The subject of the present meta-analyses concerns social support as a protective factor for successful aging. Successful Aging, as it is defined in this thesis, means subjective well-being, which includes the dimensions life-satisfaction, positive affect, happiness, resilience and self-esteem. The literature search in the databases PsycInfo, Psyndex, PsycArticles, Medline, ISI Web of Science and Cinahl yielded 7653 studies. According to the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria 7617 studies

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... ere excluded. 36 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were synthesized. A weighted summary effect of social support on subjective well-being in old age as well as several subgroup analyses were conducted using random-effects-models. Social support shows a significant effect, middle sized, on subjective well-being in old age (r = .30, 95% Cl = [0.238, 0.362], p-value <0.001). Whether the sex, the culture nor the context (rural or urban) has an influence on the association between social support and well-being in old age. The quality of social contacts is the important factor and the correlation between quality of social support and well-being does not differ between younger old people (at least 60 years, mean age under 75) and older old ones (at least 60 years, mean age 75 and above). The results support the activity theory and partly the socioemotional selectivity theory. Further investigations should focus on sex differences in the different aspects of social support. Additional research is also needed concerning cultural and contextual differences with better operationalization of these constructs. The weighted summary effect of social support on well-being form this meta-analyses could ideally be used in following studies for determining the optimal sample size. Further investigations should also be careful in choosing the right instruments avoiding confounding between predictors and criteria of successful aging.