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Spirituality and Personal Well-Being in Old Age†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Alfons Marcoen
Alfons Marcoen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Center for Developmental Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
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Abstract

It is argued that a spiritual outlook on life may help elderly people to cope constructively with the vicissitudes of life. Many persons who are now in late adulthood and old age developed a relationship with a transcendent reality. This relationship is a core element of their global personal well-being. This paper briefly elaborates some thoughts about the relationship between personal well-being and spirituality in old age. Six themes are focused upon: I. personal well-being as a subjective experience of evaluation; 2. psychological, physical, social, material, cultural and existential well-being as components of global personal well-being; 3. religious or humanistic spirituality; 4. a life enhancing relationship with a transcendent reality in old age; 5. spirituality and spiritual growth require self-care and social support; 6. some possible lines of research.

Keywords

Old ageoptimal ageingpersonal meaninghumanistic and religious spiritualitytranscendent realitypersonal well-being.
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 521 - 536
Copyright
Copyright Cambridge University Press 1994

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