Determinants of subjective quality of life among older married adults in Poland
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In recent decades, the issue of life quality and its determinants has been increasingly discussed in the scientific literature. One of the key determinants of subjective well-being is the fact of being in a relationship (formal or not) as well as its quality. The results of analyzes for other countries show that people who have a partner have a higher subjective well-being than people who do not live with their spouse, while divorced people have the lowest (and the highest level of depression). In addition to being in a relationship, its quality is also important: people more satisfied with marriage declare greater well-being than those less satisfied. The aim of the study is to analyze quality of life (expressed in terms of well-being and depression) among older people in Poland, putting emphasis on their individual (e.g. age, sex, health status, level of education) and household (financial situation) characteristics. Importantly, the analysis takes into account the quality of the marriage approximated by the satisfaction with marriage declared by both spouses separately. For the purposes of this study I use data of ‘Social Diagnosis’ study carried out in 2015 in Poland. The final sample was limited to partnered older people aged 65+. Basic individual socio-demographic and economic as well as household characteristics were controlled for.
The results show that older partnered men in Poland have higher subjective well-being than older partnered women. Also, older partnered men report significantly higher levels of marital satisfaction than older partnered women do. Moreover, it should be underlined that higher levels of marital satisfaction among older spouses may be beneficial for their own quality of life expressed by well-being and depression. Thus, better opinion about marriage may increase subjective well-being and decrease depression level. However, this relationship is different for older partnered men and women. Positive relationship between marital satisfaction and well-being is stronger for partnered women when subjective well-being is taken into account and for men when well-being is understood as depression level.
Article Details
References
Abramowska-Kmon, A. (2017). Poczucie osamotnienia a zadowolenie z życia osób w wieku 50 lat i więcej w Polsce w świetle danych badania GGS-PL. Studia Demograficzne 2 (172), 139–165. DOI:10.33119/SD.2017.2.5.
Amato, P. R., Johnson, D. R., Booth, A., & Rogers, S. J. (2003). Continuity and change in marital quality between 1980 and 2000. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 1–22. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00001.x.
Aizer, A. A., Chen, M., McCarthy, E. P., Mendu, M. L., Koo, S., Wilhite, T. J., Graham, P. L., Choueiri, T. K., Hoffman, K. E., Martin, N. E., Hu, J. C., & Nguyen, P. L. (2013). Marital status and survival in patients with cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 31 (31), 3869–3876.
Baranowska, A., & Matysiak, A. (2011). Does parenthood increase happiness? Evidence for Poland. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 9, 307–325.
Beck, A. T, Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.
Berg, C. A., Wiebe, D. J., Butner, J., Bloor, L., Bradstreet, C., Upchurch, R., & Patton, G. (2008). Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer. Psychology and Aging, 23, 505–516.
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science & Medicine, 66 (8), 1733–1749.
Bookwala, J. (2012). Marriage and other partnered relationships in middle and late adulthood. In: R. Blieszner, V. H. Bedford (Eds.), Handbook of ageing and the family, pp. 91–123. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC–CLIO, 91–124.
Bulanda, J. R., Brown, J. S., & Yamashita, T. (2016). Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course. Social Science & Medicine, 165, 119–127. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.025.
Brown, S. L. (2000). The effect of union type on physiological well-being: Depression among cohabitors versus marrieds. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41, 241–255.
Carmel, S. (2019). Health and well-being in late life: gender differences worldwide. Frontiers in Medicine, 6, 218. DOI:10.3389/fmed.2019.00218.
Carr, D., Freedman, V. A., Cornman, J. C., & Schwarz, N. (2014). Happy marriage, happy life? Marital quality and subjective well-being in later life. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76 (10), 930–948. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12133.
Chevan, A. (1996). As cheaply as one: Cohabitation in the older population. Journal of Marriage and Family, 58, 656–667.
Czapiński, J., & Panek, T. (2015). Wstęp. Diagnoza Społeczna, Warunki i jakość życia Polaków – Raport. Contemporary Economics, 9 (4), 13–15.
Davidson, K. (2002). Gender differences in new partnership choices and constraints for older widows and widowers. Ageing International, 27 (4), 43–60.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95 (3), 542–575.
Diener, E., Eunkook, M. S., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125 (2), 276–302.
Diener, E., (2006). Guidelines for national indicators of subjective well-being and ill-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7 (4), 397–404. DOI:10.1007/s10902-006-9000-y.
de Jong Gierveld, J. (2002). The dilemma of repartnering: Considerations of older men and women entering new intimate relationships in later life. Ageing International, 27 (4), 61–78.
Fitch, C., Goeken, R., & Ruggles, S. (2005). The rise of cohabitation in the United States: New historical estimates. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia, PA.
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2005). Happiness research: State and prospects. Review of Social Economy, 63 (2), 207–228.
Han, K., Park, E., Kim, J., Kim, S. J., & Park, S. (2014). Is marital status associated with quality of life? Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 12 (109), 1–10. DOI:10.1186/s12955-014-0109-0.
Henry, N. J. M., Berg, C. A., Smith, T. W., & Florsheim, P. (2007). Positive and negative characteristics of marital interaction and their association with marital satisfaction in middle-aged and older couples. Psychology and Aging, 22, 428–441. DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.22.3.428.
Henry, S. L., Rook, K. S., Stephens, M. A. P., & Frank, M. M. (2013). Spousal undermining of older diabetic patients’ disease management. Journal of Health Psychology, 18, 1550–1561. DOI:10.1177/1359105312465913.
Huebner, S. E., & Dew, T. (1996). The interrelationships of positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction in an adolescent sample. Social Indicators Research, 38, 129–137.
Goldsmith, D. J., Bute, J. J., & Lindholm, K. A. (2012). Patient and partner strategies for talking about lifestyle change following a cardiac event. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 40, 65–86. DOI:10.1080/00909882.2011.636373.
Gove, W., Hughes, M., & Style, C. (1983). Does marriage have positive effects on the psychological well-being of the individual? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24 (2), 122–131.
GUS (2014). Prognoza ludności na lata 2014–2050. Warszawa: GUS.
Jackson, J., Miller, R., Oka, M., & Henry, R. (2014). Gender differences in marital satisfaction: a meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76 (1), 105–129. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12077.
Joshanloo, M., & Jovanović, V. (2020). The relationship between gender and life satisfaction:
analysis across demographic groups and global regions. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 23, 331–338. DOI:10.1007/s00737-019-00998-w.
Kemp, E. A., & Kemp, J. E. (2002). Older couples: New romances. Finding and Keeping Love in Later Life. Berkeley, CA: Celestial.
King, V., & Scott, M. E. (2005). A comparison of cohabiting relationships among older and younger adults. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67 (2), 271–285. DOI:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00115.x.
Kulik, L. (2002). His and her marriage: Differences in spousal perceptions of marital life in late adulthood. In: S. P. Shohov (Ed.), Advances in psychology research (pp. 21–32). Huntington, NY: Nova Science.
Kuppens, S. P., Realo, A., & Diener E. (2008). The role of positive and negative emotions in life satisfaction judgements across nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (1), 66–75. DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.66.
Lewin A. C. (2017). Health and relationship quality later in life: a comparison of Living Apart Together (LAT), first marriages, remarriages, and cohabitation. Journal of Family Issues, 38 (12), 1754–1774. DOI:10.1177/0192513X16647982.
Liu, H., & Waite, L. (2014). Bad marriage, broken heart? Age and gender differences in the link between marital quality and cardiovascular risks among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 55 (4), 403–423. DOI:10.1177/0022146514556893.
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). How stable is happiness? Using the STARTS Model to estimate the stability of life satisfaction. Journal of Research in Personality, 41 (5), 1091–1098. DOI:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.11.005.
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (3), 527–539. DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.527.
McFarland, M. J., Hayward, M. D., & Brown, D. (2013). I’ve got you under my skin: Marital biography and biological risk. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75 (2), 363–380. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12015.
Musick, K., & Bumpass, L. (2006). Cohabitation, marriage, and trajectories in well-being and relationships (On-line working paper series). Los Angeles: California Center for Population Research, University of California.
Ng, K., Loy, J. T., Gudmunson, C. G., & Cheong, W. (2009). Gender differences in marital and life satisfaction among Chinese Malaysians. Sex Roles, 60: 33–43. DOI:10.1007/s11199-008-9503-6.
OECD (2015). How’s Life? 2015: Measuring Well-being. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction:
The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 25–41. DOI:10.1007/s10902-004-1278-z.
Pongracz, M., & Spéder, Z. (2008). Attitudes towards forms of partnership. In: Ch. Höhn, D. Avramov, I. E. Kotowska (Eds.), People, population change and policies: Lessons from the Population Policy Acceptance Study (pp. 95–112). Berlin: Spring.
Proulx, C. M., Helms, H. M., & Buehler, C. (2007). Marital quality and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69 (3), 576–593. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00393.x.
Rendall, M. S., Weden, M. M., Favreault, M. M., & Waldron, H. (2011). The protective effect of marriage for survival: a review and update. Demography, 48 (2), 481–506. DOI:10.1007/s13524-011-0032-5.
Russell R. J. H., & Wells P. A. (1994). Predictors of happiness in married couples. Personality and Individual Differences, 17 (3), 313–321.
Schokker, M. C., Stuive, I., Bouma, J., Keers, J. C., Links, T. P., Wolffenbuttel, B. H., & Hagedoorn, M. (2010). Support behavior and relationship satisfaction in couples dealing with diabetes: Main and moderating effects. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 578–586. DOI:10.1037/a0021009.
Seligman M. E. P. (1990). Learned optimism. Ankara: HYB.
Thornton, A., & Young-DeMarco, L. (2001). Four decades of trends in attitudes toward family issues in the United States: The 1960s through the 1990s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63 (4), 1009–1037. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.01009.x.
Wadsworth, T. (2016). Marriage and subjective well-being: how and why context matters. Social Indicators Research, 126, 1025–1048. DOI:10.1007/s11205-015-0930-9.
Waite, L. J., & Gallagher, M. (2000). The case for marriage: Why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. New York: Doubleday.
Wong, J. S., & Waite, L. J. (2015). Marriage, social networks, and health at older ages. Journal of Population Ageing, 8, 7–25. DOI:10.1007/s12062-014-9110-y.
Wright, M. R., & Brown, S. L. (2017). Psychological Well-Being among Older Adults: The Role of Partnership Status. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79 (3), 833–849. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12375.
Vespa, J. (2012). Union formation in later life: economic determinants of cohabitation and remarriage among older adults. Demography, 49 (3), 1103–1125. DOI:10.1007/s13524-012-0102-3.