Voluntary Association Participation and Life Satisfaction: A Replication Note

Abstract

The results of a replication study carried out in Kansas City in 1973 are compared with the original study in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1970 to see if the relationship between participation in voluntary associations and life satisfaction of the aged holds up over time and in a different geographic region. In a confirmation of the original study, the data indicate that health and status characteristics are more potent predictors of life satisfaction than participation in voluntary associations, which shows a nonsignificant relationship to life satisfaction when controlling for the effects of health and status.