Successful Aging

Abstract

The practical purpose of gerontology is to help people live better in their later years. A measure of successful aging was attempted by Robert J. Havighurst and Albrecht on the basis of a study of public opinion concerning the activities of older people. Based on this study, a social approval scale was developed which could be applied to any person’s life as he reached later maturity. Recognizing that the inner and outer aspects of successful aging are closely related, though not in a strict one-to-one relationship, many researchers have used methods of measurement which combine the few aspects in one procedure. All the measures which have been discussed have a surface validity, for their content obviously is related to one or another definition of successful aging. In developing attitude scales for the measurement of successful aging, the model has frequently been the Guttman scale.

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