Happiness and Humor and Aging

Running Head : LIFE SATISFACTION FOR SENIOR CENTER PARTCIPANTS

Happiness and Humor Group Promotes Life Satisfaction for Senior Center Participants

Abstract

The effects of a Happiness and Humor Group in the promotion of life satisfaction in an elderly center were examined . Fifteen participants in the beginning of the study were given a self-rated 32-item Life Satisfaction Scale Survey . After which they engaged in a once a week 10-week program for the Happiness and Humor Group . Although the number of participants increased throughout the sessions , only the 15 original participants were administered

the same test after completion of program

Introduction

The purpose of the study is to address former findings conducted by the same researcher . A year ago , the researcher performed a qualitative study on stress . In the earlier study , there were 54 participants , ages 65-100 years , all of whom are members of several Southern California senior recreation programs . It was learned that the primary stressor among older adults was loneliness . As a follow-up to this , the researcher deemed it necessary to develop a group program that would address coping skills for the stressor . In late adulthood , people experience a lot of stressful moments when they face everyday with pessimism and regret about the past . In the opinion of the researcher the psychological and over all well-being of the elderly is being neglected as the world faces many innovation and continued progress in technology , basically banking on younger people . The elderly continues to be an important part of society and their concerns have to be addressed . Since most of them , especially those living in senior centers , face loneliness as they are already far from relatives and family , the researcher thought that something should be done to ease the pain of being lonely

The Happiness and Humor Group was offered once a week for a 10-week period and was held at a local California Senior Center . An initial test , Life Satisfaction Scale (Lohmann , 1976 ) was conducted to the original 15 participants . The same is done after completion of program The Happiness and Humor Group should improve the lives of the participants and increase their satisfaction for their present living status . They should be healthier and more psychologically balanced and score higher in the written scale survey after they finish all the sessions in the program

Review of Related Literature

Old age in some books is concretely defined as the stage of a person 's life after 65 years (Burgess , 1949 . However , there are people younger than 65 years that tend to manifest those characteristics that encompass being of old age (Burgess , 1949 . To clearly define old age , it is the last period of a person 's life terminated by death . According to some books (Papalia , 2002 , aging is divided into two stages : Primary and Secondary aging . Primary aging is said to be the time when the body inevitably deteriorates and this process continues through out the years . On the other hand , Secondary aging results from the abuse the body receives through the years...