Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Age Ageing. 2021 Jan 8;50(1):62-64. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa226.
Researchers have called for gerontologists to spend greater attention on promoting happiness in older adulthood, a point aligned with the general public's interest in finding the keys to being happy later in life. However, targeting and even defining happiness comes with several caveats and challenges, leaving researchers to make difficult decisions regarding measurement and intervention strategies. Instead, the current commentary suggests that gerontology interventions may fare better if researchers focus on specific components of positive psychological functioning. We present sense of purpose and life enjoyment as examples of two such components, and note the potential merit in developing these more focussed intervention programmes. As such, the commentary suggests the value of moving beyond targeting happiness when developing intervention programmes for older adult participants.
研究人员呼吁老年学家更加关注促进老年人的幸福感，这与公众对寻找晚年幸福之道的兴趣不谋而合。然而，针对幸福感甚至对其进行定义都存在一些限制和挑战，这使得研究人员在衡量和干预策略方面不得不做出艰难的决定。相反，本评论建议，如果研究人员专注于积极心理功能的特定组成部分，老年学干预可能会取得更好的效果。我们提出目标感和生活享受作为两个这样的组成部分的例子，并指出开发这些更有针对性的干预计划的潜在价值。因此，本评论建议，在为老年参与者制定干预计划时，超越以幸福为目标是有价值的。
