ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the relation of trait anxiety to self-confidence and the realization of life purposes for elderly persons living in their own homes and for those residing in homes for the aged within a broad social-psychological framework. The hypothesis that high anxiety was related to low self-evaluation of physical and psychological status was generally confirmed. Anxiety scores were correlated with various parameters of overall self-esteem, separately for male and female subjects who were divided into high-, medium-, and low-anxiety groups. The theoretical rationale for the development of trait anxiety as contrasted with state anxiety is based on the assumption that negative emotional experiences are evoked by life stress. In modern gerontopsychological research, several relatively independent aspects of anxiety have been examined. The contradictory results in studies of anxiety in elderly persons may be partly due to the use of different methods to measure anxiety.
