Maintaining life satisfaction at old age in spite of physical decline

Abstract

Life expectancy is rising fast, but not all years gained are free of disease. Therefore, many people wonder to what extent the years that we have gained are enjoyable. Studies however show that life satisfaction generally remains high at old age. We investigate this surprising phenomenon using data from two cross-sectional studies. We ask 1) which factors separate older people with a low from those with a high life satisfaction? And 2) how do older people maintain their high life satisfaction despite physical decline? Compared to earlier studies, this study used large and representative populations, and a broad array of objective health indicators.

Physical decline was relatively unimportant for life satisfaction, especially when mental health (operationalised as depressive symptoms and experienced loneliness) remained high. Demographic variables and social resources also had no or a small relationship with life satisfaction. Only mental health was strongly associated with life satisfaction.

By investigating various ways of measuring self-rated health, we show that older people may shift their norms and values in the face of declining health. This may thus explain their high life satisfaction, in spite of physical decline. Findings are discussed in relation to other literature and implications are given.