A Causal Analysis of Subjective Well-Being Among Elderly Blacks.

This dissertation examines the causal relationships among demographic factors, health concerns, stress, and two measures of subjective well-being among a sample of older blacks. The measures of well-being were single-item evaluations of happiness and life satisfaction. The sample on which the analyses were performed were taken from the first national probability survey of black adults, the National Survey of Black Americans. The resulting sample size of 578 respondents is comprised of persons aged 55 years and above. The primary analytic technique used was ordinary least squares regression. The results of the analyses indicated that subjective well-being evaluations occur relatively independent of demographic factors and are largely affected by health concerns and stress. Happiness and life satisfaction were distinguishable with regard to those demographic factors which exerted significant effects. The model for happiness indicated that being older, widowed, and separated had significant influences on expressed happiness. The model for life satisfaction showed that age alone demonstrated a significant causal relationship. Demographic factors were significant by way of the influence that they exerted on intermediate causal elements. In this regard, it was found that: (1) lower socioeconomic status (i.e. family income and education) and being female were predictive of greater levels of expressed health disability, (2) being younger, female, and separated from one's spouse was associated with greater levels of expressed stress, and (3) higher levels of education were predictive of reduced feelings of satisfaction regarding one's health. The relationships among health concerns and stress indicated that higher levels of health disability were related to increased stress and decreased satisfaction with health. Stress was, in turn, negatively associated with health satisfaction. The relationships between intermediate causal factors and well-being demonstrated that both level of expressed stress and health satisfaction had direct influences on the final outcome measures. The effects of health disability were largely mediated by stress and health satisfaction, and did not directly affect well-being. The results of the analyses were discussed with regard to previous literature on this topic and the comparative adequacy of the causal specifications for happiness and life satisfaction.PhDDevelopmental psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/159352/1/8314251.pd