Loneliness and Life-satisfaction Among the Elderly

INDIAN JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGY, VOL.20,				area certain electronic items used by people such as
No.4, 2006, p:405-416.				(a) Personal computer, (b) Internet, (c) digital diary, (d)
INTRODUCTION				mobile phone, (e) micro-oven, (d) disc-man, (e) Digital
Electronic technology is changing our life-style to a				cameras, (f) lap-tops, (g) automatic washing machine,
great extent. Prevalence and excessive use of				(h) DVD players, and frequent visits to (i) computerized
electronic products found among people, cutting				shops/ movie halls/ theme parks/ ATMs, etc were
across cultural differences, have set in a trend for				stated and verified. The inventory consists of 42 items
e-culture. Electronic-culture is new. It is emerging as a				with 2 responses, i.e., "yes" and "no" respectively for
transnational and global phenomenon; not confined to				each item. The 42 items are classified into 4 areas,
geographical boundaries. Internet, especially, is				namely, home=16 items, office=11 items, personal=8
expected to bring in sweeping and lasting cultural				items and public=7 items. The score for 'yes' in home
transformations. For instance, terms like e-commerce,				area is 2, in office is 1, in personal area is 3 and in public
e-business, e-banking, e-mails, e-organizations,				area is 1 were as the score for 'no' in all the areas is 0.
e-governance, e-journals, e-books, e-medicine, internet,				The maximum score possible in this inventory is 74
web-shopping, etc have become part of the current				and the minimum score is 0. High score indicates high
lexicon.				e-culture and low score indicates low e-culture. The
The advances and breakthroughs made in the fields				reliability and validity co-efficient values for this
of information and communication technology (ICT) and				inventory were 0.72 and 0.85 respectively found
electronics during the present and previous centuries				significant at 0.001 levels.
have resulted in the emergence of e-culture. Though				(2)Revised University of California at Los Angles
the ICT revolution started in the near past its progress				(UCLA) Loneliness Scale
towards networking is achieved only recently through				This scale was developed by Russell et al (1980). It is a
the impetus provided by the Internet (Uzelac, 2003).				20 item self-report on which respondents express
According to Mercer (2003) it is the ICT-availability and				how often their feelings and behaviours reflect
access to Internet that provides scope for production				perceived isolation and dissatisfaction with social
of e-culture. However, today the emergence of				relationships. This scale consists of 10 statements
e-culture is taken for granted due to prevalence of the				dealing with satisfaction of one's social relationships
interactive digital applications of the ICT such as				and 10 statements dealing with dissatisfaction of one's
Internet and mobile technologies (Mitchell, 2003).				social relationships. Respondents indicated how
Van Dijk (2001) identified four different types of				frequently they experience each item on a scale from
access to ICT as conditions for the emergence of				1 to 4, corresponding to 'never,' 'rarely,' 'sometimes,' and
e-culture, namely, motivation, possession, use and skills.				'often' respectively. Russell et al (1980) determined high
Motivation concerns psychical access to ICT: the				internal consistency reliability for the instrument yielding
interest in it, the will to use it and the lack of fear of				a co-efficient alpha of 0.94. They also found
new technology. Possession means, in this context, the				acceptable concurrent validity and discriminant validity.
availability of equipment and an Internet connection at				Split-half reliability in Indian context was 0.71 (Jha, 1988).
home or at work, school or university. The third				(3)Life-Satisfaction Scale
component of access is the actual use that people				This scale was constructed by Campbell et al (1976)
make of available possibilities. The use depends in part				to measure life-satisfaction. The scale consists of 7
on the fourth form of access, namely the possession				items based on Likert-type of scaling technique with 5
of digital skills (De Haan & Huysmans, 2002).				responses, namely, 'very happy,' 'pretty happy,' 'happy,'
E-culture though prevalent widely, is a recent				'not happy,' and 'not too happy,' and the scores range
phenomenon. The scientist community has not				from 1 to 5 respectively. The maximum score possible
explored much of it now. De Haan and Huysmans				in this scale is 35 and the minimum score is 7. The
(2002) cautions that the exploration of e-culture may				test-retest reliability reported for this scale and the
only be the start of a long-term process of change				validity worked out with Psychological Well-being Scale
taking place at a global level. Research on e-culture				and with Index of Domain Satisfaction was found to
presently is at a rudimentary level and so is its				be significant.
concept. Scholars in this field have tried to define				Procedure
e-culture in various ways, but all being far from				The samples of this study were personally and
conclusive.				individually contacted and data was obtained through
E-culture is increasingly perceived as a new digital				face-to face interview. The duration of data collection
media culture or digitalization of culture. Netherlands				were spread over a period of two months (60 days).
council for culture (2004) argues that, within the				The obtained responses were scored and statistically
context of the 'digitizing society,' e-culture should be				analyzed.
seen as the integration of ICT into the primary				Table I: Showing the Mean, SD, SEM and t-test for
processes of productivity, distribution, presentation,				e-culture score of the groups on the basis of gender.
preservation and (re)utilization of cultural expression.				Gender N Mean SD SEM t-value LS
According to the view of De Haan and Huysmans				Male 60 34.80 15.46 1.09 1.35 NS
(2002) the term 'e-culture' is stated to refer to the				Female 60 32.37 15.96 1.44
diffusion of new technology, its application for various				Table II: Showing the Pearson's moment correlation
avenues such as information and communication in				co-efficient for e-culture withloneliness and
addition to shifts effected in related attitudes, values				life-satisfaction.
and norms. Patel and Rajendran (2005) have defined				Variables r
"electronic culture" as "increased use of electronic				Loneliness -0.171**
goods by individuals in various areas like home, office,				Life-satisfaction 0.154**
public places and those they carry personally with				** significant at 0.001 levels
them, to fulfill their psycho-social needs."				*significant at 0.005 levels
E-culture is both technological and a social				Discussion
development. There is a widespread consensus that				The main aim of this research study was to explore
new digital and networking technologies like the World				the relationship of e-culture with loneliness and
Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet have the				life-satisfaction among the elderly. For this purpose
capacity to reorder the domains of everyday social				Pearson's product moment correlation were calculated,
and personal life (Dona Kolar-Panov, 2003). Cultural				since no significant gender differences were found as
habits and participation in cultural life are changing as a				indicated in Table I the results for both sexes are
corollary of e-culture. Hence, it would be pertinent here				combined and given in Table II.
to consider briefly the concept and importance of				It is inferred from the results summarized in Table II
culture in the light of a psychological focus leading to				that e-culture has a highly significant positive
the study on the impact of e-culture.				relationship with life-satisfaction but is negatively and
According to Brislin (2000) one of the major				significantly related to loneliness.
assumptions of cross-cultural social psychology is that				In this study e-culture has been conceptualized as
culture shapes human behavior. Numerous advanced				increased use of electronic products. The outcome of
theories of social behavior indicate that cultural factors				the present research indicates that more use of
play significant role in the determination of behavior,				electronic items by the elderly results in high
shaping values, self, and motivation of individuals				life-satisfaction. This outcome of the present study can
(Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Lehman et al (2004) point				defended by the view that access to electronic
out that culture and psychological processes influence				technology and use of electronic products by elderly
one another and a dynamic interplay exists between				has multiple implications, it connotes that the elderly
them.				posses the required digital skills, is active and
Culture aims to ensure a harmonious relationship				productive, is mentally and physically healthy, has
between humans and their environments. Psychological				adequate economic support and is progressive minded.
well-being remains the main focus of cultural norms				Van Dijk (2001) has already identified four different
and practices. Myers and Diener (1995) refer to				types of access to information and communication
life-satisfaction as one of the three key aspects of				technology (ICT) as conditions for the emergence of
psychological well-being, the others being positive and				e-culture, namely, motivation, possession, use and skills.
negative affect. Life satisfaction stands together with				Hence, the elderly individuals who are high in e-culture
the affective elements to yield a relatively				may find easy to adjust to the demands of
comprehensive picture of psychological well-being				e-environment and thereby experience more
(Diener et al., 1999). Chirkov et al (2005) found				life-satisfaction.
'culture-fit' is positively associated with life satisfaction.				The finding of this research that e-culture is inversely
Adjustment to cultural demands is essential for				related to loneliness among elderly indicates that
psychological well-being and life-satisfaction. But				increased use of electronic products by elderly
cultures are diverse and dynamic social systems and				individuals results in low level of loneliness and vice
not static monoliths (Bandura, 2002). Cultural changes				versa. The rationale for this finding might be that the
are inevitable and tend to create new demands which				preoccupation with electronic products especially
the elderly may find difficult to fulfill. Now the dawning				multi-media technologies by the elderly may make
of e-culture emphasizes the acquiring of digital skills				them feel part of a social network or be a
and demands shifts in related attitudes, values and				replacement for the lack of friends. The information
norms. Access and usage of electronic technology will				and communication technology (ICT) championed by
be an important determinant of life-satisfaction in this				Internet and mobile technology ensuing in e-culture has
era of e-culture.				made access to information and communication
Culture also emphasize the importance of group living				between people simple, effortless and undemanding.
because from an evolutionary perspective, solitude				Loneliness which is popularly viewed as relative deficit
(loneliness) is dangerous; mutually supportive collective				in adequate social relations may be compromised by
behaviour is beneficial, both for survival and sexual				increased indulgence in electronic technology making
reproduction. Thus, it makes sense to assume that				contacts and communication easy for the elderly.
humans have an evolved tendency toward the				Further the elderly individuals possessing the motivation
establishment of shared beliefs, behaviours, and				and skills to use electronic products may have more
normative structures that help hold social collectives				perceived control over their environments. Patel (1998)
together (Campbell, 1982). Loneliness is popularly				has empirically proved that increased perceived control
viewed as a relative deficit in social relationship with				results in decreased loneliness among the elderly.
others in the environment. Russell, Peplau, and Cutrona				CONCLUSION
(1980) defined loneliness "as the relational deficit				The present study reveals that e-culture is positively
reflecting interpersonal and social relationships that the				and significantly related to life-satisfaction and
individual evaluates as quantitatively inadequate or too				loneliness is negatively and significantly related to
few in numbers." It has been conceived as a problem				e-culture among the elderly.
for everyone from children to elderly, however, elderly				REFERENCE
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difficult which may leave them less satisfied with life				I, pp. 1-11.
and also feel lonelier. No studies relating e-culture,				Peplau, L.A., Bikson, T.K., Rook, K.S and Goodchilds, J.D
loneliness and life-satisfaction among the elderly were				(1982). Being old and living alone. In L.A.Peplau &
also found. Hence this investigation is a pioneering				L.D.Perlman (Eds). Loneliness of source book of
effort made to explore the relationship of e-culture				current theory, research and therapy. New York: John
with loneliness and life-satisfaction in Indian context.				Wiley.
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METHOD				Uzlec, A. (2003). E-culture: Cultural Goods between
Sample				Public Domain and Private Property. In S. Dragojevic., D.
The sample for this study comprised of 120 elderly				Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005):
individuals (60 females and 60 males respectively)				E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy,
from Pondicherry (a Union Territory of India). The age				Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the
range of the samples were between 60 to 73 years				proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27
(Mean age=64.3 years). Samples were restricted to				April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations.
the educated segment of the elderly population, those				pp. 31-40.
with a minimum of a graduate degree and above				Van Dijk, J. (2001). The accessibility of ICTs and the
were only included in this study. Purposive sampling				quality of infrastructure and services. In: Ministry of
technique was adopted.				Transport, Public Works and Water Management of
Tools used				the Netherlands (Ed.), People in networks: A
The research tools used in this study for data				contribution to the discussion of the Ministry of
collection were the (1) e-culture Inventory, (2) UCLA				Transport to the debate about the Digital Divide. The
Loneliness Scale, and (3) Life-Satisfaction Scale,				Hague: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water
selected after a comprehensive review of related				Management.
literature.				Venkoba Rao, A. (1992). The Universe of Geron.
(1) E-culture inventory				Presidential Address, 6th National Conference,
This inventory was developed by Patel and Rajendran				Association of Gerontology, November. 1992. Aligarh,
(2005) to measure e-culture. It evaluates e-culture				India.
based on multiple electronic products people use in				Weiss, R.S. (1973). Loneliness: The Experience of
different areas such as home, office, public places and				Emotional and Social Isolation. Cambridge, MA: MIT
those that they carry personally with them. Under each				Press.

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Loneliness and Life-satisfaction Among the Elderly