Subjective well being of elderly in relation to their happiness level: A comparative study

Pages:435-438
Princy and Tejpreet K. Kang (Department of Human Development, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana)

General well being may be defined as the subjective feeling of contentment, happiness, satisfaction with life experiences and one’s role in the world of work, sense of achievement, utility, belongingness, and no distress, dissatisfaction or worries etc.. Happiness is a nebulous term, which to date has different meanings to different people. To some it is synonymous with “joy” while others accept the standard dictionary definition that happiness is a state of well being or contentment- a condition dominated by pleasurable satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to find out the relationship of subjective well being with state of happiness among elderly males and females. For this purpose 360 elderly (180 males and 180 females) of Punjab state, ranging from 65 and above were taken as sample. To measure subjective well being, Cornell Medical Health Index questionnaire by Wig, Parshad and Verma was used and Oxford Happiness Inventory developed by Argyle was used to measure the happiness among elderly. Results indicated that significantly more happiness is perceived by elderly males as compared to their female counterparts. In case of Subjective Well Being gender differences were found to be non significant but females were facing greater health problems in comparison to the males. Subjective well being was negatively and significantly correlated with happiness indicating as the problems related to well being increases, happiness decreases.