INTERACTIONAL PATTERNS OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATION TO AGING
Abstract
This investigation explores the interactive behavior of individuals over the age of sixty-five as it relates to life satisfaction. Three communicative elements which covary with life satisfaction are examined: (1) The frequency with which elderly individuals enter into interaction; (2) the closeness felt by the elderly toward those interactants; and (3) the content of the interaction. Several communicator characteristics, the individual's age, sex, living environment, and interactive partner, mediate the relationship between interaction and life satisfaction. Elderly individuals living in three separate living environments participated in this study. In all, one-hundred and twenty individuals over sixty-five years of age completed the Adult Communication Survey. This survey documented their communication behavior and measured their level of life-satisfaction. Three research questions were tested within this investigation. Results from the research questions support the contention that the interactive behavior of elderly individuals covaries with levels of life satisfaction. This relationship is complex, mediated by such factors as living environment and the parnter of the interaction. The relationship between interaction and life satisfaction is differentially explained by three prevelant aging theories. These theories are presented to introduce potential connections to the three communication variables. Overall, results from this study indicate the importance of interactive behavior in the elderly population. Implications of these results are discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology
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