TIME COMPETENCE OF THE AGED

This research evaluates the time competence of the aged in relation to sex, age, living environment, activities, health, and socio-economic status. One hundred and sixty subjects answered a socio-demographic qu estionnaire. Level of time competence was evaluated by the time compet ence subscale of the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) (Shostrom, 1 966) and by the estimate of an interval of 40 seconds (Newman, 1972, 1 976). Analysis of variance shows that level of time competence varies according to age, satisfaction in the number of activities, subjective assessment of health and living environment. These results show the p ossible importance of objective health in the evaluation of the time c ompetence. In fact, subjects from the 65-75 age group living in instit utions show more physical deterioration than the other subjects and le ss time competence. For the older subjects, time competence does not d iffer according to the life environment. It would therefore be importa nt, in further studies, to take this variable into account. These resu lts and those of earlier studies reveal that the personnel have to tak e into account the rate of activities imposed on the beneficiaries by their health condition when developing programs of activities because time competence also varies according to satisfaction with the number of activities. The results also cast a doubt on the sensitivity of the estimate of this particular time competence measure requiring an inte rval of 40 seconds.