A Primary Research On Meaning In Life Of The Elderly

Though researches on meaning in life have made some advances, studies on meaning in life of the elderly are few, and lack of localization measuring tools. In addition, the meaning researches have yet to see the relationship of the meaning in life of elderly, attitude toward aging and successful aging. Meanwhile few studies focused on psychological intervention of the older people. The purpose of this study is to develop Questionnaire of Meaning of Elderly, to explore the relationship of the meaning in life of elderly, attitude toward aging and successful aging, and to prove to improve the level of the meaning of old people by psychological consultation. On the one hand to expand and deepen the meaning of life in psychology research and the content of the elderly psychology, on the other hand to provide theoretical and practical support for the education of the mental health of the old.Put forward primarily structure model of the meaning in life of the elderly basing on literature review, open investigation and experts'advice. The model consists of three factors:the cognition of suffering, the initiative in pursuit, passive acceptance. According to the result of EFA (exploratory factor analysis) and CFA (confirmatory factor analysis), define the Questionnaire of Meaning of Elderly. Design questionnaire on meaning of the elderly and test its reliability and validity from many quotas. At the same time, inspect relations among the meaning level, attitude toward aging and successful aging of elder. Finally, explore the effectiveness of the psychological consultation to improve the level of the meaning of the elderly. The results of research are as follow:(1) The Questionnaire on meaning of the elderly consists of three factors:the cognition of suffering, the initiative in pursuit, passive acceptance. The test of reliability and validity showed, the Questionnaire of Meaning of Elderly was reliable and validity;(2) The elderly held a pretty positive view of their life meaning;(3) The meaning of the elderly had not a significant differences in gender and age;(4) The demographic variables had some significant effects on the different dimensions of life meaning of the elderly, included marital status, religious belief, self-report state of health and economic status;(5) Meaning in life of the elderly and attitude toward aging take on significant relationship;(6) Meaning in life of the elderly and successful aging of elder take on significant relationship;(7)The implementation of psychological consultation help to improve the level of the meaning of the elderly.