Centre for the Study of Group Processes, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury.
Centre for Psychological Research and Social Intervention, Lisbon University Institute ISCTE-IUL, Portugal.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014 Nov;69(6):920-9. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbu011. Epub 2014 Feb 24.
Despite age-related changes or declines in circumstances, health or income, many older people are able to maintain subjective well-being (SWB) in later life. This is known as the paradox of well-being. To date, much research has focused on either individual- (e.g., age, health, and income) or country-level (e.g., national wealth, inequality) differences in SWB. The present research investigates how these levels combine, and whether the paradox of well-being persists across different economic contexts.
This research uses the 2008-2009 European Social Survey to test the multilevel hypothesis that economic circumstances, reflected by a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), affect the paradox of well-being, that is, the relationship between age and SWB. Analyses also account for other relevant psychological, individual, and country differences. Possible avenues by which GDP affects SWB are also explored.
The multilevel analysis revealed that GDP disproportionally affects the SWB of older people relative to younger people, and that the paradox of well-being is only observed in countries with higher GDP.
The findings clarify the relationship between age and SWB by demonstrating that the paradox of well-being is conditional on the economic context. Implications for individual- and country-level strategies for successful aging are discussed.
尽管老年人的身体状况、健康状况或收入会随着年龄的增长而发生变化或下降，但许多老年人在晚年仍能保持主观幸福感（SWB）。这被称为幸福感悖论。迄今为止，大量研究主要集中在个体层面（例如，年龄、健康和收入）或国家层面（例如，国家财富、不平等）的 SWB 差异上。本研究调查了这些层面是如何结合的，以及幸福感悖论是否在不同的经济环境中持续存在。
本研究使用 2008-2009 年欧洲社会调查来检验多层次假设，即经济环境（由一个国家的国内生产总值（GDP）反映）影响幸福感悖论，即年龄与 SWB 之间的关系。分析还考虑了其他相关的心理、个体和国家差异。还探讨了 GDP 影响 SWB 的可能途径。
多层次分析表明，相对于年轻人，GDP 不成比例地影响老年人的 SWB，而且幸福感悖论仅在 GDP 较高的国家中观察到。
研究结果通过证明幸福感悖论取决于经济背景，阐明了年龄与 SWB 之间的关系。讨论了针对成功老龄化的个体和国家层面战略的意义。
