Life Goals in Young People and Healthy and Chronically Ill Older People

Abstract

Objective.
This study is aimed at exploring life goals in different life stages and determining the influence
of age and health status on these goals.
Method.
Using a cross sectional study, vital goals were explored in
three different samples of volunteers: young adults (78 participants), healthy older people (67 participants)
and a chronically-ill older people (65 participants). Vital goals were obtained by means of open-ended
questions, whose responses were content-analyzed.
Results.
Results showed that goals were similar in healthy
and chronically-ill older people, most of whom were focused on health, and oriented to maintenance. In
contrast, among young adults, most objectives were related to development and attaining new gains. Among
older people, neither age nor health status significantly predicted the probability of mentioning health-related
goals.
Conclusion.
Results suggest that age expectations have a greater influence than health circumstances on
determining life goals.