Synonyms
Positive psychological functioning; Psychological health; Subjective well-being
Definition
Psychological well-being is defined as a psychological state with positive functioning and absence of mental illnesses.
Introduction
Old age is often associated with declines and losses in physical, cognitive, and social domains, with many older people perceived as unhappy, lonely, or depressed as a result. However, recent empirical findings do not support these stereotypical beliefs. In contrast to the popular belief that most of older adults are depressed, the statistics of the 2012 National Survey on Mental Health reveal that the 12-month prevalence of major depression declines from young adulthood to old age. In particular, the percentages of adults aged 18–25, 26–49, and 50 or older who had at least one major depression episode in the previous year were 8.9%, 7.6%, and 5.5%, respectively, implying that the rate of depression is lower in late adulthood. Moreover, the findings from...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baird, B. M., Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Life satisfaction across the lifespan: Findings from two nationally representative panel studies. Social Indicators Research, 99, 183–203.
Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In P. B. Baltes & M. M. Baltes (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1733–1749.
Carstensen, L. L. (2006). The influence of a sense of time on human development. Science, 312, 1913–1915.
Carstensen, L. L., Turan, B., Scheibe, S., Ram, N., Ersner-Hershfield, H., Samanez-Larkin, G. R., Brooks, K. P., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2011). Emotional experience improves with age: Evidence based on over 11 years of experience sampling. Psychology and Aging, 26, 21–33.
Charles, S., & Carstensen, L. L. (2010). Social and emotional aging. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 383–409.
Charles, S. T., Reynolds, C. A., & Gatz, M. (2001). Age-related differences and change in positive and negative affect over 23 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 136–151.
Davey, A., Halverson, C. F. J., Zonderman, A. B., & Costa, P. J. T. (2004). Change in depressive symptoms in the Baltimore longitudinal study of aging. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59, 270–277.
Karasawa, M., Curhan, K. B., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. S., Love, G. D., Radler, B. T., & Ryff, C. D. (2011). Cultural perspectives on aging and well-being: A comparison of Japan and the United States. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 73, 73–98.
Kunzman, U., Little, T. D., & Smith, J. (2000). Is age-related stability of subjective well-being a paradox? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 15, 511–526.
Lang, F. R., Weiss, D., Gerstorf, D., & Wagner, G. G. (2013). Forecasting life satisfaction across adulthood: Benefits of seeing a dark future? Psychology and Aging, 28, 249–261.
McAdams, K. K., Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2012). The role of domain satisfaction in explaining the paradoxical association between life satisfaction and age. Social Indicators Research, 109, 295–303.
Mroczek, D. K., & Spiro, A., III. (2005). Change in life satisfaction during adulthood: Findings from the veterans affairs normative aging study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 189–202.
Prenda, K. M., & Lachman, M. E. (2001). Planning for the future: A life management strategy for increasing control and life satisfaction in adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 16, 206–216.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meanings of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
Scheibe, S., English, T., Tsai, J. L., & Carstensen, L. L. (2013). Striving to feel good: Ideal affect, actual affect, and their correspondence across adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 28, 160–171.
Springer, K. W., Pudrovska, T., & Hauser, R. M. (2011). Does psychological well-being change with age? Longitudinal tests of age variations and further exploration of the multidimensionality of Ryff’s model of psychological well-being. Social Science Research, 40, 392–398.
Xing, Z., & Huang, L. (2014). The relationship between age and subjective well-being: Evidence from five capital cities in Mainland China. Social Indicators Research, 117, 743–756.
Yeung, D. Y., & Fung, H. H. (2007). Age differences in coping and emotional responses to SARS: A longitudinal study of Hong Kong Chinese. Aging & Mental Health, 11, 579–587.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this entry
Cite this entry
Yeung, D.Y. (2017). Aging and Psychological Well-Being. In: Pachana, N.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-082-7_139
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-082-7_139
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-081-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-082-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences