Prediction of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in succesful aging

Abstract

Psychological well-being is a construct of maximum relevance in psychology, being the equivalent to health in medical sciences. It is a multifaceted construct, with two research traditions: the hedonic and the eudaimonic ones. On the other hand, the paradign of succesful aging is a good theoretical framework to study and understand optimal aging. Rowe and Kahn (1998) articulated this paradign proposing its three main characteristics: physcal health, cognitive functioning and being productive and socially active. The aim of this research is to develop a predictive model of well-being, both hedonic and eudaimonic, using the sucessful aging parading plus a dimension of spirituality. Main results of the model showed that social support had a significant and positive on satisfaction and to a lesser extent on well-being. Pshysical health was also a significant predictor of satisfaction. An finally, spirituality may also be considered a protector of well-being. Percentage of variance explained of life satisfaction was 23.3%, while this percentage on well-being was 10.4%.