Engagement In Cultural Activities Research Articles

An exploratory study on material deprivation and loneliness among older adults in Hong Kong

BackgroundPoverty, as a risk factor for loneliness, has been understudied, and there is a need to gain a better understanding of the relationship between poverty examined by material deprivation and loneliness among older adults in Hong Kong. It also aimed to explore the possible mediation and moderation effects of social support, social networks, neighborhood collective efficacy, and social engagement in the link between material deprivation and loneliness.Methods1696 Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above (Mage = 74.61; SD = 8.71) participated in a two-wave study. Older adults reported their loneliness level, material deprivation, perceived level of social support, social network, neighborhood collective efficacy, social engagement, and sociodemographic information. Logistic regression was conducted to examine the effect of material deprivation on loneliness, as well as the mediation and moderation models.ResultsThe results indicated that material deprived older adults reported a significantly higher level of loneliness 2 years later when controlling for demographic variables, health-related factors, and loneliness at baseline. We also found that engagement in cultural activities partially mediated the effect of material deprivation and loneliness. Furthermore, neighborhood collective efficacy and engagement in cultural activities were significant moderators that buffer the relationship between material deprivation and loneliness.ConclusionsOur results suggested the need to alleviate the negative impact of material deprivation on loneliness by developing interventions focused on promoting neighborhood collective efficacy and social engagement, which could be aimed at building meaningful bonds among Chinese older adults in Hong Kong.

Investigating the Impact of Cultural Awareness on Language Learners' Motivation and Proficiency

Learning multiple languages is advantageous for individuals engaging with diverse communities across borders. However, language barriers and miscommunication have posed significant challenges, prompting learners to improve their foreign language skills, knowledge, and expertise. A lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity has hindered learners from successfully mastering foreign languages. The inability of the UK and European populations to promote diversity and inclusion, coupled with disrespectful attitudes towards other cultures, contributes to their struggles in language acquisition. To address these issues, active engagement in cultural activities can boost motivation and proficiency in language learning. Exploring Hofstede's six dimensions of cultural competency reveals that American learners exhibit lower anxiety levels than Korean learners in language training classrooms due to high individualism. Conversely, the high power distance in China, compared to Mongolia and Hungary, results in Chinese students being less interactive and assertive in classrooms. Limited interaction negatively impacts students' psychological and behavioral development, highlighting the importance of fostering intercultural communication skills. Thus, cultural factors have been elaborated with the implementations of Lewis's cultural competency model, which has elaborated that nations worldwide can be segregated into three categories based on their cultural beliefs such as linear-active, multi-active, and reactive. Among these three categories, reactive has been identified as the most flexible, people-oriented, and culturally aware nation, wherein most Asian countries like India, Malaysia, Korea, and Thailand belong. It has been identified that due to a lack of cultural awareness, the students have been confronting significant issues in confidently learning new languages with the inability to speak appropriate terms and pronounce them properly. Participation in cultural activities and training on intercultural communication might be helpful in mitigating cross-cultural issues in new language learning.

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION AND LONELINESS AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN HONG KONG

Abstract Given that poverty as a risk factor on loneliness is understudied, this study examined the relationship between material deprivation and loneliness of older adults in Hong Kong, the mediation effects of social support and social network, and the moderation effects of social support and social engagement. A two-wave data were collected from 1,696 Chinese older adults between 2015 (T1) and 2017 (T2). All Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above, with 53.9% female. Older adults were asked about their level of loneliness, how material deprived they were, social support, social network, social engagement, demographic information, and self-rated health status. The result indicated that older adults who are more materially deprived reported a significantly higher level of loneliness at T2 when controlling for demographic variables and loneliness at baseline. Furthermore, we found that social support and the number of close children were full mediator. A significant moderator was found in neighbourhood collective efficacy and community participation specifically engagement in cultural activities. Hence, our results suggest the need to strengthen the anti-poverty policy measures for materially deprived, develop interventions focusing on improving social support and social network and enhance existing social engagement programmes that promote community participation and neighbour collective efficacy for older adults in Hong Kong.

Association between engagement in cultural activities and use of general practitioner consultations: 7-year follow-up of adults from the HUNT study, Norway.

ObjectiveAssess whether engagement in a range of cultural activities, both ‘passive’ and ‘active’ (ie, receptive and creative) participation, is associated with later demand for general practitioner (GP) consultations.DesignLongitudinal prospective cohort...

Pembauran Masyarakat Pendatang dengan Masyarakat Lokal Suku Mentawai

Assimilation is a sociocultural phenomenon that manifests in heterogeneous societies where diverse cultural backgrounds converge. The current research delves into the assimilation dynamics between immigrant communities and the indigenous Mentawai tribes in Muara Siberut Village, Mentawai Islands Regency. The process of assimilation is facilitated through the utilization of the local language as a means of communication, engagement in cultural activities, and inter-ethnic marriages. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach, this study involves participants from immigrant communities, local communities, and traditional institutions. The findings indicate a harmonious assimilation process between the immigrant communities and the local Mentawai community, characterized by the preservation of their respective local wisdom values that have facilitated assimilation over an extended period of time.

The association between leisure engagement and loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Nordic population-based study.

The main aim of this study was to examine leisure engagement and loneliness among older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by analysing population-based data from western Finland and northern Sweden. The data originated from the Gerontological Regional Database (GERDA) postal questionnaire study conducted in 2016 (n=7996) and 2021 (n=8148) among older adults aged 65, 70, 75, 80 and 85 years. Associations between loneliness and leisure engagement were analysed using logistic regression. In total, 10% and 9% of the older adults reported loneliness in 2016 and 2021, respectively. The results showed that a lack of engagement in socialising and pleasure was independently associated with loneliness in both study years, while a lack of engagement in cultural activities was associated with loneliness in 2016 only. In 2021, the likelihood of experiencing loneliness was higher in the Finnish region than in the Swedish region. In addition, those reporting a decrease in hobby and socialising leisure activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to report loneliness. Most leisure activities decreased during the pandemic, suggesting an increase in social isolation. However, this did not reflect an increase in loneliness in the studied regions. The evidence suggests that leisure engagement, especially socialising activities, continued to be important for well-being among older adults during the pandemic. Further, loneliness was affected by contextual factors as well as individual-level characteristics. Thus, according to the measures reported here, the pandemic seemed to have a slightly weakened well-being impact in Finland.

Cultural Networks of the Chungin : Chosŏn Interpreters' Participation in Poetry Societies

Abstract: This paper illuminates the cultural performance of Chosŏn (1392–1910) interpreters in the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on interpreters' participation in poetry societies ( sisa 詩社). The study aims to explore the cultural status of interpreters by examining the networks they built within poetry societies and to investigate whether engagement in cultural activities contributed to their social mobility in the late nineteenth century. Existing scholarship on the social mobility of the chungin (中人, "middle people") heavily relies on the influence of demographic expansion and position monopoly, at the expense of other indicators reflecting the chungin's social position such as economic, cultural, and political standing. To bridge this research gap, this research uses the cultural life of Chosŏn interpreters as a lens to examine how the chungin interacted with other groups. I use Kang Wi's (姜瑋 1820–1884) Kohwandang such'o (古歡堂收艸, "Collected Works of Kang Wi") as the primary source to extract social connections between the Poetry Society of the Sixth Bridge (Yukkyo sisa 六橋詩社), of which most members were official interpreters and medical doctors living in Hanyang, and the South Poetry Society, which was a poetry community organized by the yangban . Through analyzing clusters and patterns based on the concurrence of the participants, this study concludes that the cultural status of the chungin did not fully align with their categorization in the social hierarchy, and the social gap between the yangban and the chungin did not cease because of cultural exchanges.

Cultural activities in transracially adoptive families

ABSTRACT The current study investigated how engagement in cultural activities impacted transracial adoptive parent satisfaction with adoption, closeness with child, and child academic outcomes. Data from the National Survey of Adoptive Parents were analyzed to expand upon previous studies. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine a “cultural activities” variable that consisted of five items. Results of regression analyses demonstrated significant associations between cultural activities and parent satisfaction with adoption, cultural activities and closeness with child, and cultural activities and child academic performance. A cultural receptivity process model informs the advocacy of cultural activity engagement in transracially adoptive families.

Inter-Relationships Among Cultural Identity, Discrimination, Distress, Agency, and Safety Among Indigenous People in Custody

ABSTRACTA strong cultural identity has been shown to protect against psychological distress prompted by discriminatory experiences. However, these associations are scientifically unknown for people who have contact with the criminal justice system. Examining the relationships between cultural identity and mental health could enlighten efforts to improve the wellbeing of offenders, many of whom have experienced numerous negative life events and stressors. This study aimed to address these concerns by assessing the influence of cultural identity on distress, agency, community safety and discrimination for 78 Indigenous prisoners in custody in Australia. Findings revealed that possessing a stronger cultural identity effected lower levels of distress. Participants with weaker cultural identities had higher levels of distress and lower levels of agency. Furthermore, a reduced feeling of safety in the broader community appeared to have a greater negative impact on participants with weaker cultural identities. Levels of distress increased as perceptions of discrimination increased, immaterial to one's degree of cultural identity. However, results suggest that high identifiers were potentially able to alleviate this distress, perhaps through enhanced agency and engagement in cultural activities. Findings underscore the need for forensic clinicians to consider notions of cultural identity when engaging with, assessing and treating Indigenous clients.

Poverty, deprivation, and depressive symptoms among older adults in Hong Kong

ABSTRACTObjectives: Examine the association of income poverty and material deprivation with depression in old age.Methods: Our data contains a survey of 1,959 older Chinese adults in Hong Kong. We used the Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form to assess their depressive symptoms. Income poverty was defined as having household income below half the median household income (adjusted by household size); material deprivation was measured by a validated 28-item material deprivation. In addition to income poverty and material deprivation, we also assessed the effect of socio-demographic variables, financial strain, health indicators, and social and community resources on depressive symptoms.Results: Those who experienced material deprivation reported a significantly more severe depressive symptoms, even after income poverty and all other covariates were controlled for; the bivariate association between income poverty and depressive symptoms disappeared once material deprivation was controlled for. Further, we found a significant interaction effect between income poverty and material deprivation on depressive symptoms; and both engagement in cultural activities and neighborhood collective efficacy moderated the impact of being materially deprived on depressive symptoms.Conclusion: Our results have important policy implications for the measurement of poverty and for the development of anti-poverty measures for materially deprived older adults.

Internet use, social engagement and health literacy decline during ageing in a longitudinal cohort of older English adults

BackgroundHealth literacy skills tend to decline during ageing, which is often attributed to age-related cognitive decline. Whether health literacy skills may be influenced by technological and social factors during ageing...

Engaging in cultural activities compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities

ABSTRACT The goal of the current project was to examine whether engagement in intellectual/cultural activities explains the long-term effects of education on cognitive abilities throughout adulthood, and whether it compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities throughout adulthood. Participants between 18 and 96 years of age completed a comprehensive questionnaire about intellectual/cultural activities that they participated in and performed a wide variety of cognitive tests. There were no mediation effects of engagement in intellectual/cultural activities on the relationship between education and cognitive functioning. In contrast, engagement in intellectual/cultural activities was found to moderate the relations between education and the level of fluid ability, working memory, speed of processing, and episodic memory. Findings suggest that the risk of cognitive decline in people with less education can be reduced via engagement in intellectual and cultural activities throughout adulthood.

Contextual Factors Contributing to Ethnic Identity Development of Second-Generation Iranian American Adolescents

The data drawn from interviews with 55 second-generation Iranian American adolescents revealed that pride in ancient Persian culture, the adolescents’ physical characteristics, perceived stereotypes, and community point of reference all combined to affect ethnic identity as well as to reinforce a sense of ethnic loyalty. The contextual factors that influenced ethnic identity retention were family connectedness, language, community ties, ethnic pride, engagement in cultural activities and traditions, and cultural beliefs including mannerisms and an emphasis on education. Females were more likely than their male counterparts to retain the Persian language and to engage in Persian entertainment. Furthermore, the majority of the participants self-identified themselves as Persian instead of Iranian, due to the stereotypes and negative portrayals of Iranians in the media and politics. Adolescents from Jewish and Baha’i faiths asserted their religious identity more than their ethnic identity.

Engagement in cultural activities and cause-specific mortality: Prospective cohort study

Objective To determine the relation between engagement in cultural activities and main causes of mortality among full-time employees. Methods Finnish industrial employees ( N = 7922) completed a questionnaire about engagement in cultural activities (arts and culture, activities in associations, societal action, reading literature, and studying) in 1986 and were followed-up for mortality rates until 1986–2004. Results High engagement in cultural activities was independently associated with decreased all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.57–0.88) and external causes of death (hazard ratio 0.46, 95% CI 0.24–0.90) after adjustment for socio-demographic factors, socio-economic status, work stress, social characteristics, diabetes, and hypertension. High engagement was also associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality after controlling for socio-demographic factors and stress (hazard ratio 0.68, 95% CI 0.49–0.95). The associations with all-cause mortality and deaths from external causes remained after further adjustment for behavioral risk factors. Of the forms of engagement, solitary cultural activities were related to all-cause mortality while socially shared cultural activities were more closely linked to external mortality. Conclusion Better overall survival of culturally engaged employees is largely attributable to their lower risk of death from external causes.