Examining the effects of social networks formed in a senior-oriented online community on older participants’ subjective well-being in China

Abstract

In recent decades, the dramatic socioeconomic changes that have occurred in China have increasingly affected the social lives of older Chinese adults. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the social networks developed in an online community contributed to the subjective well-being of this age group. The underlying mechanism of this effect was examined by investigating a senior-oriented online community (OldKids). An online survey was administered to participants in the OldKids network. The results showed that the proposed theoretical model was effective in demonstrating that their participation in the OldKids network improved the participants’ subjective well-being through the mediation of perceived social support and feelings of social connectedness. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in this paper.

Keywords:

• older adults
• social networks formed in online communities
• subjective well-being
• perceived social support
• feelings of social connectedness

Notes

1. p is significant at the .05 level if the t value is larger than 1.96.