Ai Fukuzawa

Abstract This study investigated associations among loneliness, social support, social participation, and well-being among the Japanese elderly. We predicted that the negative association between loneliness and well-being would be weaker in people with adequate social support and frequent social participation. We measured ikigai and life satisfaction as indices of well-being. Ikigai and life satisfaction both include satisfaction with a person’s current and past life, yet ikigai also includes unique concepts such as satisfaction with social interactions and positive expectations for the future. Data of 418 Japanese aged 75 and older were analyzed; findings demonstrated that loneliness was negatively related to ikigai but not life satisfaction. There was a significant interaction between loneliness and social support for life satisfaction and ikigai. The interaction between loneliness and the frequency of social participation was significant only for ikigai. Post-hoc analysis indicated that social support and social participation frequency were negatively related to the negative association between loneliness and well-being, especially ikigai. These results suggest that ikigai and life satisfaction have a differential relationship to loneliness and social interaction because the concept of ikigai uniquely included perceived social roles.

OBJECTIVES: Although neighborhood is considered to be a crucial source of social network to promote health among older adults, current findings are mostly derived from observational study designs. This study examined whether participations in event-based community programs could increase neighborhood social network and whether such increase could lead to desirable changes in mental and physical health among older adults. METHOD: This study employed quasi-experimental design. A baseline questionnaire survey was sent to residents of Tsurukabuto community aged 60 years or more (n = 1769); 1,068 responded. Community events were implemented approximately once a month for three years. Then, a three-year follow-up survey questionnaire was sent to the respondents of the baseline survey. The total number of respondents in the latter survey was 662; of the total, 173 participated in the intervention. Strong and weak ties with neighbors, mental well-being (Ikigai-9), health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) were measured in the surveys. RESULTS: The path analysis revealed that intervention participation was significantly associated with changes in strong ties (standardized path coefficient = 0.12) and changes in strong ties were associated with those in Ikigai-9 scores (standardized path coefficient = 0.15). The total and indirect effects of intervention participation on Ikigai-9 scores were significant. Significant intervention effects were not observed for HRQOL and IADL scores. CONCLUSION: This study found that participation in our event-based intervention could indirectly and positively influence older adults' mental well-being through their strong ties with their neighbors.

This study tested factors related to collective action in East Asian and Western countries. Although the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) could explain which factors relate to collective action in Western countries, previous studies have found that some of the SIMCA variables did not predict collective action in non-Western countries. We hypothesised that the internal locus of control would be positively related to collective action even in East Asian countries because previous studies have demonstrated that the former can positively influence proactive behaviour when factors inhibiting such behaviours exist. We analysed the 2010 World Values Survey data from seven countries (three East Asian and four Western countries). The results demonstrated that the internal locus of control was positively related to collective action more so among East Asians (Koreans, specifically those with low political interests, the Taiwanese, and Japanese people with lower income) than among Westerners. These results suggest that the internal locus of control is a key individual difference that predicts collective action in the presence of factors that inhibit such participation (e.g., cultural values, low political interest, and low income).

We investigated the effect of social networks on volunteering, which is known to be beneficial for people and society, among elderly Japanese of lower socioeconomic status. Western studies have demonstrated that social networks boost volunteering among wealthy people because of the norm that they should help the less fortunate. However, wealthy East Asians do not share this norm. Therefore, socioeconomic variables and volunteering tend not to be significantly related in Japan. We hypothesized that social networks would be more important to volunteering among the Japanese elderly, especially among people of a lower socioeconomic status. A total of 768 respondents (319 men, 432 women, 17 sex unspecified; M-age = 73.99 years, SD = 7.40 years) completed the survey. The results indicated that social networks were positively related to volunteering only among people with lower financial status. This result suggests that social networks can increase opportunities and help less advantaged elderly people to reap the benefits of volunteering.

This study examined whether satisfaction with social interactions and the number of people interacted with during walking groups is associated with affective responses among older adults. Twenty-six older adults were asked to participate in five walking group sessions. The participants walked together for 40-50 min. In every session, the participants reported their affective responses to walking (positive engagement, tranquility, and negative affect), their level of satisfaction with the social interactions experienced, and the number of people interacted with during the walk. The available data were from 107 person-sessions. Multilevel models revealed that, although a higher number of people interacted with was not significantly associated with improvements in any affective responses, higher satisfaction with the interactions was significantly associated with improvements in positive engagement at both the within- and between-person levels. This study found that higher satisfaction with the interactions was associated with desirable affective responses among older adults.

Ikigai, one of the indices of well-being, tends to decline with age because resources relating to ikigai decline. However, there are individual differences in this decline. This study tested for maintenance of ikigai among Japanese elderly, using a longitudinal study investigating the moderating role of social capital on the effects of changes in human capital on ikigai. We conducted a panel survey targeting 1,068 people (M age = 73.01 years) in 2013, and 686 people in 2017. The variables were ikigai, changes in human capital (self-rated financial status, physical health) and social capital (social networks, trust in others), educational level, and control variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed the interaction effects of changes in physical health and changes in social networks (strong ties, weak ties) on follow-up ikigai. Post hoc analyses indicated that declines in physical health predicted declines in ikigai among those whose social networks (strong ties and weak ties) had declined in the 4-year study, but these relationships were not significant among those whose social networks had increased. The results suggest that older adults can weaken the adverse effect of a decline in human capital on ikigai by maintaining or increasing social networks.

AimGoing outdoors more frequently is beneficial for maintaining and improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adults. However, individual differences can alter the effects of going outdoors. The present study aimed to examine whether relationships between going outdoors and HRQOL were moderated by living alone and employment status.MethodsThe present study was a secondary analysis of 14-month prospective data (n = 613). Variables used in this study were baseline data on the frequency of going outdoors, HRQOL (physical and mental component summary scores assessed using the Japanese version of the Medical Outcomes study Short Form 8-Item Health Survey), living alone, employment status, potential confounders (sex, age, educational level and instrumental activities of daily living) and follow-up data on HRQOL.ResultsMixed models showed that the interaction term of going outdoors and currently living alone on both the physical and mental component summary and that of going outdoors and current employment status on the mental component were significant. Stratified analyses showed that going outdoors more frequently predicted the physical and mental component summary among those who lived with others, and the mental component summary among those who were unemployed.ConclusionsThese results show that the influence of going outdoors on HRQOL was moderated by living alone and employment status. Going outdoors more frequently might be important for the maintenance of HRQOL, especially among unemployed older adults living with others. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 640-647.

AimStrengthening neighborhood social networks is important for promoting health among older adults. However, effective intervention strategies aimed at increasing older adults' social networks have not yet been established. The present study examined whether a university-led community intervention that provided communication opportunities could increase older Japanese adults' neighborhood social networks.MethodsThe present study used a quasi-experimental design. Before the intervention, using postal mail, we carried out a baseline questionnaire survey that was sent to all people living in the Tsurukabuto community aged 60 years (n = 1769), of whom 1068 responded. For the community intervention, 18 event-based programs were provided over the course of 1 year at Kobe University. Academic staff at Kobe University organized all the programs. During the program, social interactions among participants were promoted. A follow-up survey was distributed to those who responded to the baseline survey, and 710 individuals answered the question about their participation in the intervention programs (138 respondents were participants, 572 were non-participants). The neighborhood social network was measured in both the baseline and follow-up surveys.ResultsAnalysis of covariance showed that the changes in neighborhood social network among participants in the program was significantly higher than the changes among non-participants (P = 0.046) after adjusting for the baseline score of social network.ConclusionsThe present study found that participants of the intervention expanded their neighborhood social network, but non-participants did not. This finding shows that community interventions using university resources could increase older adults' neighborhood social networks. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 462-469.

<p>Objective: This study examined the association between the perception of hilly environment and active transportation among older adults living in sloping land.</p><p>Methods: This study was cross-sectional. A questionnaire survey was conducted with older adults (n = 1021) residing in Tsurukabuto area in Nada-ward, Kobe-city. Among the respondents, 693 individuals (67.9%) answered the survey. In this study, data from 337 individuals aged 65 or more without serious mobility limitations and missing data were analyzed. Active transportation was measured as "transportation outside Tsurukabuto area by walking or cycling at least once a week." To evaluate participants' perception of the hilly environment, they were asked whether transportation was difficult due to the hilly neighborhood. Gender, age group, living arrangement, perceived economic status, driving status, exercise activity at least twice a week, being overweight, knee pain, and psychological distress were also examined in the questionnaire. A poisson regression analysis was performed, with active transportation as the dependent variable, and the perception of the hilly environment and other factors as the independent variables.</p><p>Results: Among the respondents, 21.2% engaged in active transportation. The poisson regression analysis revealed that those who negatively perceived the hilly environment (adjusted prevalence ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval = 0.42-0.96) were less likely to engage in active transportation than those who did not negatively perceived it.</p><p>Conclusion: The present study found that the those without negative perception of the hilly environment tended to engage in active transportation among the respondents. This finding indicates that reducing negative perception of the hilly environment might influence active transportation among older adults living in sloping land.</p>

<p>This research applies spatial statistics to examine proximal factors affecting the political behavior of voters in a regional election in Japan, particularly, voter proximity to the election campaigns of the candidates. During the mayoral election in Akō City, Hyōgo Prefecture, voters' political behavior, attitudes, and awareness of politics were measured using a social survey, the spatial location information relating to candidates' election campaigns being measured using GPS. Voters' favorable perception of a certain candidate was positively correlated to the degree of contact with his election campaign of voters themselves or that of their neighborhood, but not to spatial proximity with his campaign. On the other hand, both the degree of contact and spatial proximity with his election campaign of voters themselves led them to cast their votes for the candidate, even controlling for favorability. It was revealed that there is a possibility for proximal factors to be treated more precisely by applying spatial statistics.</p>

Studies suggest that people with high and unstable self-esteem had extrapunitive tendencies. However, the relationship between self-esteem instability and positive functions has rarely been tested. This study predicted that people with high and unstable self-esteem would have high expectations for the far future in order to maintain their self-esteem after experiencing negative events. Canadian students (N=146; 40 males, 106 females) participated in a diary survey for seven days. Their levels of self-esteem, self-esteem instability, frequency of negative events, and expectations for the future were measured. As predicted, among those who had high self-esteem and experienced a lot of negative interpersonal events, self-esteem instability was positively related to their expectations for the far future. This result indicates that expectation for the far future functions to decrease perceived threats for negative events among people with high and unstable self-esteem.

Japanese and Canadian university students were compared on the changes they wanted in their lives. Contrary to their characterization as self-effacingly relational and group-minded, Japanese were no more likely than Canadians to wish for social or collective goods. Rather, Japanese were more likely than Canadians to wish for money or material goods, and less likely than Canadians to wish for better family relations, increased self-understanding, and improved academic performance. Whether these findings reflect dissimilar cultural priorities, unequal opportunities and constraints, or both, is discussed.

Five studies document the validity of a new 8-item scale designed to measure positivity, defined as the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook. In the first study (N = 372), the psychometric properties of Positivity Scale (P Scale) were examined in accordance with classical test theory using a large number of college participants. In Study 2, the unidimensionality of the P Scale was corroborated with confirmatory factor analysis in 2 independent samples (N-1 = 322; N-2 = 457). In Study 3, P Scale invariance across sexes and its relations with self-esteem, life satisfaction, optimism, positive negative affect, depression, and the Big Five provided further evidence of the internal and construct validity of the new measure in a large community sample (N = 3,589). In Study 4, test-retest reliability of the P Scale was found in a sample of college students (N = 262) who were readministered the scale after 5 weeks. In Study 5, measurement invariance and construct validity of P Scale were further supported across samples in different countries and cultures, including Italy (N = 689), the United States (N = 1,187), Japan (N = 281), and Spain (N = 302). Psychometric findings across diverse cultural context attest to the robustness of the P Scale and to positivity as a basic disposition.

Based on a deductive, culturally decentered approach, new items were generated to improve the reliability of the original Social Axioms Survey, which measures individuals' general beliefs about the world. In Study 1, results from 11 countries support the original five-factor structure and achieve higher reliability for the axiom dimensions as measured by the new scale. Moreover, moderate but meaningful associations between axiom and Big-Five personality dimensions were found. Temporal change of social axioms at the culture level was examined and found to be moderate. In Study 2, additional new items were generated for social complexity and fate control, then assessed in Hong Kong and the United States. Reliability was further improved for both dimensions. Additionally, two subfactors of fate control were identified: fate determinism and fate alterability. Fate determinism, but not fate alterability, related positively to neuroticism. Other relationships between axiom and personality dimensions were similar to those reported in Study 1. The short forms of the axiom dimensions were generally reliable and correlated highly with the long forms. This research thus provides a stronger foundation for applying the construct of social axioms around the world.