Copyright 1992 by The Gerontological Society of America
Journal of Gerontology: PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES 1992, Vol. 47, No. 5, P316-P32O
Correlates of Life Satisfaction Among Elderly African Americans Marguerite M. Coke Graduate Program in Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle, New York.
T
HE two strongest correlates of Life Satisfaction are perceived health and adequacy of income, according to previous research conducted on the general population over 65 (Edwards & Klemmack, 1973; Spreitzer & Snyder, 1974). Although older African Americans are typically poorer and less healthy than older Whites (Chatters, Taylor, & Neighbors, 1989; Taylor & Chatters, 1986), older African Americans typically score higher than older Whites on measures of life satisfaction (Clavon & Smith, 1986; Morrison, 1982). This suggests that among African Americans there may be other factors that contribute to life satisfaction. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between life satisfaction among elderly African Americans and two predictors which the African American cultural traditions suggest may represent uniquely important sources of satisfaction for older African Americans. These factors are family role involvement and participation in church activities. The theoretical rationale which follows documents the stressors typically experienced by African American elderly, reviews the arguments that have been advanced to date to explain the resilience of older African Americans, and establishes the logic of the hypothesized relationships between life satisfaction, family role involvement, and religious participation.
Rationale There is ample evidence that the disadvantaged economic conditions experienced by African Americans over the life span persist in old age. Chen (1985) reported that the median income of elderly African American couples was only 60% of the median income of elderly White couples, while the median income of elderly single African Americans was 70% of the median income of elderly single Whites. Chen also reported that in 1981 nearly 4 out of 10 African AmeriP316
cans over the age of 65 had incomes below the poverty line. Elderly African Americans were three times more likely to be poor than elderly Whites. As would be expected in view of their low incomes, elderly African Americans have been shown to have more health problems than older Whites (Hill, 1978; Jackson, 1985; Taylor & Taylor, 1982). Given the poverty and relatively poor health that characterize elderly African Americans, the high levels of life satisfaction reported by Clavon and Smith (1986) and Morrison (1982) have led scholars to attempt to identify sources of support or strength within African American culture that might lead to high levels of life satisfaction. A number of scholars have cited the supports associated with the extensive kin networks that characterize African American families (Aschenbrenner, 1975; Chatters, Taylor, & Jackson, 1986; Chatters, Taylor, & Neighbors, 1989; McAdoo, 1978, 1980; Mutran, 1985; Stack, 1974; Taylor, 1985, 1986). Others have emphasized the adaptive capacity and coping skills of older African Americans (Gibson, 1982; Jackson, Chatters, & Neighbors, 1982; Taylor, 1985). These studies have described older African Americans as survivors of difficult lifetimes and suggest that only the strongest individuals reach old age. Of particular interest in the present study are satisfactions derived from continuing family role responsibilities and satisfactions gained from participation in church activities. Each of these potential sources of satisfaction is based on role theory (Rosow, 1973) and the notion that individuals derive satisfaction from performing meaningful roles. Rather than focusing on the relationship between satisfaction and the availability of various supports, Rosow focused on the satisfactions derived from being of service to others. Thus, Rosow suggested that such activities as helping with family chores, helping grandchildren with homework, giving advice, and providing baby-sitting would enable retired
Downloaded from http://geronj.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Lethbridge on September 11, 2015
This study examined the correlates of Life Satisfaction among older African Americans. The sample consisted of 166 African Americans ranging in age from 65 to 88 years. There were 87 males and 79 females. Included as predictors of Life Satisfaction were self-rated health, self-perceived adequacy of income, weekly hours of participation in church activities, and family role involvement. The results of the study confirmed that family role involvement and participation in church activities were significant predictors of Life Satisfaction among African American elderly in general. Results also indicated significant sex differences. Females tended to manifest greater life satisfaction than males. Females also had higher mean scores on hours of church participation per week, scored higher on family role involvement, and were more likely than males to consider their incomes adequate. Therefore, separate correlation and regression analyses were run for male and female respondents. These analyses indicated that among males, family role involvement and hours of church participation were related significantly to life satisfaction, as were self-perceived adequacy of income, actual household income, educational level, and self-rated religiosity. Among females, only selfrated religiosity was a significant predictor of life satisfaction. This finding was attributed to the generally high levels of family role involvement and church participation among female respondents.
LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS
ods employed by Spreitzer and Snyder (1974) in their study of life satisfaction in the general population over 65. Based on that model, three additional predictors of life satisfaction were included in the study: a self-rating of personal religiosity, years of education, and self-reported annual family income. METHODS
Sample. — The sample consisted of 166 African Americans ranging in age from 65 to 88 years (M = 72.2). There were 87 males (52.4%) and 79 females (47.6%). The range of self-reported annual income was from 0 to $19,000. The mean income was $7,100 per year. Years of education ranged from 0 to 16 (college graduate). The mean number of years of education was 9 years. The majority of the respondents (64.5%) were retired and had been engaged or involved in blue-collar occupations throughout their lives. Most (63.8%) were living alone or with a spouse. However, 23.4% indicated they were living with family members, and 12.7% were living with nonfamily members. The majority of respondents (61.4%) indicated that they attended church. The respondents were recruited at senior citizens' centers that they attended. A sample of convenience was employed, with the investigator directly approaching the first elderly person who came into the center following the arrival of the investigator. Individuals were generally cooperative and eager to participate when the investigator explained the purpose of the study. A total of 189 potential respondents were approached to secure the actual sample of 88%. Of the 23 refusals, 18 were based on the need of the person to do something else at the time. Only five people indicated that they did not wish to participate at all. The data were collected by means of a structured interview, conducted personally by the investigator, that required about 45 minutes to complete. Structured interview. — The structured interview included Diener's (1984) five-item Life Satisfaction Scale. Likert-type items adapted from Spreitzer and Snyder (1974) were used to measure self-perceived health and self-perceived adequacy of income. A scale score representing family role involvement was constructed based on responses to open-ended items assessing the (1) total number of family members with whom the respondent reported a relationship; (2) total number of different activities performed with the family; (3) total different services performed for family members; (4) total hours per week of contact with all the family members listed; and (5) total rating of closeness across the family members mentioned. Because the natural distributions on these measures differed in terms of ranges and standard deviations, the distributions were standardized before summing the scores on the five variables to obtain the family role involvement score. In this way all five items counted equally in the overall scale. Scored in this manner, the scale had an internal consistency reliability coefficient of .81. Church involvement was assessed by a self-report of the average number of hours per week of participation in church-related activities. Individuals who indicated that they were not church members or did not attend church at all were
Downloaded from http://geronj.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Lethbridge on September 11, 2015
persons to withstand the reduction in work roles experienced at retirement and to continue to manifest high levels of life satisfaction. More recent discussions of the factors associated with adjustment and satisfaction in mid- and late-life have deemphasized the importance of maintaining roles. For example, Treas and Bengtson (1982) summarized research on retirement as indicating no significant reductions in happiness due to loss of work roles and no increase in marital strains associated with having a newly retired husband at home. Treas and Bengtson also pointed out that older couples and even older single persons prefer to live privately rather than with kin, suggesting that "old age may offer the old a freedom and independence unknown to their forebears'' (pp. 20-21). Treas and Bengtson concluded that, "By and large, retirees in good health and with adequate incomes voiced real satisfaction with retirement" (p. 19). It should be stressed that the conclusions of Treas and Bengtson pertain to the population of older individuals in general. Clearly, the view that retired persons will be happy if they have enough money and good health does not explain the substantial life satisfaction of elderly African Americans who have neither. Moreover, the advantages of living alone appear somewhat less relevant to African Americans than to other elderly Americans, since older African Americans are more likely to live with kin. The older role theory model provided by Rosow (1973) would appear more relevant to explain the life satisfaction of elderly African Americans. Two roles that appear to be particularly relevant to older African Americans are family role involvement and church involvement. The theoretical basis for relating these roles to life satisfaction is described below. Wylie (1971) suggested that the Black heritage of West African values and attitudes toward aging and the aged has contributed to a tradition of active participation in family activities among elderly African Americans. Mutran (1985) cited the roles of elderly African Americans in providing household and child-care help, advice and counsel, and emergency financial assistance. These roles extend not simply to the immediate family, but to the extended family as well. Evidence suggests that involvement in church-related activities may also contribute to life satisfaction among elderly African Americans. Taylor (1985) found that more than half of 2,107 African Americans surveyed in 1979 and 1980 reported attending church at least once a week, and more than three-quarters of the sample indicated they were official church members. Furthermore, Taylor and Chatters (1986) carried out a separate analysis of the 581 African Americans in the above sample who were 55 years of age or older. This analysis indicated that over 80% of those responding reported active involvement in church activities. It was anticipated that the activity and support derived from participation in church activities would be related positively to life satisfaction among older African Americans. Therefore, the research reported here focused on the relationship between life satisfaction and self-perceived health, self-perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, and participation in church activities. In investigating these relationships, the researcher adapted the meth-
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Table 1. Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction and Predictor Variables Males Variable 8
Life satisfaction Adequacy of income6 Self-rated health' Family role involvement11 Hours per week of church participation Self-reported annual family income (Thousands) Years of education Self-rated religiosity
Females
N
Mean
SD
N
Mean
SD
87 87 87 87 87 84 82 87
16.8 2.9 2.8 -1.3 1.8 7.3 8.2 3.3
5.1 0.8 0.9 1.0 4.7 4.1 3.6 1.1
79 77 70 79 79 79 77 79
20.8 3.2 2.7 + 1.5 8.3 6.9 9.9 4.3
3.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 4.9 4.2 3.6 1.1
5.64*** 2.68** 0.56 5 2|*** 4 92*** 0.61 2.87** 5.77***
assigned a value of 0 for hours of church participation. Because multiple regression analyses were employed for the analysis of data, the assignment of the value 0 to these individuals allowed them to be retained in the analyses. Additional interview items assessed background and demographic factors including yearly annual household income, years of education completed, and self-perceived religiosity rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale which respondents used to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the statement, "I am a religious individual." RESULTS
The data were analyzed in two stages: (1) Male and female respondents were compared with respect to mean scores on the variables of interest and with respect to relationships between life satisfaction and each of the predictors. This was done in order to determine whether the female and male samples should be pooled or analyzed separately. (2) Regression analyses were carried out for each sex to determine the factors predicting life satisfaction in each sex. Table 1 presents the results of independent sample Mests conducted to compare male and female respondents on the variables of interest. These /-tests indicated significant sex differences on life satisfaction, perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, average number of hours per week of church participation, and self-rated religiosity. On each of the variables the women had higher means than the men. Table 2 shows the zero-order correlations between life satisfaction and each of the predictors for males and females. Among the men participating in the study, life satisfaction was correlated positively with self-perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, hours per week of church participation, self-reported annual family income, years of education, and self-rated religiosity. Due to the many differences between male and female respondents with respect to both average scores on the predictor variables and the correlations between life satisfaction and the predictors, multiple regression analyses were computed for each sex separately. Stepwise regressions
Table 2. Zero-order Correlations Between Life Satisfaction and Predictor Variables by Respondent Sex Males
Females
Variable
N
r
N
r
Adequacy of income Self-rated health Family role involvement Hours per week of church participation Self-reported annual family income (Thousands) Years of education Self-rated religiosity
87 87 87
.29** .01 .27**
77 79 77
-.02 -.05 .18
87
.38**
77
-.08
84 82 87
.19* 35*** 54***
79 77 79
-.15 -.12 .38***
*p< .05;**/?< .01; ***/>< .001.
were run with an inclusion criterion of p = .90. The results of these regression analyses are presented in Tables 3 and 4. Table 3 shows that a combination of six predictors explained 33% of the variance in life satisfaction among male participants. The strongest predictor of life satisfaction was self-rated religiosity, which explained 27% of the variance. Following the introduction of this variable, none of the remaining predictors explained a significant amount of the variance in life satisfaction. Thus, although six of the seven predictors were correlated significantly with life satisfaction among men, including both family role involvement and weekly hours of church participation, the relationship between life satisfaction and self-rated religiosity was sufficiently strong that the unique contributions of the remaining predictors were nonsignificant. Table 4 indicates that among the women in the study a combination of six predictors explained 25% of the variance in life satisfaction. Here again self-rated religiosity was the strongest predictor, explaining 10% of the variance. Also significant when introduced into the regression were selfrated health and self-perceived adequacy of income. Interestingly, the betas on each of these measures were
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"Scale score on Diener's 5-item Life Satisfaction Scale. b Self-rated on a 5-point Likert Scale with response options ranging from "not at all adequate" to "completely adequate." c Self-rated on a 4-point Likert Scale with response options ranging from "Poor" to "Excellent." d Scale score formed from summing standardized scores on total family members reported, total number of activities with family members, number of services from family members, sum of closeness ratings. **p< .01; ***p< .001.
LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS
Table 3. Stepwise Multiple Regression of Life Satisfaction on Predictor Variables for Male Respondents
Step 1 2
Variable Entered
/?
R2
Change in/?2
Beta
r-Test at Entry
Test at Final Step
.52 .27
.27
.34
5.42***
2.76**
.55 .30
.03
.17
1.95
1.74
3
Education
.56 .31
.01
.11
1.35
.93
4
Average weekly hours of church participation
.57 .33
.02
.11
1.02
.97
5
Income adequacy
.58 .33
.00
.09
0.88
.85
Health
.58 .33
.00
-.01
-0.19
-.19
6
**/>< .01; ***/>< .001.
Table 4. Stepwise Multiple Regression of Life Satisfaction on Predictor Variables for Female Respondents
Step
Variable Entered
Beta
.32 .10 .38 .14
.10 .04
-.26
-2.25*
-2.19*
R
R2
r-Test at Entry
Test at Final Step
Change in/?2
1
Religiosity
2
Health
3
Income Weekly hours of church attendance Family role involvement
.45 .20
.06
-.13
-2.23*
-1.01
.47 .22
.02
-.13
-1.26
-1.14
.48 .24
.02
.19
1.22
1.50
Education
.50 .25
.01
-.13
-1.07
-1.07
4
5 6
.32
2.87**
2.78**
.05;**/;< .01.
negative, indicating that women who viewed themselves as less healthy and as having less adequate incomes tended to have higher life satisfaction.
conclusions of Taylor (1985) and Taylor and Chatters (1986) regarding the importance of the church and religion among African American seniors. The findings suggest that it is important to foster naturally occurring mechanisms which serve to facilitate the involvement of elders in meaningful roles and activities. Programs conducted with the cooperation of the church aimed at developing foster grandparent relationships, tutoring and tax assistance, provision of hot meals for other seniors, and similar useful activities might prove valuable, benefiting those who provide the services as much as those receiving assistance. Older people might also benefit from participation in outreach programs aimed at identifying and making contact with other elders who may be isolated and living with no apparent mission or purpose. The potential value of such efforts is perhaps increased by the sociodemographic changes that are occurring in the African American community today. As more young African Americans assume positions of responsibility and leadership in government and business, they become more mobile. Traditional extended family relationships may be disrupted by job transfers and promotions. In such instances, some family role responsibilities performed by elders may be lost, and it may be necessary to provide alternative opportunities for older family members to remain active and involved in life. The results of the study indicate striking differences between male and female respondents. The women in the study were generally involved in family roles, involved in church activities, and satisfied with life. The variability in life satisfaction which did occur among women was due to an intangible quality, the importance of religion. In contrast, among men there were considerable differences in life satisfaction, and these differences were related not only to attitudinal factors such as the importance of religion, but to more objective observable factors such as church activities, family roles, and socioeconomic achievement. It would appear that the continued fulfillment of meaningful social roles is an important determinant of life satisfaction among the African American elderly and that, given the existence of such roles, satisfaction may be influenced as well by one's faith.
DISCUSSION
Among men, life satisfaction was related as hypothesized to both family role involvement and hours per week of church participation. Life satisfaction was even more strongly related to self-rated religiosity. Among women, life satisfaction was not related significantly to family role involvement or to hours per week of church participation. This appears to have resulted from a relatively restricted range of scores among the women on these variables. The women were much higher than the men in the sample on both family role involvement and hours of church participation. They were also much higher on life satisfaction. Among the women, as among the men, self-rated religiosity was correlated significantly with life satisfaction. These findings are generally supportive of the assertions of Clavon and Smith (1986) and Morrison (1982) regarding the significance of the family and the extended family for elderly African Americans. The findings also support the
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was funded in part through the Council of Social Work Education (Minority) through a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Address correspondence to Dr. Marguerite Coke, Director of Graduate Programs in Gerontology and Psychology, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY 10805. REFERENCES
Aschenbrenner, J. (1975). Lifelines: Blackfamilies in Chicago. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., & Jackson, J. S. (1986). Aged Blacks' choice for an informal helper network. Journal of Gerontology, 41, 94-100. Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., & Neighbors, H. W. (1989). Size of informal helper network mobilized during a serious personal problem among Black Americans. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 667-676. Chen, Y. (1985). Economic status of the aging. In R. H. Binstock & E.
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Religiosity Family role involvement
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Mutran, E. (1985). Intergenerational family support among blacks and whites: Response to culture or to socioeconomic differences. Journal of Gerontology, 40, 382-389. Rosow, I. (1973). The social context of the aging self. The Gerontologist, 13, 82-87. Spreitzer, E., & Snyder, E. (1974). Correlates of life satisfaction among the aged. Journal of Gerontology, 29, 454-458. Stack, C. (1974). All our kin. New York: Harper and Row. Taylor, R. J. (1985). The extended family as a source of support to elderly blacks. The Gerontologist, 25, 488-495. Taylor, R. J. (1986). Receipt of support from family among black Americans: Demographic and familial differences. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48,61-11. Taylor, R., & Chatters, L. M. (1986). Church based informal support among elderly blacks. The Gerontologist, 26, 637-642. Taylor, R. J., & Taylor, W. H. (1982). The social and economic status of the Black elderly. Phylon, 43, 295-306. Treas, J., & Bengtson, V. I. (1982). The demography and mid and late-life transitions. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 464, 11-21. Wylie, F. (1971). Attitudes toward aging and the aged among Black Americans. Aging and Human Development, 3, 66-70. Received October 24, 1989 Accepted June 6, 1991
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Shanas (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Clavon, A., & Smith, V. P. (1986). One black couple's means of coping: Preserving integrity. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 12, 26-68. Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 977-978. Edwards, J. N., & Klemmack, D. L. (1973). Correlates of life satisfaction: A re-examination. Journal of Gerontology, 28, 497-502. Gibson, R. C. (1982). Blacks at middle and late life: Resources and coping. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 464, 79-90. Hill, R. (1978). A demographic profile of the Black elderly. Aging, 287288, 2-9. Jackson, J. J. (1985). Race, national origin, ethnicity, and aging. In R. H. Binstock & E. Shanas (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Jackson, J. J., Chatters, L. M., & Neighbors, L. M. (1982). The mental health status of older Black America: A national study. The Black Scholar, 13, 21-35. McAdoo, H. P. (1978). Factors related to stability in upward mobile Black families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40, 761-776. McAdoo, H. P. (1980). Black mothers and the extended family support network. In L. F. Rodgers-Rose (Ed.), The Black woman. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Morrison, B. J. (1982). Sociocultural dimensions: Nursing homes and the minority aged. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 5, 127-145.
Journal of Gerontology: PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES 1992, Vol. 47, No. 5, P316-P32O
Correlates of Life Satisfaction Among Elderly African Americans Marguerite M. Coke Graduate Program in Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle, New York.
T
HE two strongest correlates of Life Satisfaction are perceived health and adequacy of income, according to previous research conducted on the general population over 65 (Edwards & Klemmack, 1973; Spreitzer & Snyder, 1974). Although older African Americans are typically poorer and less healthy than older Whites (Chatters, Taylor, & Neighbors, 1989; Taylor & Chatters, 1986), older African Americans typically score higher than older Whites on measures of life satisfaction (Clavon & Smith, 1986; Morrison, 1982). This suggests that among African Americans there may be other factors that contribute to life satisfaction. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between life satisfaction among elderly African Americans and two predictors which the African American cultural traditions suggest may represent uniquely important sources of satisfaction for older African Americans. These factors are family role involvement and participation in church activities. The theoretical rationale which follows documents the stressors typically experienced by African American elderly, reviews the arguments that have been advanced to date to explain the resilience of older African Americans, and establishes the logic of the hypothesized relationships between life satisfaction, family role involvement, and religious participation.
Rationale There is ample evidence that the disadvantaged economic conditions experienced by African Americans over the life span persist in old age. Chen (1985) reported that the median income of elderly African American couples was only 60% of the median income of elderly White couples, while the median income of elderly single African Americans was 70% of the median income of elderly single Whites. Chen also reported that in 1981 nearly 4 out of 10 African AmeriP316
cans over the age of 65 had incomes below the poverty line. Elderly African Americans were three times more likely to be poor than elderly Whites. As would be expected in view of their low incomes, elderly African Americans have been shown to have more health problems than older Whites (Hill, 1978; Jackson, 1985; Taylor & Taylor, 1982). Given the poverty and relatively poor health that characterize elderly African Americans, the high levels of life satisfaction reported by Clavon and Smith (1986) and Morrison (1982) have led scholars to attempt to identify sources of support or strength within African American culture that might lead to high levels of life satisfaction. A number of scholars have cited the supports associated with the extensive kin networks that characterize African American families (Aschenbrenner, 1975; Chatters, Taylor, & Jackson, 1986; Chatters, Taylor, & Neighbors, 1989; McAdoo, 1978, 1980; Mutran, 1985; Stack, 1974; Taylor, 1985, 1986). Others have emphasized the adaptive capacity and coping skills of older African Americans (Gibson, 1982; Jackson, Chatters, & Neighbors, 1982; Taylor, 1985). These studies have described older African Americans as survivors of difficult lifetimes and suggest that only the strongest individuals reach old age. Of particular interest in the present study are satisfactions derived from continuing family role responsibilities and satisfactions gained from participation in church activities. Each of these potential sources of satisfaction is based on role theory (Rosow, 1973) and the notion that individuals derive satisfaction from performing meaningful roles. Rather than focusing on the relationship between satisfaction and the availability of various supports, Rosow focused on the satisfactions derived from being of service to others. Thus, Rosow suggested that such activities as helping with family chores, helping grandchildren with homework, giving advice, and providing baby-sitting would enable retired
Downloaded from http://geronj.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Lethbridge on September 11, 2015
This study examined the correlates of Life Satisfaction among older African Americans. The sample consisted of 166 African Americans ranging in age from 65 to 88 years. There were 87 males and 79 females. Included as predictors of Life Satisfaction were self-rated health, self-perceived adequacy of income, weekly hours of participation in church activities, and family role involvement. The results of the study confirmed that family role involvement and participation in church activities were significant predictors of Life Satisfaction among African American elderly in general. Results also indicated significant sex differences. Females tended to manifest greater life satisfaction than males. Females also had higher mean scores on hours of church participation per week, scored higher on family role involvement, and were more likely than males to consider their incomes adequate. Therefore, separate correlation and regression analyses were run for male and female respondents. These analyses indicated that among males, family role involvement and hours of church participation were related significantly to life satisfaction, as were self-perceived adequacy of income, actual household income, educational level, and self-rated religiosity. Among females, only selfrated religiosity was a significant predictor of life satisfaction. This finding was attributed to the generally high levels of family role involvement and church participation among female respondents.
LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS
ods employed by Spreitzer and Snyder (1974) in their study of life satisfaction in the general population over 65. Based on that model, three additional predictors of life satisfaction were included in the study: a self-rating of personal religiosity, years of education, and self-reported annual family income. METHODS
Sample. — The sample consisted of 166 African Americans ranging in age from 65 to 88 years (M = 72.2). There were 87 males (52.4%) and 79 females (47.6%). The range of self-reported annual income was from 0 to $19,000. The mean income was $7,100 per year. Years of education ranged from 0 to 16 (college graduate). The mean number of years of education was 9 years. The majority of the respondents (64.5%) were retired and had been engaged or involved in blue-collar occupations throughout their lives. Most (63.8%) were living alone or with a spouse. However, 23.4% indicated they were living with family members, and 12.7% were living with nonfamily members. The majority of respondents (61.4%) indicated that they attended church. The respondents were recruited at senior citizens' centers that they attended. A sample of convenience was employed, with the investigator directly approaching the first elderly person who came into the center following the arrival of the investigator. Individuals were generally cooperative and eager to participate when the investigator explained the purpose of the study. A total of 189 potential respondents were approached to secure the actual sample of 88%. Of the 23 refusals, 18 were based on the need of the person to do something else at the time. Only five people indicated that they did not wish to participate at all. The data were collected by means of a structured interview, conducted personally by the investigator, that required about 45 minutes to complete. Structured interview. — The structured interview included Diener's (1984) five-item Life Satisfaction Scale. Likert-type items adapted from Spreitzer and Snyder (1974) were used to measure self-perceived health and self-perceived adequacy of income. A scale score representing family role involvement was constructed based on responses to open-ended items assessing the (1) total number of family members with whom the respondent reported a relationship; (2) total number of different activities performed with the family; (3) total different services performed for family members; (4) total hours per week of contact with all the family members listed; and (5) total rating of closeness across the family members mentioned. Because the natural distributions on these measures differed in terms of ranges and standard deviations, the distributions were standardized before summing the scores on the five variables to obtain the family role involvement score. In this way all five items counted equally in the overall scale. Scored in this manner, the scale had an internal consistency reliability coefficient of .81. Church involvement was assessed by a self-report of the average number of hours per week of participation in church-related activities. Individuals who indicated that they were not church members or did not attend church at all were
Downloaded from http://geronj.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Lethbridge on September 11, 2015
persons to withstand the reduction in work roles experienced at retirement and to continue to manifest high levels of life satisfaction. More recent discussions of the factors associated with adjustment and satisfaction in mid- and late-life have deemphasized the importance of maintaining roles. For example, Treas and Bengtson (1982) summarized research on retirement as indicating no significant reductions in happiness due to loss of work roles and no increase in marital strains associated with having a newly retired husband at home. Treas and Bengtson also pointed out that older couples and even older single persons prefer to live privately rather than with kin, suggesting that "old age may offer the old a freedom and independence unknown to their forebears'' (pp. 20-21). Treas and Bengtson concluded that, "By and large, retirees in good health and with adequate incomes voiced real satisfaction with retirement" (p. 19). It should be stressed that the conclusions of Treas and Bengtson pertain to the population of older individuals in general. Clearly, the view that retired persons will be happy if they have enough money and good health does not explain the substantial life satisfaction of elderly African Americans who have neither. Moreover, the advantages of living alone appear somewhat less relevant to African Americans than to other elderly Americans, since older African Americans are more likely to live with kin. The older role theory model provided by Rosow (1973) would appear more relevant to explain the life satisfaction of elderly African Americans. Two roles that appear to be particularly relevant to older African Americans are family role involvement and church involvement. The theoretical basis for relating these roles to life satisfaction is described below. Wylie (1971) suggested that the Black heritage of West African values and attitudes toward aging and the aged has contributed to a tradition of active participation in family activities among elderly African Americans. Mutran (1985) cited the roles of elderly African Americans in providing household and child-care help, advice and counsel, and emergency financial assistance. These roles extend not simply to the immediate family, but to the extended family as well. Evidence suggests that involvement in church-related activities may also contribute to life satisfaction among elderly African Americans. Taylor (1985) found that more than half of 2,107 African Americans surveyed in 1979 and 1980 reported attending church at least once a week, and more than three-quarters of the sample indicated they were official church members. Furthermore, Taylor and Chatters (1986) carried out a separate analysis of the 581 African Americans in the above sample who were 55 years of age or older. This analysis indicated that over 80% of those responding reported active involvement in church activities. It was anticipated that the activity and support derived from participation in church activities would be related positively to life satisfaction among older African Americans. Therefore, the research reported here focused on the relationship between life satisfaction and self-perceived health, self-perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, and participation in church activities. In investigating these relationships, the researcher adapted the meth-
P317
COKE
P318
Table 1. Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction and Predictor Variables Males Variable 8
Life satisfaction Adequacy of income6 Self-rated health' Family role involvement11 Hours per week of church participation Self-reported annual family income (Thousands) Years of education Self-rated religiosity
Females
N
Mean
SD
N
Mean
SD
87 87 87 87 87 84 82 87
16.8 2.9 2.8 -1.3 1.8 7.3 8.2 3.3
5.1 0.8 0.9 1.0 4.7 4.1 3.6 1.1
79 77 70 79 79 79 77 79
20.8 3.2 2.7 + 1.5 8.3 6.9 9.9 4.3
3.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 4.9 4.2 3.6 1.1
5.64*** 2.68** 0.56 5 2|*** 4 92*** 0.61 2.87** 5.77***
assigned a value of 0 for hours of church participation. Because multiple regression analyses were employed for the analysis of data, the assignment of the value 0 to these individuals allowed them to be retained in the analyses. Additional interview items assessed background and demographic factors including yearly annual household income, years of education completed, and self-perceived religiosity rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale which respondents used to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the statement, "I am a religious individual." RESULTS
The data were analyzed in two stages: (1) Male and female respondents were compared with respect to mean scores on the variables of interest and with respect to relationships between life satisfaction and each of the predictors. This was done in order to determine whether the female and male samples should be pooled or analyzed separately. (2) Regression analyses were carried out for each sex to determine the factors predicting life satisfaction in each sex. Table 1 presents the results of independent sample Mests conducted to compare male and female respondents on the variables of interest. These /-tests indicated significant sex differences on life satisfaction, perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, average number of hours per week of church participation, and self-rated religiosity. On each of the variables the women had higher means than the men. Table 2 shows the zero-order correlations between life satisfaction and each of the predictors for males and females. Among the men participating in the study, life satisfaction was correlated positively with self-perceived adequacy of income, family role involvement, hours per week of church participation, self-reported annual family income, years of education, and self-rated religiosity. Due to the many differences between male and female respondents with respect to both average scores on the predictor variables and the correlations between life satisfaction and the predictors, multiple regression analyses were computed for each sex separately. Stepwise regressions
Table 2. Zero-order Correlations Between Life Satisfaction and Predictor Variables by Respondent Sex Males
Females
Variable
N
r
N
r
Adequacy of income Self-rated health Family role involvement Hours per week of church participation Self-reported annual family income (Thousands) Years of education Self-rated religiosity
87 87 87
.29** .01 .27**
77 79 77
-.02 -.05 .18
87
.38**
77
-.08
84 82 87
.19* 35*** 54***
79 77 79
-.15 -.12 .38***
*p< .05;**/?< .01; ***/>< .001.
were run with an inclusion criterion of p = .90. The results of these regression analyses are presented in Tables 3 and 4. Table 3 shows that a combination of six predictors explained 33% of the variance in life satisfaction among male participants. The strongest predictor of life satisfaction was self-rated religiosity, which explained 27% of the variance. Following the introduction of this variable, none of the remaining predictors explained a significant amount of the variance in life satisfaction. Thus, although six of the seven predictors were correlated significantly with life satisfaction among men, including both family role involvement and weekly hours of church participation, the relationship between life satisfaction and self-rated religiosity was sufficiently strong that the unique contributions of the remaining predictors were nonsignificant. Table 4 indicates that among the women in the study a combination of six predictors explained 25% of the variance in life satisfaction. Here again self-rated religiosity was the strongest predictor, explaining 10% of the variance. Also significant when introduced into the regression were selfrated health and self-perceived adequacy of income. Interestingly, the betas on each of these measures were
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"Scale score on Diener's 5-item Life Satisfaction Scale. b Self-rated on a 5-point Likert Scale with response options ranging from "not at all adequate" to "completely adequate." c Self-rated on a 4-point Likert Scale with response options ranging from "Poor" to "Excellent." d Scale score formed from summing standardized scores on total family members reported, total number of activities with family members, number of services from family members, sum of closeness ratings. **p< .01; ***p< .001.
LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS
Table 3. Stepwise Multiple Regression of Life Satisfaction on Predictor Variables for Male Respondents
Step 1 2
Variable Entered
/?
R2
Change in/?2
Beta
r-Test at Entry
Test at Final Step
.52 .27
.27
.34
5.42***
2.76**
.55 .30
.03
.17
1.95
1.74
3
Education
.56 .31
.01
.11
1.35
.93
4
Average weekly hours of church participation
.57 .33
.02
.11
1.02
.97
5
Income adequacy
.58 .33
.00
.09
0.88
.85
Health
.58 .33
.00
-.01
-0.19
-.19
6
**/>< .01; ***/>< .001.
Table 4. Stepwise Multiple Regression of Life Satisfaction on Predictor Variables for Female Respondents
Step
Variable Entered
Beta
.32 .10 .38 .14
.10 .04
-.26
-2.25*
-2.19*
R
R2
r-Test at Entry
Test at Final Step
Change in/?2
1
Religiosity
2
Health
3
Income Weekly hours of church attendance Family role involvement
.45 .20
.06
-.13
-2.23*
-1.01
.47 .22
.02
-.13
-1.26
-1.14
.48 .24
.02
.19
1.22
1.50
Education
.50 .25
.01
-.13
-1.07
-1.07
4
5 6
.32
2.87**
2.78**
.05;**/;< .01.
negative, indicating that women who viewed themselves as less healthy and as having less adequate incomes tended to have higher life satisfaction.
conclusions of Taylor (1985) and Taylor and Chatters (1986) regarding the importance of the church and religion among African American seniors. The findings suggest that it is important to foster naturally occurring mechanisms which serve to facilitate the involvement of elders in meaningful roles and activities. Programs conducted with the cooperation of the church aimed at developing foster grandparent relationships, tutoring and tax assistance, provision of hot meals for other seniors, and similar useful activities might prove valuable, benefiting those who provide the services as much as those receiving assistance. Older people might also benefit from participation in outreach programs aimed at identifying and making contact with other elders who may be isolated and living with no apparent mission or purpose. The potential value of such efforts is perhaps increased by the sociodemographic changes that are occurring in the African American community today. As more young African Americans assume positions of responsibility and leadership in government and business, they become more mobile. Traditional extended family relationships may be disrupted by job transfers and promotions. In such instances, some family role responsibilities performed by elders may be lost, and it may be necessary to provide alternative opportunities for older family members to remain active and involved in life. The results of the study indicate striking differences between male and female respondents. The women in the study were generally involved in family roles, involved in church activities, and satisfied with life. The variability in life satisfaction which did occur among women was due to an intangible quality, the importance of religion. In contrast, among men there were considerable differences in life satisfaction, and these differences were related not only to attitudinal factors such as the importance of religion, but to more objective observable factors such as church activities, family roles, and socioeconomic achievement. It would appear that the continued fulfillment of meaningful social roles is an important determinant of life satisfaction among the African American elderly and that, given the existence of such roles, satisfaction may be influenced as well by one's faith.
DISCUSSION
Among men, life satisfaction was related as hypothesized to both family role involvement and hours per week of church participation. Life satisfaction was even more strongly related to self-rated religiosity. Among women, life satisfaction was not related significantly to family role involvement or to hours per week of church participation. This appears to have resulted from a relatively restricted range of scores among the women on these variables. The women were much higher than the men in the sample on both family role involvement and hours of church participation. They were also much higher on life satisfaction. Among the women, as among the men, self-rated religiosity was correlated significantly with life satisfaction. These findings are generally supportive of the assertions of Clavon and Smith (1986) and Morrison (1982) regarding the significance of the family and the extended family for elderly African Americans. The findings also support the
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was funded in part through the Council of Social Work Education (Minority) through a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Address correspondence to Dr. Marguerite Coke, Director of Graduate Programs in Gerontology and Psychology, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY 10805. REFERENCES
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