The population group aged 65 years and older is
increasing inmost industrialised countries [7, 9].This time
of life may include stressful events, retirement, decreased
income, changes to socialising, health and physical
functioning, and death of loved ones. Some people appear
to respond better to ageing than others [2]. Do
people differ in their willingness to accept these agerelated
changes and the distress that often comes with
them (‘‘Psychological Acceptance’’, or PA)? People
differ in the extent they accept their unpleasant feelings,
as opposed to avoiding them or trying to get rid of them.
Generally, high PA has been associated with better
mental health amongst adults [6, 25]. We posit high PA
will help elderly people to maintain a high subjective
quality of life, even in the face of adverse objective
events such as decreases in health or productivity.