Socio-emotional variables and psychological well-being in elderly people

Abstract

The study of well-being is especially interesting in the case of the elderly, located at a vital time when limiting life in a quantitative sense is more evident, in which the disease and disorders are more likely to increase, and in which the quality of life years left to live and their promotion is essential (Satorres, 2013). The psychological well-being is a broad concept that includes social dimensions, subjective and psychological as well as behaviors related to health in general, that lead people to work in a positive way. The term happiness is too ambitious; however the individual subjective well-being (BIS) allows to measure the degree of happiness or satisfaction that, in general terms, predominates in each according to his own point of view. On the other hand, the constructive thought, in their different scales and facets, are in reality variables socio emotional functions which enables us to face the world and reality. The research group of the ULPGC INDEPSI has conducted an investigation to relate these two constructs (constructive thought and subjective wellbeing individual) in a group with ages between 57 and 87 years (n=96) who receive university studies for older, using for this purpose the inventory of constructive thought emotional (Epstein, 2012) and the questionnaire BIS-HERNAN (Hernández, 1996 and 2000) that measure different aspects of happiness. The results indicate that the factors that attaches the happiness and unhappiness are of a different nature; that there are significant differences (p0.05) between the valuation of the past and future happiness in comparison with the present and that having a good emotional coping and little suspicion are significant predictors of happiness.

Keywords

• pensamiento constructivo
• bienestar subjetivo individual
• personas mayores
• variables socioemocionales
• felicidad