Research on residential relocation has reported mixed findings on the impact of such relocation on psychological well-being. Theorists have postulated that one's perception of an event will influence one's response to it and that response will influence the outcome. This study examined older persons' reactions to a residential relocation based on this cognitive phenomenological theory. Subjects were 75 white, upper middle class persons who were 75 years of age or older and who had recently moved from one level of independence to another within a church-related retirement center. Subjects completed the revised Ways of Coping Checklist, the Life Satisfaction Index-Z, and investigator-designed questions to obtain data on conditioning variables and perceptions of the relocation. The results revealed that 80% of respondents perceived their relocation as a somewhat or very significant event in their lives. Most believed they had somewhat to very much control over whether to make the move and over what was happening in their lives at the time of the interview. Most of the conditioning variables examined seemed to have little influence on perceptions, coping strategies, and life satisfaction; however, the degree of independence associated with the new residence and distance from family members did show evidence of influencing some perceptions and some coping strategies. Perceptions of the relocation seemed to relate only to the specific coping strategies of wishful thinking and avoidance. Other findings suggest that, although perceptions did not relate to most of the coping strategies, they may have a direct relationship to life satisfaction. (NB)