Spirituality as a correlate of happiness among seniour citizens of Punjab: A comparative study

Pages: 1275-1279
Princy and Tejpreet Kaur Kang (Department of Human Development, College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana)

India is a home to one out of ten senior citizens in the world. This population, estimated to be over 80 million at present, is projected to grow to 124 million by 2020. Significantly women are doing better with life expectancy at 68 years compared to 66 years for men. Among the total elderly population, those who live in rural areas constitute 78 percent. Sex ratio in elderly population, which was 928 as compared to 927 in total population in the year 1996, is projected to become 1031 by the year 2016 as compared to 935 in the total population. So, the issue to improve the quality of life of these “silver citizens” is unquestionable. Happiness is a multidimensional construct comprising of emotional and cognitive elements. It is related with positive emotions whereas intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth balance our material pursuits and make us happy. Happiness can be achieved provided one has the wisdom of discovery, the wisdom of contentment, the wisdom of gratitude, the wisdom of giving and wisdom of self actualization. Spirituality is to some extent an one-to-one communication with the divine without the influence of any organization or a set of dogmatic views. It is based more on personal experiences rather than the experience of others. The Study” Spirituality as a correlate of Happiness among seniour citizens of Punjab: A comparative study”. Hence the objectives of the present research was framed to study the state of Happiness and Spirituality among male and female senior citizens. To study the relationship and contribution of Spirituality with state of Happiness among elderly. The sample comprised of 360 elderly persons (180 males and 180 females) in the age group 65years and above, only those elderly were selected for the sample who were leading a retired life, were not suffering from any deadly disease and belonged to middle socio economic status families. The sample was equally distributed over the three cultural zones of Punjab naming Malwa, Majha and Doaba.each selected district. Data was collected through questionnaire cum interview method. Resuts revealed that majority of male as well as female respondents were in average level of spirituality followed by high and low. Non-Significant gender differences existed in the level of spirituality among elderly. Maximum number of respondents were having average level of happiness followed by high and low. Male elderly perceived significantly more happiness as compared to their female counterparts. Significant association existed between spirituality and happiness among elderly males and females. Indicating that with increase in spirituality level of happiness also increases. All the dimensions of spirituality were significantly positively correlated with happiness except biostoria and inner self Spirituality was contributing significantly and positively as a protective factor for happiness.