THE AGE-PARTICIPATION RELATIONSHIP REVISED - FOCUS ON OLDER ADULTS

This study aims to increase our understanding of how the negative infl uence of age on participation comes about. The framework used emphasiz es human life complexity and human agency in behavior and decision-mak ing. Accordingly, main effects and multiple interaction effects of age and some education and work-related factors on participation were exa mined. The results show that when the interaction effects are taken in to account, the age-participation relationship becomes more complex th an previously found in studies focusing only on main effects. It is su ggested that research on participation utilize the more advanced optio ns available in multivariate statistics and thus aim at better compati bility between theoretical and methodological underpinnings. Further, in order to plan courses and programs that are interesting and meaning ful to low-educated middle-aged and older adults, the view of potentia l participants should be adopted.