Abstract
According to self-determination theory (SDT), the satisfaction of the universal needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is important in order to enhance autonomous motivation, which in turn promotes psychological well-being (PWB), regardless of age or culture. In contrast, some cross-cultural perspectives challenge SDT's universalistic viewpoint, especially SDT's view that autonomy yields universal positive effects across Western and Eastern societies. To test these theoretical frameworks across cultures, with special focus on the field of aging, this study examined the contribution of satisfying basic psychological needs to elderly people's PWB from Eastern and Western cultures (China and France). Elderly retired people living at home (NChina = 510, Mage = 68.49 years; NFrance = 170, Mage = 71.19 years) were invited to complete surveys assessing these variables and providing demographic information. Consistent with the hypothesis of SDT, results from structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that needs satisfaction facilitates autonomous motivation, which in turn promotes PWB in both elderly Chinese and French. Moreover, the finding from subsequent moderation analysis confirmed the moderating effect of culture in the relationship between competence satisfaction and PWB, with the contribution of competence satisfaction on PWB being stronger among elderly Chinese than elderly French (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that, the broad applicability of SDT notwithstanding, attending to cultural differences in elderly care remains important.
Highlights
The proportion of older peoples in the world’s population is growing
The results indicated that the satisfaction of all the three needs showed significant positive correlations with autonomous motivation and psychological well-being (PWB) among the elderly in both China and France
Cultural differences were observed: controlled extrinsic motivation was positively associated with global needs satisfaction and PWB, while amotivation was found to be positively associated with intrinsic motivation and autonomous motivation only among Chinese elderly
Summary
Well-Being Among Older Adults world population (United Nations Department of Economic Social Affairs, 2017). In some countries, such as China and France, this situation is even more prominent. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Chinese people aged 60 or over represented 17.3% of the Chinese population in 2016 and this is projected to be 34.1% in 2050. Societal issues around older people are becoming increasingly important, and naturally include mental health problems. In this global context it is important to understand the determinants of well-being, within mental health promotion in older age. The question remains as to the universality of the determinants of well-being among older adults: are they identical or different across cultures? Based on SDT, the present research sets out to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to elderly people’s well-being within a cross-cultural perspective
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