This study is significant in increasing interest in living a successful life among the older population. Implications are directed to social work researchers and practitioners to help educate older adults in the community on the social and behavioral importance of the positive aspects of aging such as successful aging and healthy aging to increase a chance of longevity. The major contribution of the study will be constructing and providing specific types of strategies to older adults and practitioners in the gerontological social work field who assist to improve the population's quality of later life. Rowe and Kahn's longitudinal study of successful aging contributed to the development of the theory of successful aging, which has been considered one of the most salient theories among the studies on aging. However, there have been controversies on the theory for a few reasons including the restricted subjectivity on the perceptions toward successful aging and the limited sample population for the study participants has been a critical issue. A systematic literature review was conducted to explain how Rowe and Kahn's successful aging theory was generated and to discuss about the theory in multidimensional way. In-depth discussions of Rowe and Kahn's successful aging theory has been provided, and it has been compared with other successful aging theories. In addition, detailed descriptions of other relevant theories of aging has been presented and other relevant studies using the successful aging theory among older populations have been provided in order to study about the applicability of the theory.

• Jaewon LEE(Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work, California State University, Bakersfield, USA.) | Jaewon LEEㅍ