The Effects of Asset on Life Satisfaction among the Elderly: Focused on the Multiple Mediating Effect of Participation in Social Activities

Abstract

This study aimed to confirm the multiple mediating effect of participation in social activities in the process of the elderly assets’ affecting the life satisfaction. For this purpose, we drew data on a total of 4,150 people aged 65 and older from the 5th wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). We analyzed the data employing the SPSS Process Macro. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, assets of elders have a statistically significant effect on life satisfaction. Second, the more assets elderly people have, the more actively they participate both in formal and informal social activities. Third, participation in formal and/or informal social activities had a statistically significant effect on life satisfaction. Lastly, assets of the elderly have a significant effect on life satisfaction through participation in formal and/or informal social activities. The results of this study confirmed the mechanism of effect of assets on life satisfaction and suggested the necessity of social welfare strategy development in order to activate social participation of the elderly.