Goals and Life Satisfaction of Hong Kong Chinese Older Adults

Abstract

Like other well-developed countries, Hong Kong is facing the challenges and opportunities posed by an aging population as well as a new wave of the younger old who are relatively healthy and well resourced. Participation in meaningful and purposeful activities, as well as social engagement, have often been promoted as gold standards of optimal or successful aging in both local and international arenas. Striving for goals provides individuals’ lives with meaning and a sense of purpose. With the increasingly active role of the growing population of older adults in society, it is essential to understand how the possible variations in goal fulfillment can affect successful aging. Using regression analysis, this study investigated the relationship between successful attainment of life goals and life satisfaction of 254 participants recruited from various community centers in Hong Kong. Preliminary analysis suggested that, compared with their older counterparts, the younger old found the fulfillment of achievement and affiliation goals to be relatively more important to life satisfaction. Conversely, results suggested that for the old old the fulfillment of an altruism goal was more important to life satisfaction. These findings can have implications for developing and tailoring services to meet the different needs of goal pursuit with a view to enhancing the well-being and life satisfaction of older adults of different age groups. The study may also have implications for training/retraining in relationship to the employment/re-employment of older workers.