LIFE SATISFACTION OF IMMIGRANT ASIAN INDIAN ELDERLY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LIFE SATISFACTION OF IMMIGRANT ASIAN INDIAN ELDERLY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Date
1990
Authors
Kalavar, Jyotsna Mirle
Advisor
Seefeldt, Carol
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Abstract
This study explored life satisfaction among immigrant
Asian Indian elderly men and women living in the United
States, and examined the influence of selected variables on
life satisfaction.
Fifty Asian Indian immigrant elderly residents of the
Washington metropolitan area who met the criteria for
subject selection of (a) born outside the United States,
(b) permanently settled in the United States since age
fifty, or later (c) presently age sixty or above, (d)
permanent residents of the United States since two or more
years and (e) English speaking adults, participated in this
study. Twenty- five men and twenty-five women, with an age
range of 60 - 90 years were interviewed.
Socio-demographic data, and information on self-assessed
health, finance, living arrangement,
transportation, and social interaction were obtained from
the devised Interview Schedule. In addition to the indices
of Life Satisfaction Index A and B, open-ended questions
were used to determine satisfaction with life. Descriptive statistics were reported for all variables
investigated. ANOVA procedure was used to test if the
independent variables explain variance in life
satisfaction. A Pearson correlation coefficient was
established and a correlation matrix was constructed. In
order to control for health, a multiple regression analysis
was performed to determine the significance of other
independent variables. The data obtained from open-ended
questions was qualitatively analyzed.
In this study, older Asian Indian men and women
reported moderate levels of life satisfaction. Sex
differences in life satisfaction were noted. In general,
older men reported higher levels of life satisfaction than
older women.
Based on the results, it may be concluded that sex,
reasons for coming to the United States, living arrangement
(type of housing and living relationships), access to
transportation, self- assessed health (health rating and
present health evaluation), finance, number of friends, and
frequency of meeting friends are important in explaining
the variance found in life satisfaction.
Self- assessed health is a strong predictor of life
satisfaction. When controlled for health, other
contributors to life satisfaction were reasons for corning
to the United States, living arrangement, number of
friends, and average meeting with friends.