What makes life worthwhile in older age? Three studies of eudaimonic wellbeing in older adults

Aim and rationale

This PhD aims to augment knowledge about what makes life worthwhile in older age - i.e., factors associated with higher eudaimonic wellbeing. This is important because the UK population aged 50+ is large and expected to grow by 5.6 million, increasing its share of the population from 38- 44% between 2020 and 2050; some aspects of eudaimonic wellbeing decline with older age; higher eudaimonic wellbeing is associated with longer, healthier lifespans and may even be salutogenic; and it may be modifiable with relatively low-cost interventions.

Problem statement

There are evidence gaps regarding the factors associated with the eudaimonic wellbeing of older people. First, it is not known whether and how social and leisure participation mediates links between self-assessed health and feelings of how worthwhile the things one does in life are. Second, momentary sense of purpose associated with different types of leisure activities, their contexts and physical activity levels of retirees has not been researched. And third, it is known that purpose in life is important in retirement, but not what retirees understand by the concept and how meanings are changed by retirement and the experience of restrictions imposed because of a global pandemic.

Research design and methods

Factors related to older peoples’ eudaimonic wellbeing were investigated in three complementary studies in a multi-methods research design. In study one, using structural equation modelling on a large sample of adults aged 50+ (n= 9,395) from the Taking Part Survey, a mediated model of the association between self-assessed health and ratings of worthwhileness of the things older people do in their lives was developed in terms of the range of types of social and leisure activities participated in. Moderating influences of being older-old, retired or less physically active were also investigated. Study two examined associations between older peoples’ momentary feelings of purpose and pleasure and different types of activity, their social and environmental contexts and participants’ physical activity through ecological momentary assessment methods in a convenience sample of 67 retired/semi-retired adults monitored over 7 days. Finally, to better understand retirement, study three used qualitative methods employing inductive reflexive thematic analysis. In summer 2021, 26 community-living retirees were interviewed to explore the meanings retirees attach to purpose in life, and how those meanings were changed by retirement and the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020-21.

Results

In study one, a wider range of social and leisure activity engagement partially mediated the large total effect of self-assessed health on worthwhileness. Sub-group analyses showed that among those aged 50-74, retired or less physically active, the indirect effect of a wider range of social and leisure engagement constituted a much larger proportion of the total effect of health on worthwhileness than for those aged 75+, retired or more physically active. Among participants in study two, sedentary activities were negatively associated with sense of purpose, especially when indoors. However, social sedentary activities were positively associated with greater happiness. Active, social outdoor activities were positively associated with both outcomes. Less sedentary participants experienced greater happiness and purpose during all activities. For study three, two main accounts of purpose in life were generated: “doing” accounts entailed scheduling varied activities, often structured into routines; “being” accounts involved adopting roles (e.g., good grandparent), seeking feelings (e.g., fulfilment), or surviving and existing. However, the intention behind activities was more important for purpose in life than the activity itself.

Conclusions

These studies augment knowledge by identifying first that participating in a wider range of leisure activity types is associated with higher eudaimonic wellbeing and can mediate the impacts of self-assessed health on worthwhileness. Second, being less sedentary is associated with greater purpose and pleasure from all types of activities, and the context for activities matters. Third, there can be non-activity meanings to purpose in life relating to “being” in addition to “doing”.

Implications

First, older people should be encouraged to participate in a wide range of leisure activity types to improve the resilience of their eudaimonic wellbeing to threats to their participation. Second, more use could be made of technology-assisted data collection with older people, given the increasing use of modern technology by older age-groups. Third, the existential challenge of retirement shares similarities with other life-stages e.g., leaving structured schooling, imprisonment and embarking on a PhD. There may be opportunities for older people to mentor other groups pondering similar questions and to share findings from research about finding meaning and purpose in life across life stages. And finally, UK government guidance on the use of wellbeing measures in policy development focuses on life satisfaction. More research into the drivers of worthwhileness and the monetary value of an additional unit of worthwhileness would help promote its use as an outcome measure for policy.