God-Mediated Control and Psychological Well-Being in Late Life

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between feelings of God-mediated control and psychological well-being in a nationally representative sample of older adults. In the process, race differences in the relationship between God-mediated control and well-being are evaluated. The findings reveal that older people with a strong sense of God-mediated control tend to have greater life satisfaction, more optimism, a higher sense of self-worth, and lower levels of death anxiety. Pervasive race differences also emerged from the data. Specifically, older Blacks reported higher levels of God-mediated control than older Whites. In addition, the relationship between God-mediated control and all the well-being outcome measures was stronger for older Blacks than older Whites.