Abstract
This study examines relationships among three measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness and depressive symptoms), and two global measures of productive activity (number of activities and time commitment). We argue that participation in multiple productive activities should increase subjective well-being because these behaviors increase social integration and provide meaningful social roles. Using the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey, we estimate a series of OLS and ordered logistic regression models to examine this issue among a sample of respondents 60 years old and older. Our multivariate regression results show that as time committed to productive activities increases, life satisfaction increases. Both increasing numbers of productive activities and increasing time commitment predict higher levels of happiness. Also, we find only modest support for a relationship between productive activities and the number of and changes in depressive symptoms. Our results provide support for the idea that engaging in productive activities is beneficial to older persons' well-being, implying confirmation of the role enhancement hypothesis and demonstrating the importance of social integration.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 431-458 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Social Indicators Research |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Older persons
- Productive activities
- Subjective well-being
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
Productive activities and subjective well-being among older adults : The influence of number of activities and time commitment. / Baker, Lindsey A.; Cahalin, Lawrence P; Gerst, Kerstin; Burr, Jeffrey A.
In: Social Indicators Research, Vol. 73, No. 3, 01.09.2005, p. 431-458.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Productive activities and subjective well-being among older adults
T2 - The influence of number of activities and time commitment
AU - Baker, Lindsey A.
AU - Cahalin, Lawrence P
AU - Gerst, Kerstin
AU - Burr, Jeffrey A.
PY - 2005/9/1
Y1 - 2005/9/1
N2 - This study examines relationships among three measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness and depressive symptoms), and two global measures of productive activity (number of activities and time commitment). We argue that participation in multiple productive activities should increase subjective well-being because these behaviors increase social integration and provide meaningful social roles. Using the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey, we estimate a series of OLS and ordered logistic regression models to examine this issue among a sample of respondents 60 years old and older. Our multivariate regression results show that as time committed to productive activities increases, life satisfaction increases. Both increasing numbers of productive activities and increasing time commitment predict higher levels of happiness. Also, we find only modest support for a relationship between productive activities and the number of and changes in depressive symptoms. Our results provide support for the idea that engaging in productive activities is beneficial to older persons' well-being, implying confirmation of the role enhancement hypothesis and demonstrating the importance of social integration.
AB - This study examines relationships among three measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness and depressive symptoms), and two global measures of productive activity (number of activities and time commitment). We argue that participation in multiple productive activities should increase subjective well-being because these behaviors increase social integration and provide meaningful social roles. Using the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey, we estimate a series of OLS and ordered logistic regression models to examine this issue among a sample of respondents 60 years old and older. Our multivariate regression results show that as time committed to productive activities increases, life satisfaction increases. Both increasing numbers of productive activities and increasing time commitment predict higher levels of happiness. Also, we find only modest support for a relationship between productive activities and the number of and changes in depressive symptoms. Our results provide support for the idea that engaging in productive activities is beneficial to older persons' well-being, implying confirmation of the role enhancement hypothesis and demonstrating the importance of social integration.
KW - Older persons
KW - Productive activities
KW - Subjective well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=23944480692&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=23944480692&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11205-005-0805-6
DO - 10.1007/s11205-005-0805-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:23944480692
VL - 73
SP - 431
EP - 458
JO - Social Indicators Research
JF - Social Indicators Research
SN - 0303-8300
IS - 3
ER -