Department of Psychology, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2013;17(3):375-85. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2012.743963. Epub 2012 Dec 5.
Drawing from Heckhausen and Schulz's Motivational Theory of Life-span Development, this study examined perceived control as a moderator of the protective relationship between downward social comparison and subjective well-being among older adults.
Community-dwelling older adults (N = 97, 63% female, ages 79-97) were interviewed in their own homes at three time-points over a nine-year period. Interviews assessed older adults' perceived control over daily tasks, their use of downward social comparison in response to task restriction, and their subjective well-being.
Regression analyses yielded a significant interaction between downward social comparison and perceived control for three subjective well-being outcomes: life satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms. Follow-up analyses revealed that downward social comparison was associated with greater subjective well-being at low levels of perceived control; but was unrelated to subjective well-being at high levels of perceived control.
These findings corroborate Heckhausen and Schulz's theorized goal-opportunity congruence premise and have implications for quality-of-life interventions to assist community-dwelling older adults.
本研究借鉴 Heckhausen 和 Schulz 的毕生发展动机理论，探讨了知觉控制在向下社会比较与老年人主观幸福感之间的保护关系中的调节作用。
本研究对居住在社区中的老年人（N=97，女性占 63%，年龄 79-97 岁）在 9 年的 3 个时间点进行了家庭访谈。访谈评估了老年人对日常任务的知觉控制、他们在面对任务限制时使用向下社会比较的情况，以及他们的主观幸福感。
回归分析得出，向下社会比较和知觉控制对三个主观幸福感结果（生活满意度、感知压力和抑郁症状）存在显著的交互作用。后续分析表明，在知觉控制水平较低时，向下社会比较与更高的主观幸福感相关；但在知觉控制水平较高时，与主观幸福感无关。
这些发现证实了 Heckhausen 和 Schulz 的目标-机会一致性假设，并对帮助居住在社区中的老年人的生活质量干预措施具有启示意义。
