SOCIALLY PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING AMONG RURAL PERAK ELDERLY

Authors

  • Nur Syakirah Hamzah Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
  • Ramlee Ismail Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37134/jcit.vol8.6.2018

Keywords:

Aging population, Subjective wellbeing, Socially productive activities

Abstract

The uncertain knowledge on level of wellbeing among older adults has attracted an increasing number of public, political and scientific attentions. Wellbeing has been described as a state of equilibrium or balance that can be affected by life events or challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between socially productive activities and subjective wellbeing among rural elderly in Perak. A descriptive research methodology was adopted for this research. A broad range of productive factors (such as voluntarism and paid work) and measures of wellbeing (such as self-rated health and life satisfaction) shall be analysing in t-test and Pearson correlation analysis. Information needed are obtained sing a cross-sectional design method across rural districts in Perak. Questionnaires survey was distributed to 480 older adults age from 50 t0 75+. This paper found out that there are no significant different between paid work and self-rated health and life satisfaction, whereas there are significant relationship between voluntarism and self-rated health and life satisfaction. The result from this research shall provide provision for the idea that engaging in voluntarism is advantageous to elderly well-being.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akintayo, T., Häkälä, N., Ropponen, K., Paronen, E., & Rissanen, S. (2016). Predictive factors for voluntary
and/or paid work among adults in their sixties. Social Indicators Research, 128(3), 1387-1404. doi:
10.1007/s11205-015-1084-5

Alatartseva, E., & Barysheva, G. (2015). Well-being: Subjective and objective aspects. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 166, 36-42. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.479

Au, A. M. L., Chan, S. C. Y., Yip, H. M., Kwok, J. Y. C., Lai, K. Y., Leung, K. M., et al (2017). Age-friendliness
and life satisfaction of young-old and old-old in Hong Kong. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research,
2017, 10. doi: 10.1155/2017/6215917

Bakar, A. A., Osman, M. M., Bachok, S., & Ibrahim, M. (2016). Investigating rationales of Malaysia quality of
life and wellbeing components and indicators. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 222, 132-142.

Baker, L. A., Cahalin, L. P., Gerst, K., & Burr, J. A. (2005). Productive activities and subjective well-being among
older adults: The influence of number of activities and time commitment. Social Indicators Research, 73(3),
431-458. doi: 10.1007/s11205-005-0805-6

Dodge, R., Daly, A. P., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. D. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International
Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3).

Dulin, P. L., Gavala, J., Stephens, C., Kostick, M., & McDonald, J. (2012). Volunteering predicts happiness
among older Māori and non-Māori in the New Zealand health, work, and retirement longitudinal study.
Aging & mental health, 16(5), 617-624.

Gilmour, H. (2012). Social participation and the health and well-being of Canadian seniors. Health Reports, 23(4),
23–32.

Gonzales, E., Lee, Y., & Brown, C. (2017). Back to work? Not everyone. Examining the longitudinal relationships
between informal caregiving and paid work after formal retirement. Journals of Gerontology - Series B
Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 72(3), 532-539. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbv095

Haub, C. (2011). World population aging: clocks illustrate growth in population under age 5 and over age 65.
Population Reference Bureau.

Herzog, A., House, J. S., & Morgan, J. N. (1991). Relation of work and retirement to health and well-being in
older age. Psychol Aging, 6. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.6.2.202

Hilbrecht, M., Lero, D. S., Schryer, E., Mock, S. E., & Smale, B. (2017). Understanding the association between
time spent caregiving and well-being among employed adults: testing a model of work–life fit and sense
of community. Community, Work & Family, 20(2), 162-180. doi: 10.1080/13668803.2015.1112254

Kim, B., Park, S., & Antonucci, T. C. (2016). Longitudinal changes in social networks, health and wellbeing
among older Koreans. Ageing & Society, 36(9), 1915-1936.

Lee, J., & Kim, M.-H. (2017). The effect of employment transitions on physical health among the elderly in South
Korea: A longitudinal analysis of the Korean Retirement and Income Study. Social Science & Medicine, 181,
122-130. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.002

Maimaris W, Hogan H, & Lock, K. (2010). The impact of working beyond traditional retirement ages on mental
health: Implications for public health and welfare policy. Public Health Reviews, 32,532–48.

Malanina, V. A., Frolova, E. A., & Lei, H. (2017). Social and Economic Activity of the Elder Generation in Tomsk
Region. The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioural Sciences (EpSBS). Vol. 19: Lifelong Wellbeing in the
World (WELLSO 2016).—Nicosia, 2017., 192016, 217-222.

McMunn, A., Nazroo, J., Wahrendorf, M., Breeze, E., & Zaninotto, P. (2009). Participation in socially-productive
activities, reciprocity and wellbeing in later life: baseline results in England. Ageing Soc, 29. doi:
10.1017/s0144686x08008350

McNaught, A. (2011). Defining wellbeing. Understanding wellbeing: An introduction for students and practitioners of health and social care, 7-23.

Musick, M. A., Herzog, A., & House, J. S. (1999). Volunteering and mortality among older adults: findings from
a national sample. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci, 54B. doi: 10.1093/geronb/54B.3.S173

Mutchler, J. E., Burr, J. A., & Caro, F. G. (2003). From paid worker to volunteer: Leaving the paid workforce and
volunteering in later life. Social forces, 81(4), 1267-1293.

Nawi, N. R. C., Asmuni, A., & Pendidikan, F. P. (2013). Motivasi sukarelawan terhadap penglibatan dalam
kerja sukarela di Yayasan Salam Malaysia. In Dalam Seminar Pasca Siswazah dalam Pendidikan (GREDUC
2013).

Oman, D., Thoresen, C. E., & McMahon, K. (1999). Volunteerism and mortality among the community-dwelling
elderly. Journal of Health Psychology, 4. doi: 10.1177/135910539900400301

Pallant, A., & Lee, H.-S. (2015). Constructing scientific arguments using evidence from dynamic computational
climate models. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 24(2-3), 378-395.

Pillemer, K., Wells, N. M., Meador, R. H., Schultz, L., Henderson, J. C. R., & Cope, M. T. (2017). Engaging Older
Adults in Environmental Volunteerism: The Retirees in Service to the Environment Program. The
Gerontologist, 57(2), 367-375. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnv693

Pozzi, M., Marta, E., Marzana, D., Gozzoli, C., & Ruggieri, R. A. (2014). The Effect of the Psychological Sense of
Community on the Psychological Well-Being in Older Volunteers (Vol. 10).

Ruiz, E. M., Marcos-Matás, G., & Tornero, M. E. M. (2016). Older volunteers’ intention to remain in service in
nonprofit organisations. Psicothema, 28(3), 272-277. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2016.20

Sabbath, E. L., Matz-Costa, C., Rowe, J. W., Leclerc, A., Zins, M., Goldberg, M., et al. (2016). Social predictors of
active life engagement: a time-use study of young-old french adults. Research on aging, 38(8), 864-893.

Sarracino, F. (2010). Social capital and subjective well-being trends: Comparing 11 western European countries.
The Journal of Socio-Economics, 39(4), 482-517.

Schibye, B., Hansen, A. F., Søgaard, K., & Christensen, H. (2001). Aerobic power and muscle strength among
young and elderly workers with and without physically demanding work tasks. Applied Ergonomics, 32(5),
425-431. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-6870(01)00034-5

Schmiedeberg, C., & Schröder, J. (2017). Leisure activities and life satisfaction: An analysis with German panel
data. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12(1), 137-151.
hah, K. N., Lin, F. V., Yu, F., & McMahon, J. M. (2016). Activity engagement and physical function in old age
sample. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 69, 55-60. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2016.11.007

Sone, T., Nakaya, N., Ohmori, K., Shimazu, T., Higashiguchi, M., Kakizaki, M., et al (2008). Sense of life worth
living (ikigai) and mortality in Japan: Ohsaki Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(6), 709-715.

Staudinger, U. M., Finkelstein, R., Calvo, E., & Sivaramakrishnan, K. (2016). A Global View on the Effects of
Work on Health in Later Life. The Gerontologist, 56(Suppl_2), S281-S292. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnw032
Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L. N. (2001). Volunteer work and well-being. Journal of health and social behavior, 115-
131.

Van Willigen, M. (2000). Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course. The Journals of Gerontology
Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 55(5), S308-S318.

WHO. (2015). World report on ageing and health: World Health Organization.

Zhang, W., Feng, Q., Lacanienta, J., & Zhen, Z. (2017). Leisure participation and subjective well-being:
Exploring gender differences among elderly in Shanghai, China. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 69,
45-54. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2016.11.010

Downloads

Published

2018-09-07

How to Cite

Hamzah, N. S., & Ismail, R. (2018). SOCIALLY PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING AMONG RURAL PERAK ELDERLY. Journal of Contemporary Issues and Thought, 8, 55–64. https://doi.org/10.37134/jcit.vol8.6.2018