Subjective well-being in centenarians: a comparison of Japan and the United States

ABSTRACT

Objective: The present study examined the cultural differences and similarities in the levels and predictors of subjective well-being in Japanese and American centenarians.

Method: We analyzed data on cognitively intact Japanese (N = 59) and American (N = 125) participants from the Tokyo and Georgia Centenarian Studies, respectively. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale was used to measure subjective well-being, while sociodemographic, social, and health resources were assessed as potential predictors.

Results: The American participants reported higher scores on well-being (satisfaction with social relations and psychological comfort). However, cultural differences in the levels of well-being disappeared after we controlled for its predictors. The regression models revealed that health resources (cognitive function, hearing problems, and activities of daily living) were strong predictors of well-being in both countries. Social resources (living with others) were strongly associated with one dimension of well-being (attitude toward one's aging) among the Japanese participants.

Discussion: The findings support the existing lifespan and cross-cultural literature, indicating that declines in health impose certain limitations on adaptive capacity in oldest-old age irrespective of cultures, and that social embeddedness is valued in Eastern cultures. The authors speculate that cultural values, i.e. personal autonomy versus relational harmony, play an important role for well-being in oldest-old age.

KEYWORDS:

• Well-being
• culture
• oldest-old
• resources
• quality of life

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Hiroki Inagaki for creating the codebook for the Tokyo Centenarian Study.

Disclosure statement

No conflicts of interest have been declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities in Osaka University [number 14IS002] supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, and a grant from the Japan Foundation for Aging and Health. The Georgia Centenarian Study (Phase I) was supported by R01-MH43435 (1988–92) from the National Institute of Mental Health (L.W. Poon, PI). The Tokyo Centenarian Study was supported in part by a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare for the Scientific Research Project on Longevity, which focuses on the multidisciplinary approach to centenarians and its international comparison (N. Hirose, PI); a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture [grant number 15730 346]; and financial aid for research from the Keio Health Consulting Center.