The life satisfaction and affective well-being of employed, unemployed and retired men and women aged between 50 and 74 were examined as a function of characteristics of their environment and the degree to which their current role was personally preferred. Early-retired and late-employed individuals had particularly high affective well-being. Role preference (e.g. to be in a job) was significantly associated with both indicators, with better well-being in those individuals who wanted to be in their current role. Both forms of well-being were a function of the features experienced in a role (opportunity for control, clarity, etc.), over and above the identification of role membership on its own, with the relationship between older people's role occupancy (employed, unemployed or retired) and well-being being mediated by perceived environmental characteristics.