REGULATION OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING IN OL D-AGE BY TEMPORAL AND SOCIAL-COMPARISON PROCESSES

Coping with threat and adversity in old age can be conceptualized in d ifferent ways. In the paper at hand, selective (i.e., self-serving) so cial and temporal comparison processes were considered as one means of coping in old age, and their (potentially compensatory) effects on su bjective well-being are described. In contrast to this, it was assumed that kind and direction of comparison processes might be triggered by the affective state prior to the comparison process. These propositio ns were investigated in a sample of N = 269 elderly subjects between 6 6 and 95 years of age. Data analyses were performed for three points o f measurement by using socially and temporally framed self-assessments in three domains of functioning. Results showed that temporal and soc ial comparisons proved to be primarily triggered by precomparison affe ct. The predictive value of social and temporal comparisons for change s in well-being across the time span under study was rather small.