Abstract

Contemporary research in the field of aging no longer focuses only on chronic diseases and loss of function, but also encompasses positive aspects of aging, such as the maintenance and development of potential and abilities and the quality of life in later years. The population of older people is very heterogeneous and there are proposals to differentiate the group according to education, gender, age, functional abilities, and other characteristics. The main objective of this paper was to investigate whether there are age-, gender-, and education-specific differences in successful aging together with some of its correlates, such as health and psychological well-being. The study was conducted on a sample of 329 participants. The results of the analysis show that men (regardless of age) rate their physical health significantly higher than women. Older elders are more satisfied with their finances than younger elders, and younger elders are more open to new life experiences than older elders in the female subsample only. Younger old women rate their aging process as more successful and are more generative than younger old men, but older old men are more successful and have a greater sense of generativity than older old women. Significant differences were also found between people with different educational status. These findings suggest that people in old age should not be treated as a homogeneous population and confirm the importance and need to consider older people as heterogeneous subgroups.