Abstract
Although the physical and psychological benefits of feeling in control are well-documented in the research literature, the mechanisms that account for these effects have received less attention. The present study was designed to examine the potential mediating role of exercising and participation in nonphysical leisure activities, such as attending cultural events, involvement in volunteer organizations, and so on, in the relation between perceived control and well-being in seniors. The results indicated that an internal locus of control was positively related to exercising and participation in leisure activities. Exercising and leisure activity participation, in turn, were predictive of better perceived health and greater life satisfaction. These findings point to the potential benefits of increasing seniors' sense of control as a means to promote exercising and to increase leisure activity participation and, consequently, to enhance well-being.
| Affleck, G. , Tennen, H., Pfeiffer, C., & Fifield, J. (1987). Appraisals of control and predictability in adapting to a chronic disease. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 273-279. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Baltes, M. M. , Wahl, H.-W., & Schmid-Furstoss, U. (1990). The daily life of elderly Germans: Activity patterns, personal control, and functional health. Journal of Gerontology, 45, 173-179. Google Scholar | |
| Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
| Blair, S. N. (1993). Physical activity, physical fitness, and health. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 64, 365-376. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Blair, S. N. , Goodyear, N. N., Gibbons, L. W., & Cooper, K. H. (1984). Physical fitness and incidence of hypertension in healthy normotensive men and women. Journal of the American Medical Association, 252, 487-490. Google Scholar | |
| Brown, J. S. , & McCreedy, M. (1986). The hale elderly: Health behavior and its correlates. Research in Nursing and Health, 9, 317-329. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Chipperfield, J. G. (1993). Incongruence between health perceptions and health problems. Journal of Aging and Health, 5, 475-496. Google Scholar | |
| Chipperfield, J. G. , & Havens, B. (1992). A longitudinal analysis of perceived respect among elderly individuals: Changing perceptions for some ethnic groups. Canadian Journal on Aging, 11, 15-30. Google Scholar | |
| Folkins, C. H. , & Sime, W. E. (1981). Physical fitness training and mental health. American Psychologist, 4, 373-389. Google Scholar | |
| Harrison, D. A. , & Liska, L. Z. (1994). Promoting regular exercise in organizational fitness programs: Health-related differences in motivational building blocks. Personnel Psychology, 47, 47-71. Google Scholar | |
| Jöreskog, K. G. , & Sörbom, D. (1989). LISREL 7: A guide to the program and applications (2nd ed.). Chicago: SPSS. Google Scholar | |
| Kaplan, G. A. , & Strawbridge, W. J. (1994). Behavioral and social factors in healthy aging. In R. P. Abeles, H. C. Gift & M. G. Ory (Eds.) Aging and quality of life (pp. 57-78). New York: Springer. Google Scholar | |
| Kelly, J. R. , Steinkamp, M. W., & Kelly, J. R. (1987). Later-life satisfaction: Does leisure contribute? Leisure Science, 9, 189-200. Google Scholar | |
| Krause, N. (1991). Stress and isolation from close ties in later life. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 46, S183-S194. Google Scholar | |
| Lachman, M. E. (1986). Locus of control in aging research: A case for multidimensional and domain-specific assessment. Journal of Psychology and Aging, 1, 34-40. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Langer, E. J. , & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility of the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 191-198. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Lawton, M. P. (1994a). Aging and activity: A theoretical perspective. In D. M. Compton & S. E. Iso-Ahola (Eds.), Leisure & mental health (Vol. 1, pp. 61-74). Park City, UT: Family Development Resources. Google Scholar | |
| Lawton, M. P. (1994b). Personality and affective correlates of leisure activity participation by older people. Journal of Leisure Research, 26, 138-157. Google Scholar | |
| Levenson, H. (1974). Activism and powerful others: Distinctions between the concept of internal-external control. Journal of Personality Assessment, 38, 377-383. Google Scholar | |
| Manitoba Department of Health and Social Development . (1973). Aging in Manitoba: Needs and resources, 1971 (Vol. 1). Winnipeg: Author. Google Scholar | |
| Menec, V. H. , Perry, R. P., Struthers, C. W., Schonwetter, D. J., Hechter, F. J., & Eichholz, B. L. (1994). Assisting at-risk college students with attributional retraining and effective teaching. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 675-701. Google Scholar | |
| Neugarten, B. , Havighurst, R., & Tobin, S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology, 16, 134-143. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Province of Manitoba, Department of Health . (1990). Aging in Manitoba: 1983. Winnipeg: Author. Google Scholar | |
| Rabinowitz, S. , Melamed, S., Weisberg, E., Tal, D., & Ribak, J. (1992). Personal determinants of leisure-time exercise activities. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75, 779-784. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Ragheb, M. G. , & Griffith, C. A. (1982). The contribution of leisure participation and leisure satisfaction to life satisfaction of older persons. Journal of Leisure Research, 14, 295-306. Google Scholar | |
| Rauckhorst, L. M. (1987). Health habits of elderly widows. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 13, 19-22. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Reed, G. M. , Taylor, S. E., & Kemeny, M. E. (1993). Perceived control and psychological adjustment in gay men with AIDS. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 791-824. Google Scholar | |
| Riddick, C. C. , & Daniel, S. N. (1984). The relative contribution of leisure activities and other factors to the mental health of older women. Journal of Leisure Research, 16, 136-148. Google Scholar | |
| Rodin, J. (1986). Health, control, and aging. In M. M. Baltes & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), The psychology of control and aging (pp. 139-165). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
| Rodin, J. , & Langer, E. (1977). Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 897-902. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Rodin, J. , Thiko, C., & Harris, S. (1985). The construct of control: Biological and psychosocial correlates. In C. Eisdorfer, M. P. Lawton, & G. L. Maddox (Eds.), Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics (Vol. 5, pp. 3-55). New York: Springer. Google Scholar | |
| Rotter, J. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 1-27. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Saris, W. , & Stronkhorst, H. (1984). Causal modeling in nonexperimental research: An introduction to the LISREL approach. Amsterdam: Sociometric Research Foundation. Google Scholar | |
| Searle, M. W. , & Mahon, M. J. (1991). Leisure education in a day hospital: The effects of selected social-psychological variables among older adults. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 10, 95-109. Google Scholar | |
| Searle, M. W. , Mahon, M. J., Iso-Ahola, S. E., Sdrolias, H. A., & van Dyck, J. (1995). Enhancing a sense of independence and psychological well-being among the elderly: A field experiment. Journal of Leisure Research, 27, 107-124. Google Scholar | |
| Seligman, M. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. San Francisco: Freeman. Google Scholar | |
| Shewchuk, R. M. , Foelker, G. A., & Niederehe, G. (1990). Measuring locus of control in elderly persons. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 30, 213-224. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Sobolski, J. , Kornitzer, M., De Backer, G., Dramaiz, M., Abramowicz, M., Degre, S., & Denolin, H. (1987). Protection against ischemic heart disease in the Belgian Physical Fitness Study: Physical fitness rather than physical activity? American Journal of Epidemiology, 125, 601-610. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Speake, D. L. , Cowart, M. E., & Pellet, K. (1989). Health perceptions and lifestyles of the elderly. Research in Nursing and Health, 12, 93-100. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Wallston, B. S. , Wallston, K. A., Kaplan, G. D., & Maides, S. A. (1976). Development and validation of the health locus of control (ELC) scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 580-585. Google Scholar Medline | |
| Ziegler, M. , & Reid, D. W. (1983). Correlates of changes in desired control scores and in life satisfaction scores among elderly persons. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 16, 135-146. Google Scholar Medline |
