ABSTRACT
Pleasure and enjoyment in its momentary and anticipatory forms is largely missing from research and policy, which tend to focus on global assessments of life satisfaction. The difficulty with pleasure in policy is twofold. First, enjoyment in life can trouble the policy account of older age when it directly compete with healthy and productive ageing imperatives. The second related issue is that even when not health-damaging, pleasure and enjoyment are undertaken for their own sake rather than having any particular purpose. Pleasure and enjoyment are important values irrespective of any relationships they might have to physical functioning, to global assessments of life satisfaction, or to social connection or contribution. Two aspects that influence access to enjoyment are economic resources and accessibility of activities. Wealthy older people were inclined to suggest that enjoyable experiences were equally available to all older people, as enjoyment did not require money.
