tse

D. C. K.

(2020). Measuring self-perceptions of aging: Differences between measures when predicting health outcomes. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 76(5), 825–835. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa064

Burrow

A. L.

Sumner

Ong

A. D.

(2013). Perceived change in life satisfaction and daily negative affect: The moderating role of purpose in life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(3), 579–592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9436-9

Cotton Bronk

Hill

P. L.

Lapsley

D. K.

Talib

T. L.

Finch

(2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 500–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760903271439

Craciun

(2011). Successful aging-utopia or the result of lifelong learning? Meaning and representations of ageing in Romanian elderly. Ageing International, 37(4), 373–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-011-9131-2

de Paula Couto

M. C.

Rothermund

(2022). Prescriptive views of aging: Disengagement, activation, wisdom, and dignity as normative expectations for older people. In Palgi

Shrira

Diehl

(Eds.), Subjective views of aging: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 59–75). Springer International Publishing.

Diehl

Brothers

A. F.

Wahl

H.-W.

(2021). Self-perceptions and awareness of aging: Past, present, and future. In Schaie

K. W.

Willis

S. L.

(Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of aging (pp. 155–179). Academic Press.

Diehl

Nehrkorn-Bailey

Tseng

H.-Y.

(2022). Psychological interventions targeting adults’ subjective views of aging. In Palgi

Shrira

Diehl

(Eds.), Subjective views of aging: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 309–327). Springer International Publishing.

10.

Diehl

M. K.

Wahl

H. W.

(2009). Awareness of age-related change: Examination of a (mostly) unexplored concept. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 65B(3), 340–350. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbp110

11.

Diener

Emmons

R. A.

Larsen

R. J.

Griffin

(1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13

12.

Gudmundsdottir

G. R.

Pfund

G. N.

Hill

P. L.

Olaru

(2023). Reciprocal associations between sense of purpose and subjective well-being in old age. European Journal of Personality, 089020702311767. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070231176702

13.

Hajek

König

H. H.

(2020). Feeling too old? Consequences for subjective well-being. Longitudinal findings from the German ageing Survey. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 90, 104127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104127

14.

Hamaker

E. L.

(2012). Why researchers should think “within-person”: A paradigmatic rationale. In Mehl

M. R.

Conner

T. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research methods for studying daily life (pp. 43–61). The Guilford Press.

15.

Hamaker

E. L.

Kuiper

R. M.

Grasman

R. P. P. P.

(2015). A critique of the cross-lagged panel model. Psychological Methods, 20(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038889

16.

Hausknecht

Low

L.-F.

O’Loughlin

McNab

Clemson

(2019). Older adults’ self-perceptions of aging and being older: A scoping review. The Gerontologist, 60(7), e524–e534. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz153

17.

Hayes

A. F.

(2022). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. Guilford Press.

18.

Hirsh

J. B.

DeYoung

C. G.

Peterson

J. B.

(2009). Metatraits of the big five differentially predict engagement and restraint of behavior. Journal of Personality, 77(4), 1085–1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00575.x

19.

Hooker

S. A.

Masters

K. S.

Vagnini

K. M.

Rush

C. L.

(2020). Engaging in personally meaningful activities is associated with meaning salience and psychological well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(6), 821–831. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1651895

20.

R. X.

L. W.

(2022). Social disconnectedness and loneliness: Do self-perceptions of aging play a role? Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 77(5), 936–945. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac008

21.

Huo

Kim

(2021). Volunteering dynamics and life satisfaction: Self-perceptions of aging as a buffer. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab104

22.

Irving

Davis

Collier

(2017). Aging with purpose: Systematic search and review of literature pertaining to older adults and purpose. International journal of aging & human development, 85(4), 403–437. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415017702908

23.

James

B. D.

Wilson

R. S.

Barnes

L. L.

Bennett

D. A.

(2011). Late-life social activity and cognitive decline in old age. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society: JINS, 17(6), 998–1005. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617711000531

24.

Jose

P. E.

(2013). Doing statistical mediation and moderation. Guilford Press.

25.

Joshanloo

(2022). Positive and negative aging perceptions as predictors of the longitudinal trajectory of perceived stress. Journal of Applied Gerontology: The official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 41(3), 831–835. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648211031047

26.

Jung

J. H.

Kim

H. H.

(2023). Does misery love company? Multilevel relationships between perceived age discrimination and happiness among older Europeans. Journal of Applied Gerontology: The official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 42(6), 1234–1244. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221150885

27.

Kim

Thyer

B. A.

Munn

J. C.

(2019). The relationship between perceived ageism and depressive symptoms in later life: Understanding the mediating effects of self-perception of aging and purpose in life, using structural equation modeling. Educational Gerontology, 45(2), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2019.1583403

28.

Kline

R. B.

(2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.

29.

Laceulle

Baars

(2014). Self-realization and cultural narratives about later life. Journal of Aging Studies, 31, 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2014.08.005

30.

Lawton

M. P.

(1975). The Philadelphia geriatric center morale scale: A revision. Journal of Gerontology, 30(1), 85–89. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/30.1.85

31.

Liang

Bollen

K. A.

(1983). The structure of the Philadelphia geriatric center morale scale: A reinterpretation. Journal of Gerontology, 38(2), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/38.2.181

32.

Löckenhoff

C. E.

De Fruyt

Terracciano

McCrae

R. R.

De Bolle

Costa

P. T.

Aguilar-Vafaie

M. E.

Ahn

C.-k.

Ahn

H.-n.

Alcalay

Allik

Avdeyeva

T. V.

Barbaranelli

Benet-Martínez

Blatný

Bratko

Cain

T. R.

Crawford

J. T.

Lima

M. P.

Yik

(2009). Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates. Psychology and Aging, 24(4), 941–954. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016901

33.

Maxwell

S. E.

Cole

D. A.

(2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.23

34.

Mirzaei

Carter

S. R.

Patanwala

A. E.

Schneider

C. R.

(2022). Missing data in surveys: Key concepts, approaches, and applications. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy: RSAP, 18(2), 2308–2316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2021.03.009

35.

Orth

Meier

L. L.

Bühler

J. L.

Dapp

L. C.

Krauss

Messerli

Robins

R. W.

(2022). Effect size guidelines for cross-lagged effects. Psychological Methods. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000499

36.

Pfund

G. N.

Lewis

N. A.

(2020). Aging with purpose: Developmental changes and benefits of purpose in life throughout the lifespan. In Hill

P. L.

Allemand

(Eds.), Personality and healthy aging in adulthood: New directions and techniques (pp. 27–42). Springer International Publishing.

37.

Ryff

C. D.

(1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069

38.

Ryff

C. D.

Boylan

J. M.

Kirsch

J. A.

(2021). Eudaimonic and hedonic well-being: An integrative perspective with linkages to sociodemographic factors and health. In Lee

M. T.

Kubzansky

L. D.

VanderWeele

T. J.

(Eds.), Measuring well-being: Interdisciplinary perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197512531.003.0005

39.

Sabatini

Ukoumunne

O. C.

Martyr

Ballard

Lamont

R. A.

Collins

Pentecost

Hunt

Quinn

Thom

J. M.

Clare

IDEAL programme team. (2021). Relationship between self-perceptions of aging and ‘living well’ among people with mild-to-moderate dementia: Findings from the ideal programme. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 94, 104328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104328

40.

Schnell

(2011). Individual differences in meaning-making: Considering the variety of sources of meaning, their density and diversity. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(5), 667–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.006

41.

Schwartz

Ayalon

Huxhold

(2020). Exploring the reciprocal associations of perceptions of aging and social involvement. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 76(3), 563–573. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa008

42.

Segel-Karpas

Cohn-Schwartz

Ayalon

(2022). Self-perceptions of aging and depressive symptoms: The mediating role of loneliness. Aging & Mental Health, 26(7), 1495–1501. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1991275

43.

Selig

J. P.

Little

T. D.

(2012). Autoregressive and cross-lagged panel analysis for longitudinal data. In Laursen

Little

T. D.

Card

N. A.

(Eds.), Handbook of developmental research methods (pp. 265–278). The Guilford Press.

44.

Shin

J. Y.

Steger

M. F.

(2014). Promoting meaning and purpose in life. In Parks

A. C.

Schueller

S. M.

(Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of positive psychological interventions (pp. 90–110). Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118315927.ch5

45.

Smith

J. L.

Bryant

F. B.

(2019). Enhancing positive perceptions of aging by savoring life lessons. Aging & Mental Health, 23(6), 762–770. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1450840

46.

Steverink

Westerhof

G. J.

Bode

Dittmann-Kohli

(2001). The personal experience of aging, individual resources, and subjective well-being. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56(6), P364–P373. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/56.6.p364

47.

Veenstra

Daatland

Aartsen

(2021). The role of subjective age in sustaining wellbeing and health in the second half of life. Ageing and Society, 41(11), 2446–2466. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x2000032x.

48.

Wilson

K. E.

Rhodes

R. E.

(2021). Personality and physical activity. In Zenko

Jones

(Eds.), Essentials of exercise and sport psychology: An open access textbook (pp. 114–149). https://doi.org/10.51224/B1006

49.

Wong

P. T. P.

(1998). Implicit theories of meaningful life and the development of the personal meaning profile. In Wong

P. T. P.

Fry

P. S.

(Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 111–140). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

50.

Wurm

Blawert

Schäfer

S. K.

(2022). The importance of views of aging in the context of medical conditions. In Palgi

Shrira

Diehl

(Eds.), Subjective views of aging: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 289–307). Springer International Publishing.

51.

Yzerbyt

Muller

Batailler

Judd

C. M.

(2018). New recommendations for testing indirect effects in mediational models: The need to report and test component paths. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 929–943. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000132

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.04 MB