Journal of

Introduction and purpose: Quality of life can be affected by several psychological factors including social capital, social support and psychological hardiness. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate role of social capital, social support and psychological hardiness in predicting older women quality of life.

Materials and Methods: This study used cluster sampling method to select 250 older women living at Gharchak City in 2014.  Data were collected using series of self-reported questionnaires including social capital, social support, psychological hardiness and quality of life scales. Data were analyzed by SPSS-19 using Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regressions.

Findings: Our findings showed a mean score of 2.86 (SD=1.09) for quality of life which is considered as a middle level quality. In addition, we found positive and significant (P<0/01) relationships between older women quality of life and social capital (r=0.46), social support (r=0.52) as well as psychological hardiness (r=0.39).  Further analysis revealed that 54% of older women quality of life variance can be explained by social capital, social support and psychological hardiness.

Conclusion:  This study showed that part of older women’s quality of life can be affected by social capital, social support and psychological hardiness. Therefore, it is recommended to design and implement suitable programs to improve older women quality of life.