ABSTRACT
The impression is that negative events multiply as one grows older and inevitably lead to loneliness, isolation, and unhappiness. Although the self-system model proposes that prior health status sets the stage for social comparison processes, which then interact with health profiles in accounting for change in psychological well-being, there are other possible relationships to consider. As predicted in the self-system model, physical health had direct effects on psychological well-being for these individuals with cancer. A somewhat different pattern emerged in relation to psychological distress or depression similar to findings regarding the self-system model described earlier. The self-system model proposes three aspects of the self that encompass interpersonal, intrapersonal, and social structural processes involved in the formation of the self-concept. There are, however, broad social-structural variables that potentially influence each piece of the self-system model and add to the explanation of psychological well-being.
