Research on Life Satisfaction of Elderly. Current Status and Future Directions

NGO Hang-yue

Abstract

Life satisfaction has been extensively considered an important indicator of subjective well-being among the elderly. It also reflects whether they can adjust well to changing circumstances with advancing age and hence will affect their physical and mental health. With a history of approximately 60 years, this area of research involves various disciplines. As such, the empirical findings have been diverse and fragmented. This paper reviews existing works on the correlates of life satisfaction of the elderly in the West and Greater China. It also traces the development of this area and highlights a few major lines of research. By integrating relevant literature, I attempted to develop a conceptual framework that includes various key factors at different levels, such as macro environment, personal characteristics, living conditions, various types of capital and need fulfilment. The roles played by these factors in affecting life satisfaction of the elderly are discussed. Towards the end, I suggest a few possible future research directions.

 

Keywords:   Elderly, Life satisfaction, Social capital, Psychological capital, Greater China


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References


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