This study explores the relationship between cell phone use and self-reported happiness among older adults in Mainland China and whether rural/urban residence status moderates this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 6,952 respondents over the age of 60, from the 2010 wave of China Family Panel Studies. Findings show that using own cell phone is positively associated with self-reported happiness among Chinese older adults (odds ratio [OR] = 1.283, p < .001). This relationship remains for respondents residing in rural areas (OR = 1.616, p < .01) but not for their urban counterparts. Findings reflect on how the happiness of Chinese older adults has been affected by a growing shift in the traditional family values due to the unprecedented economic growth. Results also highlight the disparities between state support for older adults in rural and urban areas as well as the necessity to develop relevant policies to improve the subjective well-being of China’s rapidly growing population of older adults.
AppletonS.SongL. (2008). Life satisfaction in urban China: Components and determinants. World Development, 36, 2325–2340.
2.
AshidaS.HeaneyC. A. (2008). Differential associations of social support and social connectedness with structural features of social networks and the health status of older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 20, 872–893.
3.
AustinJ. (1968). Pleasure and happiness. In SchneewindJ. B. (Ed.), Mill (pp. 234–250). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
4.
BaumeisterR. F.LearyM. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497.
5.
BerkmanL. F.GlassT.BrissetteI.SeemanT. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 843–857.
6.
BrehmJ.RahnW. (1997). Individual-level evidence for the causes and consequences of social capital. American Journal of Political Science, 41, 999–1023.
7.
CameronP. (1975). Mood as an indicant of happiness: Age, sex, social class, and situational differences. Journal of Gerontology, 30, 216–224.
8.
CattanM.KimeN.BagnallA. M. (2011). The use of telephone befriending in low level support for socially isolated older people—An evaluation. Health & Social Care in the Community, 19, 198–206.
9.
ChenA. N.DowneyJ. P.McGaugheyR.E.JinK. (2016). Seniors and information technology in China. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 32, 132–142. doi:10.1080/10447318.2015.1067499
10.
ChenF.ShortS. E. (2008). Household context and subjective well-being among the oldest old in China. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 1379–1403.
11.
ChenX.SilversteinM. (2000). Intergenerational social support and the psychological well-being of older parents in China. Research on Aging, 22, 43–65.
12.
ChenY. R. R.SchulzP. J. (2016). The effect of information communication technology interventions on reducing social isolation in the elderly: A systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18, e18.
13.
ChiI.ChouK. L. (2001). Social support and depression among elderly Chinese people in Hong Kong. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 52, 231–252.
14.
ChouK. L.ChiI. (1999). Determinants of life satisfaction in Hong Kong Chinese elderly: A longitudinal study. Aging & Mental Health, 3, 328–335.
15.
ChyiH.MaoS. (2012). The determinants of happiness of China’s elderly population. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 167–185.
16.
CornwellE. Y.WaiteL. J. (2009). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and health among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 31–48.
DienerE.SeligmanM. E. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1–31.
19.
DienerE.SuhE. M.LucasR. E.SmithH. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276.
20.
DingY. (2017). Personal life satisfaction of China’s rural elderly: Effect of the new rural pension programme. Journal of International Development, 29, 52–66.
21.
EasterlinR. A. (2005). Building a better theory of well-being. Economics and happiness. Framing the analysis (pp. 29–64). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
22.
EggermontS.VandeboschH.SteyaertS. (2006). Towards the desired future of the elderly and ICT: Policy recommendations based on a dialogue with senior citizens. Poiesis & Praxis, 4, 199–217.
FengZ.LiuC.GuanX.MorV. (2012). China’s rapidly aging population creates policy challenges in shaping a viable long-term care system. Health Affairs, 31, 2764–2773.
25.
Forrest ZhangQ. (2004). Economic transition and new patterns of parent-adult child coresidence in Urban China. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 1231–1245.
26.
GilmourH. (2012). Social participation and the health and well-being of Canadian seniors. Health Reports, 23, 23–32.
27.
GrieveR.IndianM.WitteveenK.TolanG. A.MarringtonJ. (2013). Face-to-face or Facebook: Can social connectedness be derived online?Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 604–609.
28.
GuoM.ChiI.SilversteinM. (2012). The structure of intergenerational relations in rural China: A latent class analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 1114–1128.
29.
GuoY.ChenP. (2011). Digital divide and social cleavage: Case studies of ICT usage among peasants in contemporary China. The China Quarterly, 207, 580–599.
30.
HeC.YeJ. (2014). Lonely sunsets: Impacts of rural–urban migration on the left-Behind elderly in rural China. Population, Space and Place, 20, 352–369.
31.
HermalinA. I.YangL. S. (2004). Levels of support from children in Taiwan: Expectations versus reality, 1965–99. Population and Development Review, 30, 417–448.
32.
HoshinoM. (2011).
Measurement of GDP per capita and regional disparities in China, 1979–2009. Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University Discussion Paper Series. Retrieved fromhttp://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/academic/ra/dp/English/DP2011-17.pdf
33.
HsuH. C.ChangW. C. (2015). Social connections and happiness among the elder population of Taiwan. Aging & Mental Health, 19, 1131–1137.
34.
HuangY. (2012). Family relations and life satisfaction of older people: A comparative study between two different hukous in China. Ageing & Society, 32, 19–40.
35.
HuangC. (2016). “Dancing grannies” in the modern city: Consumption and group formation in urban China. Asian Anthropology, 15, 225–241.
36.
IciaszczykN. (2016). Social connectedness, social support and the health of older adults: A comparison of immigrant and Native-born Canadians. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4042. Retrieved fromhttps://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4042
37.
IliffeS.KharichaK.HarariD.SwiftC.GillmannG.StuckA. E. (2007). Health risk appraisal in older people 2: The implications for clinicians and commissioners of social isolation risk in older people. British Journal of General Practice, 57, 277–282.
38.
KrauseN.LiangJ.GuS. (1998). Financial strain, received support, anticipated support, and depressive symptoms in the People’s Republic of China. Psychology and Aging, 13, 58.
39.
LayardR. (2005). Rethinking public economics: The implications of rivalry and habit. Economics and Happiness, 1, 147–170.
40.
LeungK. K.ChenC. Y.LueB. H.HsuS. T. (2007). Social support and family functioning on psychological symptoms in elderly Chinese. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 44, 203–213.
41.
LiH.JiY.ChenT. (2014). The roles of different sources of social support on emotional well-being among Chinese elderly. Public Library of Science One, 9, e90051.
42.
LiL. W.LiangJ. (2007). Social exchanges and subjective well-being among older Chinese: Does age make a difference?Psychology and Aging, 22, 386.
43.
LiuJ. (2014). Ageing, migration and familial support in rural China. Geoforum, 51, 305–312.
44.
LowryD. (2009). Aging, social change, and elderly well-being in rural China: Insights from mixed-methods village research. Ann Arbor: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan.
45.
LuoY.WaiteL. J. (2014). Loneliness and mortality among older adults in China. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69, 633–645.
46.
LyubomirskyS.KingL.DienerE. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803.
47.
MealorB.Van BelleJ. P. (2015). Do mobile phones enhance the quality of life for the elderly? In SteynJ.van GreunenD. (Eds.), ICTs for inclusive communities in developing societies. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars.
48.
MerriamS. B.KeeY. (2014). Promoting community wellbeing: The case for lifelong learning for older adults. Adult Education Quarterly, 64, 128–144.
49.
MiaoJ.WuX. (2015). Subjective well-being of Chinese elderly: A comparative analysis among Urban China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Ageing in the Asia Pacific Research Symposium 2015, University of New South Wales, Australia, September 27–29, 2015.
MingesM.KimuraK.BeschornerN.DaviesR.ZhangG. (2014). Information and communications in the Chinese countryside: A study of three provinces. Washington, DC: World Bank.
52.
MroczekD. K.KolarzC. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1333.
NgS. T.TeyN. P.AsadullahM. N. (2017). What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China. Public Library of Science One, 12, e0171799.
58.
OizumiK. (2010). A geographical view of china’s economic development—Observations focusing on 337 prefecture-level cities. Pacific Business and Industries, 10(35), 2–32.
59.
OregliaE. (2014). ICT and (personal) development in rural China (ICTs for leisure in development) [Special issue]. Information Technologies & International Development, 10, 19–30.
PeiX.PillaiV. K. (1999). Old age support in China: The role of the state and the family. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 49, 197–212.
62.
PinquartM.SorensenS. (2001). Influences on loneliness in older adults: A meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23, 245–266.
Quan-HaaseA.MoG. Y.WellmanB. (2017). Connected seniors: How older adults in East York exchange social support online and offline. Information, Communication & Society, 20, 967–983.
65.
RenQ.TreimanD. J. (2015). Living arrangements of the elderly in China and consequences for their emotional well-being. Chinese Sociological Review, 47, 255–286.
66.
SavikkoN.RoutasaloP.TilvisR. S.StrandbergT. E.PitkäläK. H. (2005). Predictors and subjective causes of loneliness in an aged population. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 41, 223–233.
67.
SchwartzN.StrackF. (1991). Evaluating one’s life: A judgment model of subjective well-being. In StrackF.ArgyleM.SchwartzN. (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 27–48). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
68.
SeligmanM. E.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2000). Special issue on happiness, excellence, and optimal human functioning. American Psychologist, 55, 5–183.
69.
ShinD. C.JohnsonD. M. (1978). Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 5, 475–492.
70.
State Council of People’s Republic of China. (2016). The 12th five-year plan for the development of social services for the aged (2016–2020). Beijing, China: State Council.
71.
SuB.ShenX.WeiZ. (2006). Leisure life in later years: Differences between rural and urban elderly residents in China. Journal of Leisure Research, 38, 381–397.
72.
SunX.LucasH.MengQ.ZhangY. (2011). Associations between living arrangements and health-related quality of life of urban elderly people: A study from China. Quality of Life Research, 20, 359–369.
VeenhovenR. (2009). How do we assess how happy we are? Tenets, implications and tenability of three theories. In DuttA. K.RadcliffB. (Eds.), Happiness, economics and politics: Towards a multi-disciplinary approach (pp. 45–69). Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.
XieY.HuJ. (2014). An introduction to the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Chinese Sociological Review, 47, 3–29.
78.
XieY.ZhouX. (2014). Income inequality in today’s China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 6928–6933.
79.
ZengY.LiuY. Z.GeorgeL. K. (2003). Gender differentials of the oldest old in China. Research on Aging, 25, 65–80.
80.
ZengY.WangZ. (2003). Dynamics of family and elderly living arrangements in China: New lessons learned from the 2000 census. China Review, 3, 95–119.
81.
ZhanH. J.MontgomeryR. J. (2003). Gender and elder care in China: The influence of filial piety and structural constraints. Gender & Society, 17, 209–229.
82.
ZhangX.KanburR. (2005). Spatial inequality in education and health care in China. China Economic Review, 16, 189–204.
83.
ZhangW.LiuG. (2007). Childlessness, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction among the elderly in China. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 22, 185–203.
84.
ZhaoY. (2010). China’s pursuits of indigenous innovations in information technology developments: Hopes, follies and uncertainties. Chinese Journal of Communication, 3, 266–289.
ZhouY.ZhouL.FuC.WangY.LiuQ.WuH.…ZhengL. (2015). Socio-economic factors related with the subjective well-being of the rural elderly people living independently in China. International Journal for Equity in Health, 14, 5.
87.
ZhuW.ChiA.SunY. (2016). Physical activity among older Chinese adults living in urban and rural areas: A review. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 5, 281–286.
88.
ZimmerZ.KwongJ. (2003). Family size and support of older adults in urban and rural China: Current effects and future implications. Demography, 40, 23–44.
