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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Age, education, and the sense of control
— a test of the Cumulative Advantage hypothesis | | Author(s) | Scott Schieman |
| Journal title | Research on Ageing, vol 23, no 2, March 2001 |
| Pages | pp 153-178 |
| Keywords | Well being ; Adjustment ; Educational status [elderly] ; Economic status [elderly] ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The Cumulative Advantage hypothesis states that education buffers against erosion in control during later years. Recent US surveys indicate that older people report a lower sense of control, but how is this explained? The author proposes that education, marital and employment statuses, health, financial satisfaction, and religious involvement influence the age differences in control. Using data from a 1996 sample of 1,421 US residents, the author documents an inverted U-shaped association between age and control. Less education and higher rates of widowhood and retirement account for about 67% of older people's lower control. Greater financial satisfaction and religious involvement suppresses part of that effect. Similarly, education, marital status, and employment status explain about 54% of the linear age effect. Were it not for lower financial satisfaction and declining self-reported health during young and middle adulthood, the age effect would be even stronger. These results support the Cumulative Advantage hypothesis. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010723208 A |
| Classmark | D:F:5HH: DR: F:V: F:W: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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