Contextual effects on life satisfaction of older men and women

Differences occur in the demographic, health, and social network contexts of men and women, all of which are associated with successful aging. The objectives of this study were to determine whether differences exist in satisfaction in specific domains, in general life satisfaction and in the paths for life satisfaction for men and women. A secondary data analysis was conducted on selected variables from the Aging in the Community data set (Beland et al., 1998). The responses of 958 older Canadian francophone adults were examined. There were no differences in general or domain life satisfaction between women and men. Path analyses revealed good model fit for separate models for both male and female samples. For men, life satisfaction is explained positively by age, income, and perceived control, and negatively by recall errors, illness, and functional limitations. For women, life satisfaction is explained positively by age, education, income, social support, perceived control, and physical activity, and negatively by illness and functional limitations. The results suggest that social support had direct positive effects on life satisfaction but reduced perceived control for women. As hypothesized, although there are similarities in paths to life satisfaction for older men and women, the path models indicated that there are also important differences.