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Correlates of life satisfaction among older people in China: An examination of two cultural variables a
Yunong Huang & Lei Wu
b
a
Social Work Development Research Center, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China b
Department of Social Work, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China Version of record first published: 13 Jul 2012
To cite this article: Yunong Huang & Lei Wu (2012): Correlates of life satisfaction among older people in China: An examination of two cultural variables, Aging & Mental Health, DOI:10.1080/13607863.2012.702727 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2012.702727
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Aging & Mental Health 2012, 1–11, iFirst
Correlates of life satisfaction among older people in China: An examination of two cultural variables Yunong Huanga* and Lei Wub a Social Work Development Research Center, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China; bDepartment of Social Work, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
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(Received 8 January 2012; final version received 30 May 2012) This article examines the relationships between the two cultural variables of having mianzi in social interactions and Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction among older people in a coastal city in mainland China. The mediating effect of having mianzi in social interactions on the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction is also examined. The study applies a non-probability sampling and adopts a face-to-face interview approach using a questionnaire composed of close-ended questions. A total of 532 valid questionnaires are obtained. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings indicate that the two cultural variables are associated significantly with life satisfaction, while controlling for sociodemographic variables. The variable of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity is also indirectly associated with life satisfaction through its effect on having mianzi in social interactions. Older people with higher endorsement of positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and higher degree of having mianzi in social interactions tend to have higher life satisfaction. Professionals working with older people should be sensitive to cultural variables that exert impacts on older people’s life satisfaction. Keywords: psychological well-being; older Chinese; culture
Introduction The research on the factors related to subjective wellbeing of older people has occupied a central role in the area of gerontological studies (Atchley, 2001; CohenMansfield, 1996; Mannell & Dupuis, 2007). Although it has often been argued that culture plays an important role in older people’s lives (Day & Cohen, 2000; Luborsky & McMullen, 1999), the research on the relationships between cultural factors and the subjective well-being of older people is still thin. As an illustration, little research has been conducted to examine the relationships between cultural factors and the subjective well-being of older people in mainland China, whose population size is roughly one-fifth of the world’s population (Chen & Davey, 2008; Lai, Tsang, Chappell, Lai, & Chau, 2007; Li, 1995). This suggests a strong need to conduct more research on this topic. Such research is also imperative for professionals to develop a solid knowledge base to work with older people. This research contributes to the study on the above topic by examining the relationships between two cultural variables: having mianzi in social interactions and Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction among older people in China. The mediating effect of having mianzi in social interactions on the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction is also examined. The study focuses on life satisfaction because life satisfaction has often been regarded as one of the most *Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] ISSN 1360–7863 print/ISSN 1364–6915 online ß 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2012.702727 http://www.tandfonline.com
important criteria for describing aging process and a construct universally accepted as a valid measure of quality of life for the elderly (Daatland, 2005; Lou, 2010; Salamon, 1988; Westerhof, Dittmann-Kohli, & Thissen, 2001). The study examines having mianzi in social interactions and Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity because it was argued that face or mianzi and fate are two of the three sisters that control Chinese life (Lin, 1939) and Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity are related to fate. The rationales for the relationships between the two cultural variables and life satisfaction and the mediating effect of having mianzi in social interactions on the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction are described below.
Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction among older people Consistent with the assertion of cognitive psychology that people are not affected by things themselves but by people’s interpretation of things, it was stated that personal beliefs can be significant protective factors for people experiencing adversity or socio-economic disadvantages (Shek, Tang, Lam, Lam, & Tsang, 2003). The theoretical propositions on optimism and fatalism also suggest that a stronger endorsement of the belief that one controls one’s life is positively associated with psychological adjustment (Bandura, 1997; Maddux, 1995).
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Y. Huang and L. Wu
Regarding the concepts of beliefs, it was suggested that beliefs are ‘concepts about the nature, the causes, and the consequences of things, persons, events and processes’ and ‘social constructions that are part of a culture and have guided the socialization of those who share that culture’ (Pepitone, 1994, p. 140). With reference to Pepitone’s conceptions, Shek et al. (2003, p. 428) suggested a definition of cultural beliefs of adversity as ‘those concepts about the nature of adversity such as its causes, consequences, and the proper coping behavior’. Based on the above discussions and given that people’s definitions of stress, behavioral options, and coping behaviors are shaped by cultural factors (Slavin, Rainer, McCreary, & Gowda, 1991), Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity would provide the basis upon which Chinese people experiencing adversity make sense of their experience and develop their coping (Shek, 2005). According to Shek (2004) and Shek (2005), there are two categories of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity. One is positive beliefs about adversity and emphasizes the positive values of adversity and people’s capacity to overcome adversity, such as the beliefs that hardship increases stature and that man is the master of his own fate. The other is negative cultural beliefs of adversity and emphasizes people’s inability to change adversity and the negative impact of adversity, such as the beliefs that whether a life is good or bad depends on fate and that poverty stifles ambition. It deserves noting that the concept of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity is analogous to but distinct from some concepts. For example, positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity is analogous to perceived selfefficacy which refers to ‘people’s beliefs about their capabilities to exercise control over their own level of functioning and over events that affect their lives’ (Bandura, 1991, p. 257) and internal locus of control which refers to the perception of life events as being a consequence of one’s own actions and thereby under his/her personal control (Rotter, 1954, 1966). However, it is distinct from perceived self-efficacy and internal locus of control because it stems from Chinese culture and is mainly concerned about the beliefs toward adverse events. Older people in mainland China tend to experience various losses and strains. As a natural process of aging, older people’s capacity of immune system, endocrine glands, nervous system, and other systems decreases and their likelihood of suffering illnesses increases. They are also likely to often encounter emotional stresses resulting from the loss of loved ones. Furthermore, some studies (e.g., Davis-Friedman, 1991; Whyte, 1995; Xiang, 2007; Xu, 2001; Yan, 1997) indicated that the elderly in China have lost control over resources as the balance of power has shifted away from them and that there has been a worsening of economic standing of the elderly both inside and outside the extended household. For example, the economic and social system changes in China since the foundation of People’s Republic of China
have removed the economic foundation (private ownership of property such as land) supporting the status of the aged in the family (Xu, 2001). In addition, it was argued that the changes due to modernization and urbanization could be stressful and erode older people’s life satisfaction (Cheung & Leung, 2004; Nee, 1991). Thus, it is likely that older people with stronger endorsement of positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity would have better psychological adjustment to losses and strains and display a higher level of subjective well-being. In contrast, older people with stronger endorsement of negative Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity would have worse psychological adjustment to losses and strains and display a lower level of subjective well-being. With respect to the research on Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, only a few studies (e.g., Shek, 2004, 2005; Shek et al., 2003) examined the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and psychological well-being among adolescent and their parents in Hong Kong. Two studies (Shek, 2004; Shek et al., 2003) revealed that adolescents with stronger endorsement of positive Chinese beliefs of adversity generally displayed better psychological well-being and school adjustment and less problem behavior. One study (Shek, 2005) demonstrated that Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity significantly influenced the psychosocial adjustment of Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the concept of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity was never applied in gerontological studies. In this regard, this study is pioneering in nature.
Having mianzi in social interactions and life satisfaction among older people Mianzi or ‘face’ is an important concept in Chinese societies. Mianzi represents prestige and honor that one accrues as a result of successes and possibly ostentatious behaviors before others (Bond & Hwang, 1986; Hu, 1944). People’s mianzi might be derived from a socially ascribed status, such as family background, and an achieved status, such as personal qualities of knowledge or social connections (Ho, 1976). However, mianzi is not status, dignity, honor, prestige, or the like (Ho, 1976). For instance, with respect to status, Ho argued that a status defines the location of a person within the social systems and functions as a major determinant of the quantity of mianzi one person has. Miazi is directly attached to persons occupying statuses, not directly to statuses. King and Bond (1985) indicated that mianzi occupies a central role in the life of the typical Chinese person because he or she lives in a relationbased society, where the focus is not on the individual, but on the relationship between individuals. The failure to grant mianzi is likely to constitute a denial of the emotional bond between two relational partners and a refusal to acknowledge the relationship between them
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Aging & Mental Health (Chang & Holt, 1994). Having mianzi in social interactions would bring positive social feedback for Chinese people (Bond & Hwang, 1986; Bond, Wan, Leung, & Giacalone, 1985; Hu, 1944; Hwang, 1987). Given that receiving positive social feedback is regarded as an important source of self-concept and subjective well-being for older people (Atchley, 1991), it is reasonable to infer that having mianzi in social interactions would contribute to older people’s life satisfaction. Hwang (1987, p. 961) also pointed out that ‘[w]ithin a social network, having mianzi enhances not only relative position but also many kinds of privileges that further improve the quality of life’. However, the importance of mianzi as a regulating force in social interactions depends heavily on the persons involved in the relationships (Ho, 1976; Hwang, 1987). Interactions with strangers as well as intimate persons, such as family members, involve a minimum of concern about mianzi, because the relationships with family members can be described as almost exclusively affective and the relationships with strangers as almost exclusively instrumental (Hwang, 1987). Only when the relationship involves both affective and instrumental aspects, such as relationships among relatives, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, teachers and students, people sharing a natal area, and so forth, the mianzi of all parties involved must be considered (Hwang, 1987). Regarding relatives in China, although they are generally connected by blood or marriage, like parents’ siblings and their mates and children, grandparents’ siblings and their mates and children, husbands or wives’ siblings and their mates and children, etc., they are different from family members who generally mean grandparents, parents, wives, husbands, siblings, children, and grandchildren. It was also possible that close relatives sometimes may be regarded as family members (YuenTsang, 1999). It should be noted that mianzi or face is a universal construct, but its meaning and component elements vary in different cultural and social contexts (Chang & Holt, 1994; Earley, 1997; Goffman, 1967; Ho, 1976; Hsu, 1996). With respect to Chinese people, the concept of mianzi has been widely examined in their learning (e.g., Cardon & Scott, 2003; Hwang, Ang, & Francesco, 2002), human resource management (e.g., Bozionelos & Wang, 2007), conflict resolution (e.g., Huang & Bedford, 2010), etc. The studies indicated that mianzi exerted impacts on the above issues. However, little research on the relationship between mianzi and the subjective well-being of older Chinese people was available. This study contributes to the literature by filling this gap.
Mediating effect of having mianzi in social interactions There are two ways in which Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity may influence older people’s mianzi in
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social interactions. First, as discussed earlier, positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity would provide the basis for older people to develop coping resources for various losses and strains. Older people with a high level of endorsement of positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity are more likely to have developed various coping strategies for or be resilient to negative social feedback from their social interactions. They are more likely to be relaxed and confident when interacting with other people and tend to report a high degree of having mianzi in social interactions. As an illustration, optimism, defined as a longitudinally stable tendency to believe that one will experience positive versus negative life events (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and shown similar to positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, was found to promote social coping in times of difficulty (Scheier & Carver, 1992) and associated positively and significantly with relationship harmony in Chinese elderly (Leung, Moneta, & McBridgeChang, 2005). It was also argued that optimists are more likely to accept the limitation of relationships and believe the limitations can be overcome (Scheier & Carver, 1992). Second, with a high level of endorsement of positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, older people are likely to take a positive perception or show understanding about other people’s stresses and strains and tend to grant mianzi to others in their social interactions. Accordingly, other people are also likely to grant mianzi to these older people. As a result, these older people are likely to report a high degree of having mianzi in social interactions. Earley (1997) pointed out that mianzi can be traded and exchanged like a physical product in various interdependence structures because mianzi provides individuals desired material or status gains. In light of social exchange theory in the West, Hwang (1987) also treated mianzi as resource or power that can be exchanged.
Research questions and hypotheses In this study, the first research question is whether the two cultural variables of having mianzi in social interactions and Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity are associated with life satisfaction of older people in China. It was hypothesized that having mianzi in social interactions and positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity would be associated significantly and positively with life satisfaction. The second research question is whether the effect of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity on life satisfaction of older people is mediated by the variable of having mianzi in social interactions. It was hypothesized that having mianzi in social interactions would play a mediating role between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction. Mancini and Sandifer (1995, pp. 135–136) argued that ‘[i]n studies of aging, factors such as health, economic resources, and mobility must always be
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taken into account because they are access variables that often explain the behavior and life style of older people’ (italics in the original). As an illustration, it was suggested that health is one of the best predictors of life satisfaction of older people (Chappell & Marshall, 1992; Lehr, 1992). A meta-analysis by Okun, Stock, Haring, and Witter (1984) proved that healthier people in the age group of young-old and old-old are more satisfied with life. It was also often found that older people with more income or with less financial strain were more satisfied with life (Chou & Chi, 1999; Li, Aranda, & Chi, 2007). Furthermore, education was frequently found to be positively associated with life satisfaction among older people (Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000). In addition, it was indicated that men and women derive satisfaction from different sources (Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000). Thus, the socio-demographic variables of sex, age, marital status, education, health, and finance were included as control variables in this study.
Methods Participants and procedure The participants in this study included 571 older people aged 60 and above in the city of Putian, Fujian, China. Putian is situated in the central coastal area of eastern Fujian Province. It faces Taiwan across the sea to the east and adjoins the city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, on the north. It has an area of 4200 square kilometers and a population of 3.02 million in 2006 (City Government of Putian, 2007). People aged 60 and above were included, because older people are defined as those aged 60 years or above in China according to Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged. This study applied a non-probability sampling method due to two reasons. First, the primary intention of this study was not to generalize the results to broader population, but to gain more insight into the subject of inquiry and contribute to developing a solid foundation for further studies. Second, non-probability sampling is the most economic and fastest approach considering the lack of financial support for this research. The researchers mainly chose to approach older people in the places where they gathered, such as temples, activity centers for the elderly, and parks. Because older people who gathered in one temple or activity center might share common characteristics, such as the strain of finance, and education level, the researcher thus decided not to interview more than 25 respondents in one place. This study adopted a face-to-face interview approach using a questionnaire composed of closeended questions. The data were collected from December 2008 to February 2009 by the first author of this article and five research assistants who were recruited and trained to take interviews. This research was part of a study which intended to examine the relationships between older people’s activity
participation, social network, family relations, and cultural factors and their life satisfaction. Each interview in the original study lasted about 45 min. Given that the study involved retrospective thoughts, monetary estimates, and projections and estimates of relationship with other people, all respondents were required to be mentally able for daily social and mental functioning. A respondent was mainly regarded as mentally able if her/his self-reported age, which was generally asked first, was consistent with her/his selfreported date of birth, which was asked second. The anonymity and confidentiality of replies were emphasized to encourage honest responding. The interview started after the oral consent of the older respondents was obtained.
Measures Life satisfaction The dependent variable of life satisfaction was measured by the five-item Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) designed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffins (1985). Diener et al. (1985) also noted that the scale is suited for use with different age groups. The Chinese version of the SWLS translated by Shek (1998) was used in this study. Internal consistencies of the Chinese version of SWLS scores ranged from 0.71 to 0.82 for the samples of Chinese participants in Hong Kong (Sachs, 2003; Shek, 1998, 2005). The construct validity of the Chinese SWLS was supported by its correlation with a single item satisfaction measure (J. Leung & K. Leung, 1992). A study with a nationally representative sample of 4795 respondents in China also revealed that SWLS has a high internal consistency reliability and a one-factor structure (Bai, Wu, Zheng, & Ren, 2011). In this research, the Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.93. Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity The scale of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity used in this study was adopted from the studies by Shek et al. (2003), Shek (2004, 2005). It focused on Chinese beliefs of adversity and was developed by a group comprising psychologists and social workers. The scale had nine items which were in the format of classical Chinese sayings. They included: (1) hardship increases stature; (2) whether a life is good or bad depends on fate; (3) where there is a will, there is a way; (4) if you work hard enough, you can turn an iron rod into a needle; (5) poverty stifles ambition; (6) diligence is an important factor to overcome poverty; (7) man is the master of his own fate; (8) a contended person is always happy; and (9) man is not born to greatness, he achieves it by his own effort. The respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with each item on a 6-point Likerttype scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Items 2 and 5 assessed negative cultural beliefs of adversity and other items assessed positive
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Aging & Mental Health
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cultural beliefs. The scores of items 2 and 5 were reversed. The overall score of the scale was obtained by adding the scores of all nine items. Higher scores referred to higher degrees of agreement with positive beliefs of adversity. The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale ranged from 0.76 to 0.84 in previous studies (Shek, 2005; Shek et al., 2003). In this research, the Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.88.
The response format had five alternatives: 1 ¼ very poor, 2 ¼ poor, 3 ¼ fair, 4 ¼ good, and 5 ¼ very good. Self-perceived health was frequently used to assess health conditions for older people, including Chinese people (e.g., Chi & Boey, 1993; Lou, 2010). It has also been suggested that a single self-reported item was a valid measure of health status among older people (Idler & Angel, 1990; Liang, Bennett, & Gu, 1993).
Having mianzi in social interactions
Other socio-demographic variables
No scale that measures having mianzi in social interactions for the elderly was found in the literature. The researcher thus developed the scale to measure having mianzi in social interactions based on the consultation of and the discussion with gerontologists and the experts in social work and psychology. The scale was composed of three items. Respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which having mianzi characterized each interaction with relatives, friends, and neighbors, respectively, on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very little) to 5 (very much). Before the scale was used in the survey, five Chinese older people were approached and interviewed. All of them indicated that the scale was clear and the responses can reflect older people’s diverse views of having mianzi in social interactions. Having mianzi in social interactions with other people such as classmates was not examined because some older people did not have formal education, and thus did not have classmates. In this research, the inter-item correlation coefficients of the three items ranged from 0.78 to 0.86. Thus, a sum score was computed by adding three individual item scores, with a higher score indicating a higher degree of having mianzi in social interactions. The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.93.
The other socio-demographic information consisted of sex (1 ¼ male and 2 ¼ female), age (in years based on identity card), education (in years of formal education), and marital status (1 ¼ married, 2 ¼ single, 3 ¼ widowed, 4 ¼ separated, and 5 ¼ divorced). It should be pointed out that this research was part of a study which involved the examination of older people’s family relations. Therefore, single older people were excluded from this study.
Financial strain This study used financial strain to measure respondent’s finance. The scale of financial strain was developed by Chou and Chi (2002) and was used in their study of older Chinese people in Hong Kong. The scale had four items. Three items asked respondents whether they had enough money to pay for their needs in food, in medical services, and daily expenses, using a three-point scale ranging from 1 ¼ enough to 3 ¼ not enough. The fourth item asked respondents to rate how difficult it was for them to pay their monthly bill, using a four-point scale, ranging from 1 ¼ not difficult at all to 4 ¼ very difficult. A sum of the scores of these four items was computed, with higher scores indicating greater financial strain. The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale in Chou and Chi’s (2002) study in Hong Kong was 0.91. In the present research, the Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.75.
Data analyses The data were coded and analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) 15.0 for Windows. Prior to data entry, all questionnaires were checked for completeness. If a questionnaire had not been entirely completed, it was excluded and was not used in the study to avoid the potential negative impacts of missing values on the analyses. It was suggested that listwise deletion was the least problematic method for handling missing values (Allison, 2001). As a result, 39 questionnaires were excluded and 532 questionnaires without missing value were used in this study. Among the 39 questionnaires, 9 had no response to 2 or more items in SWLS, 6 had no response to self-perceived health status, and the remaining 24 had no response to other items. Meanwhile, among these 39 respondents, 27 were female, 22 widowed or divorced, 26 were 80 years and above, and 29 did not have formal education. Actually, this research had a large dataset to do multivariate analyses after deleting the cases with missing values. Prior to any substantial analysis, all data were checked for entry errors. Frequencies and histograms were generated for all variables to assess distributions and outlying cases. To determine if independent variables were associated significantly with life satisfaction and if having mianzi in social interactions mediated the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction, the techniques of bivariate analyses were first used. Control variables were then examined using multivariate analysis.
Results Self-perceived health Self-perceived health of respondents was measured by asking: ‘How would you rate your present health?’
Descriptive statistics Table 1 presents the frequency distribution of nominal and ordinal variables, means, and standard deviations
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(SDs) of interval variables. Of the 532 respondents, 46.1% were male. With respect to marital status, 66.2% were married, 31.8% were widowed, and 2.1% were divorced. For the convenience of further analyses, the widowed and the divorced were combined into one response alternative, as shown in Table 1. The age of respondents ranged from 61 to 94 years, with a mean of 72.8 and a SD of 7.5. The mean of formal education years was 4.46 years (range ¼ 0–21), with a SD of 4.32. The mean of life satisfaction was 17.16 (range ¼ 6–30), with a SD of 5.30.
matrix of Pearson’s correlation coefficients for the variables. In Table 2, all independent variables were correlated significantly with life satisfaction. The significant correlation between life satisfaction and positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity (r ¼ 0.634, p 5 0.001) and having mianzi in social interactions (r ¼ 0.689, p 5 0.001) suggested that there are meaningful relationships between the two cultural variables and life satisfaction of older people. A two-step hierarchical regression was performed to examine older people’s life satisfaction. The variables of sex, age, marital status, years of formal education, financial strain, and self-perceived health were entered to explain life satisfaction first. The two cultural variables were then entered into a regression equation to see whether they predicted life satisfaction beyond the effects of socio-demographics, self-perceived health, and financial strain. The results of the hierarchical regression are summarized in Table 3. In Step 1 of the hierarchical regression analysis, years of formal education ( ¼ 0.19, p 5 0.001), financial strain ( ¼ 0.25, p 5 0.001), and self-perceived health ( ¼ 0.28, p 5 0.001) contributed significantly to explaining life satisfaction. The model explained about 40% of variation in life satisfaction (F ¼ 59.85, p 5 0.001). In Step 2, after controlling for sociodemographic variables, the variables of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity ( ¼ 0.40, p 5 0.001) and having mianzi in social interactions ( ¼ 0.26, p 5 0.001) were associated positively and significantly with life satisfaction. The variables of years of formal education ( ¼ 0.08, p 5 0.05), financial strain ( ¼ 0.13, p 5 0.001), and self-perceived health ( ¼ 0.13, p 5 0.01) remained significant. The model explained about 60% of variation in life satisfaction (F ¼ 102.4, p 5 0.001). The two cultural variables together explained about 20% of the variance in life satisfaction. In addition, the results indicated that there was no multicollinearity problem. The values of variance inflation factor for all the independent variables examined were below 2.0. The normal P–P plot of regression standardized residuals showed that the residuals were normally distributed and the scatter plot
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Predicting life satisfaction Regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between the two cultural variables and life satisfaction of older people. Before regression analyses, correlation analyses were performed to examine the relationships among all variables. Table 2 presents the
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the variables (N ¼ 532). Variables Sex Male Female Marital status Married Widow or divorced Self-perceived health Very poor Poor Fair Good Very good Age Years of formal education Financial strain Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity Having mianzi in social interactions SWLS
n (%)
M (SD)
245 (46.1) 287 (53.9)
–
352 (66.2) 180 (33.8)
–
44 105 180 151 52
(8.3) – (19.7) (33.8) (28.4) (9.8) – 72.8 (7.5) – 4.46 (4.32) – 6.8 (1.8) – 34.78 (7.81) – 10.12 (2.56) – 17.16 (5.30)
Note: M, mean.
Table 2. The matrix of correlation coefficients (N ¼ 532). Variables 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Sex Age MS YF FS SPH CCB HM SWLS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
– 0.084 0.151** 0.280*** 0.193*** 0.226*** 0.264*** 0.191*** 0.234***
– 0.469*** 0.318*** 0.231*** 0.520*** 0.319*** 0.265*** 0.351***
– 0.256*** 0.245*** 0.419*** 0.325*** 0.312*** 0.322***
– 0.553*** 0.315*** 0.421*** 0.383*** 0.463***
– 0.388*** 0.422*** 0.425*** 0.504***
– 0.411*** 0.483*** 0.505***
– 0.567*** 0.634***
– 0.689***
–
Notes: MS, marital status; YF, years of formal education; FS, financial strain; SPH, self-perceived health; CCB, Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity; and HM, having mianzi in social interactions. Significance levels: **p 5 0.01 and ***p 5 0.001 (two-tailed test).
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Aging & Mental Health Table 3. Hierarchical regression of life satisfaction on socio-demographic and cultural variables. Step 1 Independent variables
Step 2
B (SE)
Female (versus male) Age Widowed or divorced (versus married) Years of formal education Financial strain Self-perceived health Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity Having mianzi in social interactions R2 Adjusted R2 F (Significance) Degrees of freedom
0.60 0.04 0.67 0.23 0.73 1.36
B (SE)
(0.38) (0.03) (0.44) (0.05) (0.12) (0.21)
0.06 0.06 0.06 0.19*** 0.25*** 0.28***
0.05 0.03 0.12 0.09 0.37 0.61 0.27 0.53
0.406 0.399 59.85 (0.000) 6/525
(0.31) (0.03) (0.36) (0.04) (0.10) (0.18) (0.02) (0.07)
0.01 0.04 0.01 0.08* 0.13*** 0.13** 0.40*** 0.26***
0.610 0.604 102.40 (0.000) 8/523
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Notes: Significance level; *p 5 0.05, **p 5 0.01, and ***p 5 0.001.
Table 4. Mediational analyses. Step 1 Independent variables Female (versus male) Age Widowed or divorced (versus married) Years of formal education Financial strain Self-perceived health Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity Having mianzi in social interactions R2 Adjusted R2 F (Significance) Degrees of freedom
Step 2
B (SE) 0.01 0.02 0.06 0.12 0.46 0.95 0.33
(0.33) (0.03) (0.38) (0.05) (0.11) (0.18) (0.02)
B (SE)
0.01 0.02 0.01 0.10** 0.16*** 0.20*** 0.49***
0.572 0.567 100.2 (0.000) 7/524
Steps 3 and 4
0.11 0.03 0.34 0.05 0.16 0.65 0.13
(0.18) (0.01) (0.21) (0.03) (0.06) (0.10) (0.01)
0.02 0.08 0.06 0.09* 0.11** 0.28*** 0.38***
0.425 0.417 55.3 (0.000) 7/524
B (SE) 0.05 0.03 0.12 0.09 0.37 0.61 0.27 0.53
(0.31) 0.01 (0.03) 0.04 (0.36) 0.01 (0.04) 0.08* (0.10) 0.13*** (0.18) 0.13** (0.02) 0.40*** (0.07) 0.26*** 0.610 0.604 102.4 (0.000) 8/523
Notes: In Step 2, the dependent variable is having mianzi in social interactions. In Steps 1, 3, and 4, the dependent variable is life satisfaction. Significance levels: *p 5 0.05; **p 5 0.01; and ***p 5 0.001.
of the standardized residuals on the standardized predicted values showed that there was no heteroskedasticity problem in regression analysis.
Mediating effect of having mianzi in social interactions To examine the mediation hypothesis, regression analyses were performed using a four-step procedure (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Judd & Kenny, 1981). Step 1 involves determining the significant relationship between the independent variable of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and the dependent variable of life satisfaction. Step 2 requires the independent variable of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity to be associated significantly with the mediating variable of having mianzi in social interactions. Step 3 requires a significant association between the mediating variable of having mianzi in social interactions and the dependent
variable of life satisfaction, controlling for the independent variable of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity. Finally, in Step 4, there is the decrease of coefficient from the independent variable of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity to the dependent variable of life satisfaction after controlling for the mediating variable of having mianzi in social interactions. Given that the socio-demographic variables of sex, age, marital status, years of formal education, financial strain, and self-perceived health are correlated significantly with both life satisfaction and having mianzi in social interactions presented in Table 2, these variables were controlled in regression analyses. Table 4 presents the results of the analyses. In Table 4, the association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction was significant in Step 1 ( ¼ 0.49, p 5 0.001). In Step 2, Chinese cultural belief of adversity was associated significantly with having mianzi in social interactions ( ¼ 0.38, p 5 0.001). In Step 3, after controlling for
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Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, there was a significant association between having mianzi in social interactions and life satisfaction ( ¼ 0.26, p 5 0.001). With respect to Step 4, the inclusion in the linear regression model of having mianzi in social interactions resulted in a decrease in value from 0.49 in Step 1 to 0.40 for the association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction. For all regression analyses, the results indicated that there was no multicollinearity problem. The values of variance inflation factor for all the independent variables examined were below 2.0. The normal P–P plot of regression standardized residuals showed that the residuals were normally distributed and the scatter plot of the standardized residuals on the standardized predicted values showed that there was no heteroskedasticity problem in regression analyses. The Sobel (1982) test indicated that the indirect effect of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity over having mianzi in social interactions to life satisfaction was significant (z ¼ 6.54, p 5 0.001). According to the calculation approach proposed by Sobel (1982), the amount of mediating effect was 0.07 in this research. In all, these findings suggested that the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction was partially mediated by having mianzi in social interactions.
Discussion Contribution to existing literature This study contributed to the research on cultural correlates and life satisfaction by introducing two potential determinants that were strongly related to Chinese culture. The findings supported the hypothesis that the two variables of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and having mianzi in social interactions were associated significantly with life satisfaction. The hypothesized mediation role of having mianzi in social interactions in the association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction of older people was also confirmed. The finding of the significant association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction supported the assertion of multicultural model of the stress process (Slavin et al., 1991) which suggested culture as an important role in defining the problem and behavioral options in the stress and coping processes. The finding was also in line with the prior research (e.g., Shek, 2005; Shek et al., 2003) that demonstrated the association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and psychological well-being of Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, the finding extended the current literature on Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity which focused on Chinese adolescents and highlighted the role of traditional Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity in older Chinese people’s lives. It was possible that with endorsement of positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, older people
would accept the adversities and make efforts to overcome adversities in their lives. Accordingly, they would relieve or reduce the adversities in their lives. As a result, they took a more positive perspective toward their lives and had higher life satisfaction. The finding of the significant association between having mianzi in social interactions and life satisfaction was consistent with the assertion that mianzi occupied a central role in the life of the typical Chinese (Bond et al., 1985; Ho, 1976; King & Bond, 1985). The finding was also concordant with the argument that older people’s social aging was affected by the interactions they experienced and by their ability to influence others through their social interactions (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1991). Furthermore, the finding provided evidence in support of Hwang’s (1987) statement that having mianzi enhanced relative position of people in a social network and produced privileges that further improve their quality of life. It was observed that older people were less focused on personal or career-related goals but were more devoted to interpersonal accomplishment (Atchley & Barusch, 2004; Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). Therefore, a higher degree of having mianzi in social interactions was likely to bring older people the feeling of accomplishment that further promoted their satisfaction with life. The emergence of having mianzi in social interactions as a mediating variable in the association between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and life satisfaction provided further evidence to support the importance of mianzi in older Chinese people’s lives. However, as discussed in the Section ‘Introduction’, there were at least two ways in which Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity may affect having mianzi in social interaction among older Chinese people. The detailed mechanism for the association between the two Chinese cultural variables should be further studied. Nevertheless, the findings expanded our understanding about the relationships between culture variables and life satisfaction of older Chinese people. While this research focused on older Chinese, it did not mean that only Chinese people concerned about mianzi or face (Earley, 1997; Goffman, 1967). Studies are warranted to examine the differences of mianzi or face among different societies and whether having mianzi in social interactions correlates with life satisfaction of older people in other societies. With respect to Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity, although they derived from and focused on Chinese culture, their potential applicability in other societies deserves further research. Additionally, the relationship between Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and other psychological constructs such as optimism, pessimism, and fatalism (e.g., Chang, 2001; Morgenstern et al., 2011) should be explored. It seems the positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and optimism share many similarities, so do the negative Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity and pessimism and fatalism. Besides the two cultural variables, years of formal education, financial strain, and self-perceived health
Aging & Mental Health
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were also found to be associated with life satisfaction in regression analyses. These were consistent with the findings of previous research (Bowling, 2005; Chou & Chi, 1999; Mannell & Dupuis, 2007). The findings were understandable because finance and health are basic elements for the satisfaction of people’s physiological needs, which are the most basic needs indicated by Maslow (1970). Furthermore, education would encompass relative advantages of various kinds that contribute to higher life satisfaction of older people (Meeks & Murrell, 2001).
Limitations Some limitations of this study should be addressed. First, the study was conducted in one city in mainland China and the sample was not randomly selected. The respondents were likely to be relatively healthy and active people living in communities. The single older people were also excluded from the study. It should be noted that the single older people in China may have more adversities than married or widowed older people due to at least two reasons. First, they did not have children to rely on during tough times such as getting sick. Second, according to Confucianism which has great influence on the Chinese (Allinson, 1989; Huang & Charter, 1996), to have no children is considered the most unforgivable thing in life. This cultural view may cause single older people to be looked down upon by others, making single older people report low level of having mianzi in social interactions and low life satisfaction. It also deserved noting that the 39 participants excluded from data analyses had a higher percentage of being the female, the widowed or divorced, and no formal education than the 532 respondents included in this research. In short, the generalizability of the findings was limited. Future studies may apply random sampling and include a larger sample size in more places. The findings regarding the associations between two cultural variables and life satisfaction should also be replicated in different ethnic groups within China because there is a variation of cultural ingredients in different ethnic groups. Second, this study was a cross-sectional study which prohibited making a conclusion about the directionality of relationships. Future studies with a qualitative or a longitudinal design with repeated surveys may be able to establish causal relationships. Third, this study only examined two cultural variables. It is known that there are other cultural factors, such as favor and others which may contribute to older people’s life satisfaction in China. In the interests of promoting older people’s life satisfaction, additional studies involving more cultural factors are needed to examine the factors associated with life satisfaction of older people. Fourth, this study applied self-reported measure which might reflect some patterns of reporting biases or personal bias, such as the biases related to
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self-representation and social desirability. For example, regarding the scale of having mianzi in social interactions, it was possible that higher scores indicated that participants cared more about mianzi rather than that they were showed mianzi in social interactions. Future studies with other kinds of measures should be conducted to examine the cultural correlates of older people’s life satisfaction. Despite the limitations, this study can be regarded as pioneering and stimulating in nature, given that to date there have been few studies examining the relationships between cultural factors and life satisfaction of older people in China.
Implications Practically, the findings of the present research can be applied in counseling to enhance older Chinese people’s life satisfaction. For instance, to help older people maintain positive beliefs or change negative beliefs in the midst of adversity, it may be possible for professionals to encourage or cultivate them to hold positive cultural beliefs of adversity and help them debate against the negative cultural beliefs of adversity. McLeod and Machin (1998) and Shiang, Kjellander, Huang, and Bogumill (1998) also argued that cultural beliefs, behaviors, experiences, and other factors should be incorporated in clinical treatments or counseling to improve our ability to provide services to people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Meanwhile, the present findings imply that respecting or honoring older Chinese people by giving them mianzi or making them have mianzi in social interactions would boost their life satisfaction. Thus, programs on social interaction skills may be organized to assist older Chinese to attend more to the mianzi of their friends, neighbors, and relatives to promote social interactions with higher degrees of having mianzi among older people.
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