DOES SOCIAL CAPITAL EXPLAIN ACTIVE AGING?

Hyeji Choi*

Soondool Jung**

Heesuk Yoon*

Eunkyung Bae**

Songyi Baek*

* Seoul Women’s University

** Ewha Woman’s University

BACKGROUND

Social capital is a resource gained through re-lationships, facilitating the connection of indi-viduals to a group or community.

Connection to the community or participation in society is a key element of active aging.

The relationship between individuals declines as they age, implying that one’s connection to the community weakens while his/her social capital decreases in later life.

Investigating the impacts of social capital on active aging makes it possible to develop an intervention strategy for active aging based on social capital.

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

To investigate the level of active aging among elderly Koreans

To investigate the association between the level of active aging and the level of social capitalism among elderly Ko-reans

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Social capitalism Definition “Social capital refers to features of social organi-

zation such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for mutual benefit” (Putnam, 1995:67)

Elements Social trust and safety Social cooperation Social inclusion Social network

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Active ageing Definition The process of optimizing opportunities for

health, participation and security in order to en-hance the quality of life as people age

Activity theory Basic notion

A person who ages optimally is one whostays active and manages to resist the with-drawalof social world.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

A high level of social trust and safety is associated with a high level of active aging among elderly Ko-reans

A high level of social cooperation is associated with a high level of active aging among elderly Koreans

A higher level of social inclusion is associated with a high level of active aging among elderly Koreans

A high level of social network is associated with a high level of active aging among elderly Koreans

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Research design Social survey research

Subject 500 elderly Koreans aged over 65

Mean SD

Age

Number of co-residing family mem-bers

70.77

2.45

5.31

1.34

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Variable N %

Sex Male Female

247253

49.4050.60

Marital status MarriedDivorcedWidowedUnmarried

3413

1551

68.200.6031.000.20

Educational background

No educationElementary schoolJunior high schoolHigh schoolCollege

2860899827

57.200.0017.8019.605.40

Employment status

UnemployedPaid workerEmployer Self-employedUnpaid family worker

3415358912

68.2010.601.0017.802.40

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Sampling Purposive sampling from eight provinces in Korea

Data collection Face-to-face interview by professionally trained

paid interviewers

Survey instrument A structured questionnaire developed by the au-

thors

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Measurement

Level of active aging 11 questions developed by Shimane Prefecture of Japan Responses measured on a four-point Likert scale

Social trust and safety Bullen and Onyx scale of social credibility and safety Five questions measured on a five-point Likert scale

Social cooperation Five questions from the social capital indicator invented by Choi Five questions measured on a five-point Likert scale

Social inclusion Five questions from the social capital indicator invented by Choi Five questions measured on a five-point Likert scale

Social network Five questions from the social capital indicator invented by Choi Five questions measured on a five-point Likert scale

RESULTS

Level % n

Low (11-28) 29.8 149

Moderate (29-33) 42.6 213

High (34-44) 27.6 138

LEVEL OF ACTIVE AGING

• MEAN = 30.75 (SD=4.44)

RESULTS

beta b t

Intercept

Years of schooling

Financial status

Social trust and safety

Social cooperation

Inclusion

Social network

.

0.21796

0.05125

0.09957

0.10738

0.00192

-0.01839

25.16117

0.83609

0.15966

0.14831

0.13874

0.00467

-0.00749

18.41

4.78

1.14

2.25

2.25

0.04

-0.41

F= 8.06R2=0.089

DISCUSSION

The results imply that social capital has two di-mensions.

One is emotional and subjective, including so-cial trust/safety and social cooperation. The other is objective, with inclusion and social net-work included.

The results also show that active aging is signif-icantly associated with the subjective aspects of social capital but not with its objective aspects.

Therefore, a strategy strengthening the sense of solidarity between the elderly and their com-munity is recommendable to promote active ag-ing.