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Recommended: Canada's aging population

Life Satisfaction among Elderly Women
Life satisfaction “measure[s] cognitive evaluations of one’s self and one’s life” (Pinquart & Sörensen 2001) and is thus an important measure of successful aging (Tate, Lah, & Cuddy 2003); rather than physical health, life satisfaction is instead a measure of how an individual perceives his or her circumstances and it is resultantly useful in assessing well-being.
The Canadian population is aging. According to Employment and Social Development Canada, the senior population is growing more rapidly than any other age group and is expected to double in the next 25 years (2014). It is clear that much research is needed on this aging population to best address their needs and rapid growth. Research demonstrates that while life satisfaction drops in middle age, it rises once more in old age (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2008); it is necessary to understand why this occurs and to draw attention to what maximizes life satisfaction among the elderly in order to ensure well-being continues to be high as the population ages
A meta-analysis by Pinquart & Sörensen (2001) concluded that among the elderly population, women rate their subjective well-being and overall life satisfaction slightly – but significantly – lower than men do. A cross-cultural study by Tesch-Römer, Motel-Klingebiel, & Tomasik (2008) found that sex differences in subjective well-being vary between societies and thus, that these differences are not caused solely by biological or intrinsic factors (such as higher morbidity among women) but by social factors as well. Sex differentiation in life satisfaction provides an opportunity to examine why elderly women are less satisfied with life than elderly men.
According to Pinquart & Sörensen (...

... middle of paper ...

...oes this relationship again increase with age?
(Please note that in this research elderly women and men are defined as those aged 60 and above. While this does not match Statistics Canada’s definition of “senior,” much of the literature on elderly individuals and volunteerism focuses on individuals age 60 and above; furthermore, given the specificity of the research topic, a larger age cohort will help to ensure an adequate sample size.)
Hypotheses
• The positive relationship between life satisfaction and volunteerism is stronger in elderly women than in elderly men.
• The positive relationship between life satisfaction and volunteerism in elderly women grows stronger with age.
• The positive relationship between life satisfaction and volunteerism in elderly women increases with the number of hours spent volunteering and this relationship grows stronger with age.

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