Perceived Cognitive Efficiency and Subjective Well-Being in Late Adulthood: The Impact of Developmental Factors

The current literature shows cross-cultural differences related to implicit theories of ageing. Specifically, in the Western individualistic cultural context, elderly people are perceived as obsolete, weak and unable to contribute usefully to society, whereas in collectivistic cultures, older people are venerated as a source of knowledge and cultural traditions (e.g. Yoon et al. in Psychol Aging 15:694-704, 2000). The focus of the current study was to investigate the effect of age-related factors affecting self-referent well-being in the Italian population. One hundred and thirty-nine healthy adults (20-99 years) were recruited in Northern Italian (i.e. individualistic context) and Sardinian (i.e. collectivist context) contexts and were, respectively, assigned to the following groups: Young (20-30 years old), Old (65-74 years old) and Very Old (> 75 years old). Participants were administered a battery of tests, including self-referent cognitive efficiency scales, subjective psychological well-being, depression and psychological distress scales. Participants from Sardinia showed greater levels of well-being and lower levels of psychological distress than adults from Northern Italy. Moreover, participants from the Old group reported more coping strategies, emotional competencies and personal satisfaction, as well as fewer depressive symptoms, than the Very Old group. One possible explanation is that sociocultural contexts emphasising the positive social role of the elderly like that prevailing in Sardinia promote psychological well-being in late adulthood.