Abstract

This study (N=346) aimed to examine the predictive value of health congruence on developmental activity levels, subjective well-being and health-care usage in recent retirees. The Motivational Theory of Lifespan Development was used to postulate differences in primary and secondary control striving according to various health congruence groups (Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schulz, 2010). Multiple mixed factorial ANCOVAs and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the impact of health congruence on the five facets of developmental activities (number, frequency, importance, difficulty, ability and future intentions) using the Everyday Activities Questionnaire (Pushkar, Arbuckle, Conway, Chaikelson, & Maag, 1997), positive affect, negative affect, quantity of medications used and likelihood of hospitalization. The results indicated that good health realists experienced the most optimal outcomes over four years in terms of activity engagement, subjective well-being and health care usage. In contrast, good health pessimists showed less adaptive outcomes in terms of their subjective well-being, engaged in a lower number of activities and used a higher number of medications. Poor health optimists engaged in a higher number of activities and used fewer medications. Poor health realists were found to engage in compensatory secondary control strategies evidenced by the decline in importance of developmental activities over time (Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schulz, 2010). These individuals also tended to exhibit the lowest level of subjective well-being and consumed more medications. The findings suggest that health congruence affects primary and secondary control striving leading to differences in activity engagement which in turn are proposed to affect subjective well-being. Implications for future research in health congruence are discussed.