Social support and life satisfaction among gay men in Spain

Since the early 1960s, social support has been a topic of interest and study among social psychologists and other professionals investigating social issues. In spite of this growing interest by the scientific community, there are few studies on social support in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, and even fewer on the impact of social support on life satisfaction. In this regard, in Spain, there are very few psychosocial studies on homosexual groups. In the present study, the authors analyze social support data and life satisfaction in a sample of 220 gay residents of Málaga and Sevilla. The results show that friends are the most important source of overall social support, and that, in the family, sisters provide the most support and contribute to increased life satisfaction. On the other hand, social support had an effect on the level of life satisfaction, although the results indicate that factors associated with homosexual identity are the best predictors of life satisfaction. The implications of these results are discussed as well as potential future research.     

Effect of family structure on life satisfaction: australian evidence

How do family arrangements affect subjective well-being? We investigate this issue using data pooled from the IsssA and HILDA, both large, representative national samples of Australia (pooled n=38 447). Our regression analysis of cross-sectional and panel data examines how large are the differences in life satisfaction according to marital status and cohabitation. We find that women and men in formal marriages experience higher levels of life satisfaction than do people in other family arrangements. Moreover, both multiple tests in the cross-section, and tests controlling for prior happiness in the panel analysis, suggest that this is a causal relationship. Aggregating up the levels of life satisfaction generated by different marriage and cohabitation arrangements across a lifetime, suggests that a life-long marriage is the most satisfying. Early divorce followed by an enduring second marriage is little worse (because little time is spent outside the married state). But divorce without remarriage, or long lasting cohabitation without formal marriage, reduce the lifetime sum of subjective well-being by 4–12% for both women and men.     

The relationship between leisure and life satisfaction: application of activity and need theory

The purpose of this study was to better understand the complex relationship between leisure and life satisfaction. Components of two distinct, but potentially integrative, theoretical frameworks (i.e., activity theory and need theory) predicting the relationship between leisure and life satisfaction were tested with a sample of residents from a Midwestern community (n = 633). Findings provided support for both theoretical perspectives, but stronger relationships were found between satisfied needs than with participated activities. In spite of these findings, the various inconsistencies within the two theoretical frameworks suggest that future research is needed.     

Revisiting the Disengagement Theory with Differentials in the Determinants of Life Satisfaction

This study proposes that differentials in the determinants of life satisfaction can be used to test if the elderly have a new equilibrium. One's global life satisfaction is taken as an indicator for one's inner world and for the elderly, global life satisfaction is assumed to be not influenced by life domains which indicate drastic social changes, because they are supposed to be disengaged from social activities. On the other hand, global life satisfaction for other adults is affected by life domains indicating social changes, because they are still tightly involved with social activities. The differentials in the determinants of global life satisfaction thus indicate that the elderly have a new equilibrium.A national survey on Taiwanese living conditions conducted by the Ministry of Interior, the Republic of China, in 1998 is used to test the above hypotheses. The analytical results show that the elderly have perceived drastic social changes. Moreover, they do have an equilibrium that is different from the other two age groups.     

Religiosity and quality of life in South Africa

Using nationally representative survey data, this paper explores the relationship between religiosity and quality of life. Three indicators of religiosity are used: (i) frequency of attendance at religious services or meetings, (ii) orthodoxy of beliefs in relation to Biblical teachings and (iii) religious denomination. Quality of life (QoL) is measured in terms of (i) household access to modern conveniences, (ii) self-assessed life satisfaction and (iii) level of satisfaction with government institutions. The data shows a significant but not very strong statistical relationship between religiosity and QoL. People who attend religious meetings most frequently and who hold the most orthodox religious views are thus more likely to have access to modern conveniences and to be satisfied with their lives. Satisfaction with government, however, tends to be highest amongst nominally religious people and lowest amongst both the most orthodox and the least religious.     

Quality of life in South Africa – The First Ten Years of Democracy

South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of SIR (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a stand-alone volume. The earlier volume was initiated following SIR editor Alex Michalos’ first visit to South Africa. This update on quality of life in South Africa follows on his return visit to the country in 2004 to see firsthand the changes that had occured in the meantime. This introductory article outlines major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future. It provides the backround for the evaluations of a range of quality of life domains and issues including poverty and inequality, crime, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, migration and housing, religiosity, reconciliation, and optimism for the future which are covered in the eleven articles that follow. The introduction divides the articles under the headings of challenges, achievements, monitoring quality of life, and social capital for the future. The overview article concludes that improvements in quality of life have been uneven but goodwill and a positive outlook bode well for South African quality of life in future.     

城市居家老年人主观生活质量评价及其影响因素研究

本文根据城市居家老人生活质量评价的若干指标,对上海城市居家老人分事件类别的主观满意度及其整体生活状况的满意度进行了实证分析．并运用Logistic回归分析研究城市居家老人各生活质量因素对整体生活主观满意度的影响。研究发现影响整体生活满意度评价的因素是多方面的,有经济状况因素、身体健康因素、心理健康因素、社会支持因素、婚姻状况、参与老年活动因素。     

Gender as a Moderator of the Relation Among Social Support Functions and Life Satisfaction in Older Malaysians

The aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of gender on relations among social support functions and life satisfaction in older Malaysians. The study sample was 1,800 older residents in a community; all were at least 60 years old. This study was a cross-sectional and corelational survey, and the data were collected by multistage stratified sampling. This study revealed that fewer social support functions, and therefore less life satisfaction, were available for females than for males. The results of moderated regression analyses demonstrated that gender interacted only on the relationship between positive social interaction support and tangible support with life satisfaction. Specifically, at a high tangible support level, females had lower life satisfaction when compared to a low tangible support level. There may be a need for new programs and services to provide other aspects of social support to older female adults to improve and maintain life satisfaction in later life.     

上海城市生活不能自理老人生活照料状况及意愿研究

本文以1999年《上海市生活不能自理老人家庭照料和社会支持调查》的数据为依据,分析了上海市生活不能自理老人的家庭基本情况及其生活服务需求,为解决生活不能自理老人照料问题提供参考.     

中国高龄老人健康预期寿命研究

用隶属等级 (GradeofMembership ,GOM)模型将反映 1998年被访高龄老人不同健康维度的 5 0个变量进行综合得到健康、比较健康、功能受限、体弱多病、极度虚弱五个纯类。用这五个纯类将高龄老人预期寿命进行了分析     

Forecasting differences in life expectancy by education

Forecasts of life expectancy (LE) have fuelled debates about the sustainability and dependability of pension and healthcare systems. Of relevance to these debates are inequalities in LE by education. In this paper, we present a method of forecasting LE for different educational groups within a population. As a basic framework we use the Li–Lee model that was developed to forecast mortality coherently for different groups. We adapted this model to distinguish between overall, sex-specific, and education-specific trends in mortality, and extrapolated these time trends in a flexible manner. We illustrate our method for the population aged 65 and over in the Netherlands, using several data sources and spanning different periods. The results suggest that LE is likely to increase for all educational groups, but that differences in LE between educational groups will widen. Sensitivity analyses illustrate the advantages of our proposed method.     

Safe drinking water and satisfaction with environmental quality of life in some oil and gas industry impacted cities of Nigeria

The availability and safety of drinking water and the environmental quality of life was investigated in five cities located in an oil-producing area of Nigeria using questionnaire-based scales, discussion and laboratory tests. Polythene-packaged sachet water and commercial and non-commercial private boreholes largely met the drinking water requirement of the cities. Consumption of sachet water was high (14.0–20.0 points vs. 25.0 points) but regression analysis indicated strong negative relationships with income group (β = −0.75, P < 0.005) and educational level (β = −0.77, P < 0.005) of respondents (658). Private borehole water was prevalent (18.7–19.9 vs. 20.0) while public water supplies were almost non-existent (4.8–5.6 vs. 20.0) in the cities. Vulnerability to contamination in all water sources was indicated following unacceptable counts of total and faecal coliform bacteria in 10–62.5 and 3–25% of samples, respectfully. Respondents were not satisfied with environmental quality of life indicated by the quality of housing, school, health services, refuse disposal, recreation, streetlight, transport and police (3.43–4.01 vs. 10). It is concluded that modernization and industrialization due to the oil and gas industries, tended to increase individualization to the negligence of common services as evidenced by the preponderance of private boreholes and sachet water.     

东北地区社会保障适度水平分析

本文应用社会保障水平理论与适度水平测算模型 ,对东北三省社会保障支出水平的适度性问题进行了系统分析 ,得出基本结论即保障水平偏低且结构不合理。在此基础上 ,从东北社会保障体制中的缺陷出发分析造成保障水平现状的原因 ,并应用社会保障水平供求平衡理论和社会保障水平效率标准 ,提出了完善社会保障水平的建议和措施。     

农村大龄未婚男性的生活质量及其影响因素分析——以冀北地区调查为基础

利用2010年冀北C县农村调查数据,借鉴生活质量的概念和研究框架,分析农村大龄未婚男性的生活质量现状及影响因素。研究结果表明,与已婚男性相比,未婚男性的客观生活质量和主观生活质量均明显偏低;居住方式和父母在世情况显著影响他们所获得的生活支持,工作、收入和社会保障显著影响他们的经济满意度;年龄、生理、心理和收入是影响未婚男性生活总体满意度的重要因素。经济满意度和生活总体满意度之间具有显著的正向相关关系,社会交往满意度和生活总体满意度之间的关系不显著。分析农村大龄未婚男性的生活质量有利于把握其生存状态,也有利于理解其对社会公共安全的影响。     

市场经济条件下我国人口保障问题探析

本文重点分析市场经济条件下我国人口保障的体系及现状 ,并针对建立我国人口多层次保障问题 ,在借鉴发达国家经验的基础上 ,提出有针对性的建议。     

我国年龄组平均预期寿命变动的实证研究

平均预期寿命是国内外评价一个国家或地区人口健康状况的重要指标。国家统计局只公布0岁组平均预期寿命,而要进一步研究,则需要分年龄组资料。利用1995年、2005年全国1%人口抽样数据编制分性别、分城乡的完全生命表,在此基础上定量分析得出:我国各年龄组平均预期寿命,女性>男性,城镇>乡村;暂时平均预期寿命的相对增长速度,1995~2005年快于1981~1995年,女性快于男性;老年组死亡率的降低对0岁组平均预期寿命的贡献率最大。     

“人均预期寿命提高1岁”的实证研究

温家宝总理在政府工作报告中首次提出十二五时期人均预期寿命提高1岁的目标。本文在生命表数据基础上,通过计算平均预期寿命贡献率并进行相关分析与回归分析后得出:我国目前平均预期寿命虽然已高于绝大多数发展中国家,但其绝对增速正逐渐放慢。而降低60～90岁年龄段老年人口死亡率、提高居民消费水平、缩小家庭规模、迁移有条件的离退休老人到低海拔地区养老是实现人均预期寿命提高1岁目标的有效路径。     

1974—1985年间中国人口理论发展的逻辑与历史

20世纪70年代初,中国的计划生育工作常常遇到一些不可回避而又迫切需要作出解释的理论问题,中国的人口学研究也由此蓬勃兴起。中国人口学界从研究社会主义基本人口规律入手,由点到面,由浅入深,由特殊到一般,经10余年努力,到1985年,人口规律的知识体系初步形成,马克思主义的两种生产理论也得以丰富和发展。     

农村大龄未婚男性社会保障需求与供给分析

在构建农村大龄未婚男性社会保障需求量测算模型的基础上,对相关统计数据和抽样调查资料进行了处理,测算出农村大龄未婚男性人均社会保障需求量和社会保障需求总量;比较了农村大龄未婚男性和已婚男性的社会保障实施现状,分析了农村大龄未婚男性社会保障供给现状及存在问题,提出了改进农村大龄未婚男性社会保障需求的对策建议。     

Residential patterns of parents and their married children in contemporary China: A life course approach

This paper examines the residential pattern of parents and their married children in contemporary China. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991, 1993, 1997), the analysis shows that the residential pattern of parents and their married children is not a static phenomenon, but changes over the life span. The analysis provides evidence that parental residence often responds to changed circumstances over the life course, adjusting to the need of married children as well as that of their parents. It is found that childcare needs, death of one parent, and health status of parents all play important roles in transitions in parental residence.