The influence of self-ascribed handicapped status on the positive and negative affect of the elderly

Recently, Stock and Okun found that self-ascribed handicapped elders, relative to self-ascribed nonhandicapped elders, had significantly lower mean scores on six measures of subjective well-being. Using the same data base, in the present study, we examined whether self-ascribed handicapped status accounted for variance in positive and negative affect, net of intra- and interpersonal resources, and social status. On the bivariate level, self-ascribed handicapped status was related significantly to positive and negative affect. However, it did not account for more than 2 percent of the variance in either. As anticipated, self-ascribed handicapped status was not a significant predictor of positive and negative affect when social status and intra- and interpersonal resources were statistically controlled. Contrary to expectations, social status was a unique predictor of positive and negative affect.