Gendered Social Capital and Health Outcomes Among Older Adults in China

Abstract

The gender dimension of social capital remains underinvestigated, particularly in the Eastern context. Goal: This chapter examines the relationship between social capital and health among a sample of older adults from China, particularly from a gender perspective. Method: Sample (N = 1,854) of older Chinese (60 years and over), 46.4% female, were obtained from Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2005, a representative sample survey of China’s urban and rural households. Principal component analysis generated eight dimensions of social capital on which male and female elders were compared using t-tests. Treating physical and emotional health outcomes as continuous variables, multiple regressions tested relationship between social capital and health outcomes for male and female groups separately. Results: Significant differences were found on some dimensions of social capital by gender. Regressions indicated different associations between dimensions of social capital with health outcomes by gender. Implications: Accounting for gender may be important when developing interventions to maximize social capital in communities of China.