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Introduction
Reduced quality of life has been frequently associated with declines in physical, social and psychological health in old age (e.g. Blank, Gruman and Robison 2004). Research investigating factors likely to be protective against these deleterious effects of ageing (e.g. Qualls 2002) has identified environmental mastery to be an important psychological resource (Windle and Woods 2004). Specifically, a sense of self-efficacy or mastery over environmental demands, which reflects a sense of control, has been a robust predictor of psychological health (e.g. achievement, optimism, motivation and personal adjustment). This relationship has been noted as particularly important for older people. For example, studies by Jang, Kim and Chiribogo (2006) and by Ong and Bergeman (2004) found that feeling in control appears to increase an older person's positive outlook and generates better mental health.
Ryff and Keyes defined environmental mastery as the 'capacity to manage effectively one's life and surrounding world' (1995: 720), while Strauser, Lustig and Ciftci (2008) viewed it as an individual's ability to choose and create environments that meet his or her specific needs. These definitions utilise a eudaimonic rather than the hedonic wellbeing perspective. Eudaimonia is concerned with living in a way, and within an environment, that encourages the expression of one's full potential. A further aspect of experiencing eudaimonia is being able to live in a manner that expresses one's true nature (Deci and Ryan 2008). The eudaimonic construct emphasises the mechanisms that are associated with healthy human functioning and adjustment, such as personal choice and a sense of belonging. This differs from the typically used hedonic or subjective wellbeing approach (Diener, Lucas and Oishi 2002), which focuses on perceptions of pleasure, displeasure, satisfaction and happiness (Burns and Machin 2009).
While most researchers agree that there is considerable overlap between eudaimonia and hedonia (e.g. Bauer, McAdams and Pals 2008; Deci and Ryan 2008), there are very important points of difference. In summary, hedonia refers to the experience of pleasure while eudaimonia relates to the maximisation of one's functional capacity in all of life's domains (Deci and Ryan 2008). The work of Waterman, Schwartz and Conti (2008) using their Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire provides a clear distinction between the eudaimonic