| Summary: | Demographically the aged are the fastest growing group both world-wide and in South Africa but despite this, psychologists have neglected psycho-geriatric research and its importance. In the past, old age has been studied by psychologists as a deviation from the norm of youth. The primary focus has been on the rate of cognitive decline, the process of social withdrawal and the etiology of dementia. Although these issues are of significant importance, the positive aspects of aging should also be considered; thereby challenging the stereotype that old age means disengagement, decline and degeneration. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping and life satisfaction of the retired elderly females in a residence for the aged. A quantitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 40 retired females who have been living in a residence for the aged for at least 12 months. Further inclusion criterions were that the participants should have a relatively "sound/stable" neuropsychological status (i.e., they should not be suffering from any clinically diagnosed disorders, for example, dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease). The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was utilized to identify the coping resources used by the participants; the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-29) was utilised as a measure of the participants' sense of coherence; the Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale (LSES) was employed to measure the global life satisfaction of the participants, namely on the cognitive level. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed through computing descriptive statistics. Following this a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to inter-correlate the total score of the SOC-29 and the total score of the LSES with the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the following: the SOC-29 revealed a relatively high mean score for the current sample. Results of the CRI revealed relatively high mean scores for the total scale as well as the five different subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Spiritual/Philosophical and Physical Resources Subscales, while the lowest score was obtained for the Cognitive Resource Subscale. Results from the LSES indicated relatively high mean scores for both the total and all eight subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Mood and xii Social contacts Subscales, while the lowest scores were obtained for the Health and Finance Subscales. Significant positive correlation was evident between the total scores of the CRI, the SOC-29 and the LSES. With regard to the individual subscales of the CRI, the results indicated significant moderate relationships between the SOC- 29 total raw score, the LSES total raw score and the Cognitive, Social and Physical Subscales scores of the CRI. However, the SOC-29 and LSES total raw scores did not correlate with the Emotional and Spiritual/Philosophical subscales of the CRI.
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