Abstract
Zusammenfassung: In dieser Studie wurde überprüft, welche Bedeutung das Streben nach persönlichen Zielen für das subjektive Wohlbefinden älterer Menschen besitzt. In einer Stichprobe von 62 älteren Erwachsenen standen Einschätzungen zur Realisierbarkeit von persönlichen Zielen in signifikanter Beziehung zu Einschätzungen des subjektiven Wohlbefindens, wobei Angaben zum Alter, Einkommen, Gesundheitszustand sowie zu familiären und außerfamiliären sozialen Kontakten der Teilnehmer statistisch kontrolliert wurden. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Wohlbefinden und der Realisierbarkeit von persönlichen Zielen war bei Älteren, die fest entschlossen waren, ihre Ziele zu verwirklichen, besonders deutlich ausgeprägt. Teilnehmer, die sowohl zur Verwirklichung ihrer Ziele entschlossen waren als auch die Bedingungen dafür als günstig erachteten, berichteten hohes subjektives Wohlbefinden. Im Gegensatz dazu berichteten Teilnehmer mit hoher Entschlossenheit, aber ungünstigen Bedingungen zur Verwirklichung von persönlichen Zielen vermindertes Wohlbefinden. Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse für die Verbindung des Konstrukts der persönlichen Ziele mit Anpassungsprozessen im Alter sowie für die Entwicklung von Interventionsstrategien werden diskutiert.
Abstract: This study examined the importance of striving for personal goals in accounting for older adults' subjective well-being. In a sample of 62 elders, it was found that self- assessments of the attainability of personal goals were significantly related to assessments of subjective well-being with participants' age, income, subjective health status, and self-reported social contacts to family members and friends statistically held constant. The relationship between well-being and goal attainability was particularly pronounced among elders who were strongly committed to goals. Participants who both felt committed to their goals and experienced favorable conditions to attain these goals reported high levels of subjective well-being. In contrast, participants who were high in goal commitment, but experienced poor conditions to attain personal goals reported impaired well-being. Implications of these results for linking the personal-goal construct to older-adult adjustment and for establishing intervention strategies are discussed.
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