Abstract
Several attempts have been made to assess the quality of life of older people through objective measurement of various factors such as health, income, economic and social status. However, the self-perception of wellbeing has emerged as a critical axis to understand the experience of older people and their overall wellbeing. This emphasis on subjectivity and experience coincides with the cultural turn that the field of gerontology has recently encountered. This study locates the conceptual framework within this epistemological turn and uses the subjective wellbeing inventory (SUBI) from the Kerala Aging Survey 2013. The goal of this study is straightforward. First, it reviews theoretical (particularly, the “convoy model of family relations”, Antonucci in Social support: theory, research and applications. Springer, The Netherlands, pp 21–37, 1985) and empirical work from an interdisciplinary standpoint and sifts through diverse cultural contexts to highlight the complex interactions between family structure, social membership, (physical) health and subjective wellbeing. Second, it offers a descriptive analysis to determine the socio-cultural antecedents of wellbeing among older adults in Kerala. The analysis suggests that age, marital status, gender, household size, education, grand parenting roles and normative expectations are key determinants of subjective wellbeing. Not surprisingly, subjective wellbeing is shown to become worse as one grows older, though this association is amplified for older women. Analysis also suggests that loneliness experienced by the respondents is often a product of a perceived sense of lag between expectations and their fulfilment. Overall, the study provided a nuanced understanding of the critical links between family structure, cultural expectations, socio-demographic factors and subjective wellbeing of older Indians in a changing demographic context.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amin, S. (1998). Family structure and change in rural Bangladesh. Population Studies, 52(2), 201–213.
Antonucci, T. C. (1985). Social support: Theoretical advances, recent findings and pressing issues. Social support: Theory, research and applications (pp. 21–37). Netherlands: Springer.
Antonucci, T., Arouch, J. K., & Birditt, K. (2014). The convoy model: Explaining social relations from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 82–92.
Blau, Z. S. (1973). Old age in changing society. New York: New Viewpoints.
Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Oxford, England: Aldine.
Braun, P. M. W. (1977). Psychological well-being and location in the social structure (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, 1976). Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 2351A
Campbell, A., Converse, P., & Rogers, W. (1976). The quality of American life. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Chan, A., Malhotra, C., Malhotra, R., & Ostbye, T. (2011). Living arrangements, social networks and depressive symptoms among older men and women in Singapore. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(6), 630–639.
Chatterji, S., Kowal, P., Mathers, C., Naiddo, N., Verdes, E., Smith, J. P., & Suzman, R. (2008). The health of aging population in China and India. Health Affairs, 27(4), 1052–1063.
Cheung, C., & Ngan, R.M. (2011). Filtered life satisfaction and its socioeconomic determinants in Hong Kong. Social Indicators Research, 109(2), 223–242.
Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. The Economic Journal, 648–659.
Cracolici, M. F., Giambona, F., & Cuffaro, M. (2014). Family structure and subjective economic well-being: Some new evidence. Social Indicators Research, 118(1), 433–456.
Croll, E. J. (2008). The intergenerational contract in the changing Asian family. In R. Goodman & S. Harper (Eds.), Ageing in Asia. London, UK: Routledge
Deaton, A. (2008). Income, health and wellbeing around the world: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. The Journal of Economic Perspectives: A Journal of the American Economic Association, 22(2), 53.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276.
Easterlin, R. A. (2006). Life cycle happiness and its sources: Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography. Journal of Economic Psychology, 27(4), 463–482.
Fagerström, C., Borg, C., Balducci, C., Burholt, V., Wenger, C. G., Ferring, D., & Hallberg, I. R. (2007). Life satisfaction and associated factors among people aged 60 years and above in six European countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2(1), 33–50.
Felce, D., & Perry, J. (1997). Quality of life: The scope of the term and its breadth of measurement. In Roy I. Brown (Ed.), Quality of Life for People with Disabilities: Models, Research and Practice. London: Stanley Thornes.
Fernandez-Ballesteros, R., Kruse, A., Zamarron, M. D., & Caprara, M. (2007). Quality of life, life satisfaction, and positive aging. In R. Fernandez-Ballesteros (Eds.), Geropsychology: European perspectives for an aging world. Ashland: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
Forsth, C. J. (1994). An examination of age, familial roles and sex differences in levels of subjective well-being of grandparents. International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 24(2), 69–84.
Frey, B., & Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect well-being. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Gergen, K. J. (1971). The concept of self. Oxford, England: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Gergen, K. J., & Gergen, M. M. (2003). Positive aging: Living well is the best revenge. Ways Of Aging. 203–224.
Gifford, A., & Golde, P. (1978). Self-Esteem in an aging population. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 4, 35–50.
Goudy, W. J., & Goudeau, J. F. (1981). Social ties and the life satisfaction of older persons. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 4, 35–50.
Hashimoto, A., (1991). Living arrangements of the aged in seven developing countries: A preliminary analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 6, 359–381.
Katz, R. (2009). Intergenerational family relations and subjective well-being in old age: A cross-national study. European Journal of Ageing, 6(2), 79–90.
Ku, P., McKenna, J., & Fox, K. R. (2007). Dimensions of subjective well-being and effects of physical activity in Chinese older adults. Journal of Ageing, 15(4), 382–397.
Ku, L. J. E., Stearns, S. C., Van Houtven, C. H., Lee, S. Y. D., Dilworth-Anderson, P., & Konrad, T. R. (2013). Impact of caring for grandchildren on the health of grandparents in Taiwan. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 68(6), 1009–1021.
Kutner, B. (1962). The social nature of aging. The Gerontologist, 2, 5–8.
Lamb, S. (1997). The making and unmaking of persons: Notes on aging and gender in North India. Ethos, 25(3), 279–302.
Lee, G. R., & Ellithorpe, E. (1982). Intergenerational exchange and subjective well-being among the elderly. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 217–224.
Lee, J., Shih, R., Feeney, K., & Langa, K. M. (2014). Gender disparity in late-life cognitive functioning in India: Findings from the longitudinal aging study in India. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, 69(4), 603–611.
Luo, B., & Zhan, H. (2012). Filial piety and functional support: Understanding intergenerational solidarity among families with migrated children in rural China. Ageing International, 37(1), 69–92.
Martin, L. (1989). Living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. Demography, 26, 627–643.
Mahmood, R. A., Begum, S., & Shamsul Islam, A. B. M. (2008). Bangladesh. In Rajan, S. I. (Eds.), Social Security for the Elderly: Experiences from South Asia, (pp. 163–224). Routledge: India, New Delhi.
Plath, D. W. (1980). Long engagements: Maturity in modern Japan (Vol. 75). Stanford University Press.
Peplau, L. A., Miceli, M., & Morash, B. (1982). Loneliness and selfevaluation. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research, and therapy (pp. 131–151). New York: Wiley.
Rajan, S. I., & Kumar, S. (2003). Living arrangement among Indian elderly: Evidence from national family health survey. Economic and Political Weekly, 38(1), 75–80.
Shyam, R., & Yadev, S. (2006). Indices of well-being of older adults: A study amongst institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly. Pakistan Journal of Psychology Research, 21(3–4), 79–94.
Silverstein, M., & Bengtson, V. L. (1994). Does intergenerational social support influence the psychological well-being of older parents? The contingencies of declining health and widowhood. Social Science and Medicine, 38(7), 943–957.
Vera-Sanso, P. (2004). They don’t need it, and I can’t give it: Filial support in South India. In P. Kreager & E. Schroder-Butterfill (Eds.), Ageing without children: European and Asian Perspectives. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Waite, & Linda, J. (1995). Does marriage matter? Demography, 32(4), 483–507.
Waite, L., & Gallagher, M. (2002). The case for marriage: Why married people are happier, healthier and better off financially. Broadway Books.
Zachariah, K. C., & Rajan, S. I. (2005). Unemployment in Kerala at the turn of the century: Insights from CDS Gulf migration studies.
Zachariah, K. C., & Rajan, S. I. (2009). Migration and development: The Kerala experience. New Delhi: Daanish Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Irudaya Rajan, S., Devi, A., Samanta, T., Sunitha, S. (2017). Antecedents of Subjective Wellbeing Among Older Adults in Kerala. In: Samanta, T. (eds) Cross-Cultural and Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Social Gerontology . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1654-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1654-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-1653-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1654-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)