Suchergebnisse

The article deals with the peculiarities of psychological and physical health components as the life quality indicators in correlation with the time perspective at the late ontogenesis stage (aged 58–93) in groups of people leading different lifestyles: elderly non-working people who are at home-based social services; elderly non-working people, leading an active lifestyle. It has been established that subjective indicators of life quality is at the rather low level and decreases with age. An active lifestyle, as well as cohabitation living, contributes to keep higher life quality. The prevailing temporal orientations in the general sample are «Future» and «Positive Past». A balanced time perspective is observed in one third of respondents. The Past and the Present are correlated, while the mode of the future is isolated. Active pensioners are more future-oriented then the older people at social services. The age of 64–75 years is the most balanced, when all three aspects of time are actualised and integrated in the personality time perspective. Single or cohabiting living does not affect the personality time perspective. The life quality is correlated with the time perspective: the factors «Hedonistic present», «Fatalistic present» and «Negative past» are mainly related to the psychological component of health and its parameters.

The results of three studies of the mental resources of the elderly and old age are presented. The total sample size was 464 people aged 55 to 90 years. A study was made of mental resources (subjective age, cognitive and affective components of Theory of Mind), as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. In all studies, the subjective age and the quality of life and health were studied as indicators of successful aging. The importance of mental resources (understanding of emotions, deception), subjective cognitive illusion of age (feeling younger than his years) for subjective satisfaction with life and health, coupled with lifestyle (active retirees and dependent on social assistance) is shown. Pensioners who lead an active lifestyle and pensioners that are dependent on social assistance perceive themselves younger than their years, although the subjective age is not interconnected with the quality of life and physical health of active people. Changes occur in the psychological systems of resources during the transition from the elderly to the senile age; at this period the growth of disease and cognitive preservation, along with psychological predictors, become a condition of life satisfaction.

The aim of the work is to study time perspective and subjective age as determinants of psychological well-being and health-related life quality of people at the late ontogenesis stage, leading a different lifestyle. Based on the results of the ZPTI Questionnaire (F. Zimbardo), «Age-of-me» (B. Barak), SF-36 «Health status survey» and «Psychological well-being Scales» (К. Riff) the features of the time perspective, subjective age, health self-assessment and psychological well-being are analyzed in groups of pensioners (58–93 years old) leading a different lifestyle: elderly non-working people who receive home-based social services and elderly non-working people which lead an active lifestyle. It is shown that the categories «time perspective» and «subjective age» express a person's attitude to time, but relate to different aspects of individuality. Subjective age is more connected with the assessment of physical health status — the physical component of health-related life quality. Time perspective is more connected with personal characteristics — psychological component of health-related life quality; psychological well-being. Self-assessment of health and psychological well-being are closely correlated with the attitude to the present and the past. While the future is in a zone of high uncertainty. The younger the subjective age, the higher the indicators of psychological well-being and health-related life quality. An active lifestyle is a resource that allows pensioners to assess biological and social subjective age younger, be more future-oriented, and have higher indicators of health-related life quality. Health limitations and home lifestyle observed in a reduced health self-assessment and close correlations of all the variables studied. The 65–74 years period, compared to the 58–64 and 75–93 years periods, is characterized by higher indicators of life quality, psychological well-being and the predominance of a balanced time perspective. The main changes in the late-aged people life begin after the age of 75: a decrease in all indicators of health-related life quality and psychological well-being (except for «Autonomy»), as well as an increased focus on the «Fatalistic Present». Thus, the research shows the correlations between attitude to time and age and psychological well-being and health self-assessment. There is almost no study of subjective age in our country. Therefore our work allows us to expand knowledge about subjective age in the Russian sample.