Subjective Wellbeing as Function of Age and Gender of Elderly People

The emergent problem of the well-being of elderly people has attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers, particularly after the influx of western culture. The emergence of the nuclear family, larger settlement in urban areas and changing mindset and functions of women has led to the redressal of the issues of well-being in general and subjective well-being in particular. Keeping this view in mind, this study was undertaken on 105 elderly people of middle-class families in urban areas of Darbhanga of which 56 were men and 49 were female respondents. For measuring subjective well-being, two scales namely, Diener et al. satisfaction with one’s life and PANAS were used. To measure differences in male and female respondents’ scores obtained on life satisfaction and positive and negative affect, a t-test was employed. On the other hand, Pearson’s coefficient of correlation was computed to obtain the relationship between age and two components of subjective well-being. Findings reveal that life satisfaction was found significantly higher in elderly female respondents than male respondents. However, the affective balance was found significantly higher in male respondents than in females. Age was found positively correlated with life satisfaction and negatively correlated with affective balance. Findings were discussed in the light of previous research.