Structure of subjective well-being among the elderly

This article interprets subjective well-being within the framework of cognitive theories of emotion. A model consisting of three recurrent components of expressions of well-being--positive affect, negative affect, and cognition--was compared with two variations of models proposed by Liang. Drawing two random samples of persons with minimum age equal to 65 from the Myth and Reality of Aging in America Survey, lisrel analyses were undertaken on 17 items from the Affect Balance Scale and the Life Satisfaction Index Form A. All models provided an acceptable fit as indicated by ratios of chi-square to degrees of freedom. Implications are noted for the conceptualization and study of subjective well-being.