Work

What's love got to do with it? Social functioning, perceived health, and daily happiness in married octogenarians.

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: This study examined day-to-day links between perceived health and happiness and between time spent with others and happiness in 47 older adult couples over an 8-day period. Marital satisfaction and time spent with others were explored as potential moderators of links between health and happiness. For both men and women, hierarchical linear modeling revealed daily links between more time spent with others and greater happiness. Daily links between time spent with one's partner and happiness were strongly moderated by marital satisfaction. For both men and women, marital satisfaction buffered day-to-day links between poorer perceived health and a decline in happiness, but time spent with others did not. This study provides support for the role of marital satisfaction in protecting older adults' happiness from daily fluctuations in perceived physical health and for the influence of social connections in promoting happiness in the lives of older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Psychology and Aging

DOI: 10.1037/a0019087

Authors: Robert J. Waldinger, Marc S. Schulz

Institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Bryn Mawr College

Language: English

Topic: Aging and Gerontology Research

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health