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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1919
igaa057.1919
Abstracts
Session 5525 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Positive Role of Purpose in Life in Health Outcomes and Perspectives on Environment
Tan Shyuan Ching 1 Gamaldo Alyssa 2 Sardina Angela 3 1 
Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States
2 
Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
3 
University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”577 577
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Having a sense of purpose directs behaviors, hence, purpose in life (PIL) can be a useful indicator/moderator of healthy mental and physical behaviors and outcomes. As such, purpose in life, particularly in lower income older adults, might encourage meaningful engagement in activities and life that lead to positive health. Thirty-nine residents (M=68.01, SD=10.26) of affordable housing for older adults in Wilmington, NC and State College, PA were surveyed on demographics, mental health, well-being (i.e., PIL), health behaviors, and their perceptions on immediate housing and the community resources. Findings suggest that for higher educated, younger and Black older adults, PIL moderates or protects against negative mental outcomes (p<.05). For higher educated older adults, PIL moderates or encourages positive perception of job opportunities in the community (p<.05) and healthier behaviors (p<.05). More research is needed to understand how environment interacts with PIL to promote healthy behaviors and outcomes.