Rusanow, Robert (2018) Does life satisfaction vary in relation to subjective age and future time perspective in Australia? Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Life expectancy has increased significantly in Australia, while life satisfaction has not, which has potential personal, social, and economic consequences. The World Health Organisation has advocated for a lifespan approach in addressing this kind of issue. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate how life satisfaction varies in relation to age in an Australian lifespan sample. However, chronological age is a poor indicator of developmental change and life satisfaction. Thus, the present study focused on two alternative age-related constructs: Subjective age and future time perspective. Participants comprised 188 university students and community members (42 male and 146 female), aged between 18 and 69 years, who responded to an online self-report questionnaire. Life satisfaction was measured via the Satisfaction with Life Scale, future time perspective was measured via the Future Time Perspective Scale, subjective age was operationalised by asking participants how old they felt, and a range of covariates were measured (chronological age, sex, marital status, education level, income level, and self-rated health). To test the hypotheses, bivariate correlations and a multiple hierarchical regression were performed on the data. Results revealed that, as hypothesised, both subjective age and life satisfaction were significantly and positively correlated with self-rated health and with life satisfaction. After controlling for chronological age, sex, marital status, education level, income level, and selfrated health, as hypothesised, future time perspective predicted life satisfaction; however contrary to expectations subjective age did not. It was concluded that future time perspective is a promising age-related construct in regards to understanding life satisfaction.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Liam Hendry |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2025 03:30 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Aug 2025 03:30 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | subjective age, felt age, future time perspective, FTP, life satisfaction, satisfaction with life, subjective well-being, self-rated health, subjective health |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52719 |
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