LIFE SUCCESS AND SATISFACTION
Life satisfaction, which can be defined as general happiness or well being, is related to several demographic and personal qualities. The factor of age is important because the elements that make up life satisfaction may differ from one age to the next. Income is more likely to predict life satisfaction among middle-aged and older adults than among young adults. Health is a more significant predictor of happiness among older adults than among the young or the middle-aged. However, average levels of life satisfaction do not change significantly with age. Generally speaking, older adults are as satisfied with their lives as are younger or middle-aged adults.
There is no single element that guarantees high life satisfaction for everyone who possesses it. Happiness seems to consist of many things that each person weighs differently, such as income, education, work, and relationships. However, certain factors are reliable predictors of life satisfaction. One such predictor is health, especially one’s perception of one’s own health rather than a doctor’s objective health assessment. Another predictor of life satisfaction is a feeling of being in charge of one’s own life and a sense of authority over one’s own decisions. Adults who feel that they have some choices and options are generally happier than those who feel that their lives are controlled by others or by fate or chance. For example, older adults who experience financialstrain feel less life satisfaction mainly because the problem signals a loss of control over their lives.
The largest predictor of life satisfaction appears to be the adequacy of social relationships, especially marriage and family relationships. The perceived quality rather than the quantity of social interactions is most strongly related to happiness. Satisfaction with one’s close personal relationships is more closely linked to overall life satisfaction than either demographic factors or satisfaction with other key aspects of adult life such as occupation. This is true even among highly educated men, who typically have a very high commitment to their work. The quality of social support available in one’s key relationships affects the ability to handlestress and life changes as well as one’s ongoing level of life satisfaction.
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