Abstract
This article reviews research on the autonomy of elderly persons, and presents a motivational perspective on autonomy to synthesize studies on frailty, the disabled elderly, and independent elderly people. First, research issues related to frailty and the autonomy of disabled elderly people are introduced. Second, constructs of autonomy among independent elderly are examined, on the basis of several theoretical perspectives including perceived enactment of autonomy, and self-determination theory. Third, a motivational perspective is described. Finally, the contributions of the motivational perspective on autonomy to progress in research are discussed, as well as its practical implications.
