Are Older Adult German Women

Abstl'act. Along with increased life ~xpcctancy, sllccessful aging and possibilities for increasing well-being in old age have become important research topics in recent years. T!1(~ present study (a) examines the relationship between satisfaction in several life domains (\vith respect to family. friendships, and health) and general life satisfaction of oldcr adult women in Germany. and (b) dctermines which factors moderate the importance of satisfaction in thcse ditTcrent life domains for the evaluation of genera! life satisfaction. More precisely, wc examine the role of partnership status and self-construa!. The sample consisted of 98 German women between the age of 58 and 83 years (AI::;: 69.6 years: Sf)::;: 5.9 years) who wert~ interviewed in the framework of the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural Value of Children S!Udy. Results showed that for women living \vith a parttlC!'. satisfaction with family was most important for their general life .<;atisfaction, whereas for women without a partner. satisfaction with friendships and with socioeconomic statlls had prominent roles. In addition, the kind of self-construal moderated the relations between (I) satisfaction with family and general life satisfaction and (2) satisfaction with health and general life satisfaction. Family satisfaction was less important for the general life satisfaction of \vomen who were highly independently oriented; for women who had a strongly pronounced sdf-collstrual (either independent or interdependent). satisfaction \vith health was less important for general life satisfaction.