Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly
The overall aim of this article was to examine factors related to life satisfaction in old age. There are several approaches to understanding life satisfaction in psychology. Some theories that emphasize objective circumstances as most influential for life satisfaction are commonly labelled bottom-u...
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Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
2020-12-01
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doaj-7ccfa805dc6b4577b5ecf678c465962e2020-12-29T13:04:44ZengPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics2313-16832313-17052020-12-0117467168410.22363/2313-1683-2020-17-4-671-68419654Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian ElderlyElena V. Belovol0Zlata V. Boyko1Elena Yu. Shurupova2Moscow State Pedagogical UniversityPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)Psychological-and-Pedagogical Centre for Children and Adolescents “Merry Steps”The overall aim of this article was to examine factors related to life satisfaction in old age. There are several approaches to understanding life satisfaction in psychology. Some theories that emphasize objective circumstances as most influential for life satisfaction are commonly labelled bottom-up theories, whereas theories that focus on stable individual characteristics are commonly labelled top-down theories. It is argued that certain personality traits, in particular extraversion and neuroticism, partly determine a persons satisfaction with life. At the same time, cognitive factors related to life satisfaction are rarely the subject of empirical research. In this study, age, social status (works, does not work, in retirement), type of family (nuclear or extended), and a number of indices of cognitive functioning (cognitive flexibility, memory - short-term and long-term, creativity and thinking) were used as predictor variables of life satisfaction. Ninety-seven respondents aged 50-84 participated in the research, which finds that, along with non-cognitive factors of life satisfaction, cognitive factors play great roles as well. Based on the data obtained, an empirical model of cognitive factors of life satisfaction was constructed. This research demonstrates that all cognitive variables examined (flexibility of thinking, long-term memory, short-term memory, thinking and creativity) make positive contributions to increasing satisfaction; notably the roles of long-term memory and creativity are especially salient. This study also found satisfaction is significantly higher among working older respondents when compared with their non-working colleagues, with the oldest employees the most satisfied. Family status is a factor related to life satisfaction in old age as well, since old people who live with a spouse are more satisfied than those who live in extended families with children and grandchildren. A regression model combined variables from top-down and bottom-up theories. The model includes memory and age as personal characteristics, and family type as a circumstantial predictor for life satisfaction in old age.http://journals.rudn.ru/psychology-pedagogics/article/viewFile/25371/18965life satisfactionold agecognitive processestop-down theoriesbottom-up theoriespredictors for life satisfactionthe russian elderly |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Elena V. Belovol Zlata V. Boyko Elena Yu. Shurupova |
spellingShingle |
Elena V. Belovol Zlata V. Boyko Elena Yu. Shurupova Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics life satisfaction old age cognitive processes top-down theories bottom-up theories predictors for life satisfaction the russian elderly |
author_facet |
Elena V. Belovol Zlata V. Boyko Elena Yu. Shurupova |
author_sort |
Elena V. Belovol |
title |
Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly |
title_short |
Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly |
title_full |
Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly |
title_fullStr |
Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cognitive Factors of Life Satisfaction among the Russian Elderly |
title_sort |
cognitive factors of life satisfaction among the russian elderly |
publisher |
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) |
series |
RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics |
issn |
2313-1683 2313-1705 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
The overall aim of this article was to examine factors related to life satisfaction in old age. There are several approaches to understanding life satisfaction in psychology. Some theories that emphasize objective circumstances as most influential for life satisfaction are commonly labelled bottom-up theories, whereas theories that focus on stable individual characteristics are commonly labelled top-down theories. It is argued that certain personality traits, in particular extraversion and neuroticism, partly determine a persons satisfaction with life. At the same time, cognitive factors related to life satisfaction are rarely the subject of empirical research. In this study, age, social status (works, does not work, in retirement), type of family (nuclear or extended), and a number of indices of cognitive functioning (cognitive flexibility, memory - short-term and long-term, creativity and thinking) were used as predictor variables of life satisfaction. Ninety-seven respondents aged 50-84 participated in the research, which finds that, along with non-cognitive factors of life satisfaction, cognitive factors play great roles as well. Based on the data obtained, an empirical model of cognitive factors of life satisfaction was constructed. This research demonstrates that all cognitive variables examined (flexibility of thinking, long-term memory, short-term memory, thinking and creativity) make positive contributions to increasing satisfaction; notably the roles of long-term memory and creativity are especially salient. This study also found satisfaction is significantly higher among working older respondents when compared with their non-working colleagues, with the oldest employees the most satisfied. Family status is a factor related to life satisfaction in old age as well, since old people who live with a spouse are more satisfied than those who live in extended families with children and grandchildren. A regression model combined variables from top-down and bottom-up theories. The model includes memory and age as personal characteristics, and family type as a circumstantial predictor for life satisfaction in old age. |
topic |
life satisfaction old age cognitive processes top-down theories bottom-up theories predictors for life satisfaction the russian elderly |
url |
http://journals.rudn.ru/psychology-pedagogics/article/viewFile/25371/18965 |
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