
ERIC Number: EJ725645
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Sep-15
Pages: 28
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0303-8300
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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.
Social Indicators Research, v73 n3 p431 Sep 2005
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.
Descriptors: Life Satisfaction, Depression (Psychology), Quality of Life, Psychological Patterns, Well Being, Older Adults, Social Integration, Interpersonal Relationship, Time Management, Productivity, Predictor Variables
Springer-Verlag New York, LLC., Journal Fulfillment, P.O. Box 2485, Secaucus, NJ 07096. Tel: 800-777-4643 (Toll Free); Fax: 201-348-4505; Web site: http://www.springeronline.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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