Self-actualization : an indicator of self-care practices among adults 65 years and over

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of self-actualization with the power of an adult 65 years and over to engage in estimative and productive operations essential for self-care. The nature of the problem was a comparison of self-care agency and self-actualization. A correlational design was employed to explore this relationship. The criterion variable, self-care agency, was measured by the Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale (Kearney & Fleischer, 1979), and the predictor variables of self-actualization were measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrom, 1963). The population was defined as those persons registered to vote in San Angelo, Texas, born on or before April 30, 1915. The sample size was determined by using Krejcie and Morgan's Table For Determining Sample Size from a Given Population (1976). From the numbered Voter Registration List, a random number chart determined those persons selected in the random sample. A sample of 519 was used to achieve a response rate of 366 individuals. This represented a 70.5 percent response rate. The sample was representative in all areas of age, sex, marital status, ethnic origin, profession/occupation, and educational level. These representations and a moderately high return rate were due, in part, to the interviewer method of data collection. ...