The role of life goals in successful aging

Abstract

Personal goals are conscious mental representations of states that a person wants to achieve, maintain or prevent in future time. Goals are important in all stages of life, and precisely in old age, providing meaning to our evolutionary path, and guidance to a desired future. The aim of this article is to explain the concept of life goals, their importance in people's lives and their evolution over time. We will analyze the main theories about the changes and self-regulatory mechanisms of goals. Finally, we will introduce the empirical results of a research conducted in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where the content and direction of life goals in different age groups were explored. The results indicate that both young adults and older people have different occupational and interpersonal goals. While in both groups many goals are focused on achieving something new, seniors outperform the other group in the proportion of goals focused on maintenance, which coincides with different theories. This data can guide future community actions with this age group.