高齡者之感恩性情對主觀幸福感的影響：情緒與認知之雙元中介機制

Effects of the Elderly's Gratitude Deposition on Subjective Well-being: A Dual Mediating Mechanism of Emotion and Cognition

陳貽照(Yi-Chao Chen) ； 簡晉龍(Chin-Lung Chien) ； 許詩淇(Shih-Chi Hsu)

《教育心理學報》 52卷1期 (2020/09) Pp. 81-111

https://doi.org/10.6251/BEP.202009_52(1).0004

摘要

本研究從正向心理資源的角度切入，探究符合高齡發展且具可塑性的「感恩」與高齡者主觀幸福感之關聯，並探究其間的中介機制。研究假設：在控制一些隨著老化而改變的生活狀況變項（生病次數、運動情形）後，高齡者的感恩性情對主觀幸福感（生活滿意、正／負向情緒）仍有顯著正向效果，此效果係透過情緒面的感恩情緒與認知面的生命回憶之中介。本研究以問卷調查法，搜集到355名55歲以上的高齡者資料。透過結構方程式模型的檢驗，在控制年齡、性別、生病次數、運動變項的效果之下，路徑模式的結果顯示：（1）感恩性情對感恩情緒與正向生命回憶有正向助益；（2）感恩情緒會增加正向情緒，但也會帶來負向情緒；（3）正向生命回憶會增加生活滿意與正向情緒，也會減少負向情緒；（4）感恩情緒可中介感恩性情對正向情緒與負向情緒之效果；（5）正向生命回憶可中介感恩性情對生活滿意、正向情緒、及負向情緒之效果。總結來說，感恩性情可透過認知面的生命回憶與情緒面的感恩情緒兩個不同的中介機制來影響主觀幸福感三成分，其中，又以生命回憶具有較大的正面效果。比起生命回憶，感恩情緒不但效果較弱，甚至可能帶來負向情緒。因此，比起感恩情緒，生命回憶似乎更是高齡者幸福感的重要機制。最後，本文也提出本研究的限制、未來的研究方向，及提升高齡者幸福感的可行方案，希冀這些方案，能拋磚引玉，讓更多心理學者能對台灣的高齡社會做出更實質的貢獻。

關鍵字

高齡化 ； 感恩性情 ； 正向回憶 ； 心理資源 ； 幸福感

並列摘要

From the perspective of positive psychological resources, ＂gratitude＂ not only possesses plasticity, but is also an important psychological characteristic in elderly development. This study explored the connection between the ＂gratitude＂ of elders and their subjective wellbeing and probed into the mediating mechanism between them. Although aging is an inevitable part of life, elders are faced with many losses and restrictions that make elderly life difficult. Therefore, how to enable elders to ＂age positively＂ has become an issue of common concern for many scholars. In the past, multi-faceted successful aging indicators have often been adopted to reflect positive aging. However, this study used streamlined wellbeing of concern in psychology instead and employed basic conditions such as ＂reasonable physical health＂, ＂low-risk disease or disability＂ as the control variables. This study that the emotional characteristic (gratitude disposition), a positive psychological resource elders possess, produces significant effects on the wellbeing of elders. Even behind the background variables of controlled population (age, gender) and living status (frequency of falling into illness, exercise status), gratitude disposition still plays an influential role on the three constituents of wellbeing. Additionally, gratitude disposition mediates the effects of gratitude disposition on the constituents of wellbeing through emotion (gratitude emotion) or cognition (positive life memory). In other words, psychological resources play a certain role on the wellbeing of elders. This study especially selected gratitude because it is a psychological resource with plasticity. At the same time, it is also in line with reachability in elderly development and is an emotional state often experienced by elders. These two characteristics enable psychologists to focus on changing the situation of elders in order for them to age more positively. Based on the research question and literature review, this study hypothesized that after controlling some life status variables that change with aging (frequency of falling into illness, exercise status), the gratitude disposition of elders still has significant positive effects on the three subjective well-being (SWB) components (including life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). Besides, it was hypothesized that the effects of gratitude disposition on the three SWB components are mediated by the grateful emotion under the emotional aspect and the life reminiscence under the cognitive aspect. This study collected the information of 335 elders aged above 55 in Taiwan through the questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire contents include grateful disposition scale, positive/negative life reminiscence scale, life satisfaction scale, positive/negative emotion scale, grateful emotion scale, and control variables such as age, gender, frequency of falling into illness, exercise status et al. The above scales were mainly designed with the self-report measurement method. They were evaluated by the Likert 4 or 6-point scale and adjusted to suit the elderly. Please ask the elderly to circle the appropriate answer in accordance with their own condition. Initially, the descriptive statistics and correlations among the main variables were analyzed. Subsequently, the structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to examine the ＂dual mediating model of the elderly's gratitude deposition on subjective well-being＂ to test the overall model fit and the path coefficients. The Sobel test was used to test the significance of the mediating effects, and the bootstrapping method was also used to compute the 95% confidence intervals for the mediating effects. In the model, with grateful deposition as the independent variable, grateful emotion and life reminiscence as the mediating variables, and life satisfaction, positive emotions, and negative emotions as the criterion variables, this study hypothesized that gratitude disposition can affect the three constituents of wellbeing (life satisfaction, positive emotion, negative emotion) through two completely different mediating variables, namely, emotion and cognition. The initial correlation analysis shows that the correlations among gratitude disposition, two mediating variables, and wellbeing generally support our predictions. Through the SEM analysis, the result shows that the proposed model has an adequate model fit, CFI = .94, RNI = .94, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .04, χ^2(113) = 256.281 (p ＜ .001), and has no offending estimates. Under the condition of controlling the effects of age, gender, frequency of falling into illness, and exercise status, the results show: (1) gratitude disposition has a positive effect on gratitude emotion and positive life reminiscence; (2) gratitude emotion has a positive effect on positive emotion, but it also produces negative emotion; (3) positive life reminiscence has a positive effect on life satisfaction and positive emotion and it also reduces negative emotion; (4) gratitude emotion can mediate the effects of gratitude disposition on positive emotion and negative emotion; (5) positive life reminiscence can mediate the effects of gratitude disposition on life satisfaction, positive emotion, and negative emotion. In summary, gratitude disposition can affect the three constituents of subjective wellbeing through two different mediating mechanisms, namely, the life reminiscence under the cognitive aspect and gratitude emotion under the emotional aspect. In particular, life reminiscence produces greater positive effects. Compared to life memory, gratitude emotion not only produces weaker effects, but it also possibly brings about negative emotions. Therefore, compared to gratitude emotion, life reminiscence seems to be a more important mechanism contributing to the wellbeing of elders. In the face of the rapidly increasing elderly population, the government has vigorously set up local aging community-based care systems, such as elderly care stations. In addition, targeting elders requiring long-term care, long-term care institutions, lane/alley long-term care stations, and so on have been set up. At present, the service momentum of these systems is a totally inadequate measure, and the quality demands strengthening. While the long-term care systems are being set up by the government, it is also reflected that delaying elderly aging is perhaps the fundamental solution. Hence, a greater emphasis is given to front-end aging prevention. From a more positive perspective, aging prevention is about promoting positive aging. This study reveals that: Psychological resources ＂gratitude disposition＂ and ＂positive life reminiscence operations＂ concerning life integration that meet the reachability and plasticity of the aging development stage can promote positive aging and make elders happier, which are said to be in line with the government's policy direction. In any of the above-mentioned elderly institutions, gratitude and positive life reminiscence intervention programs can be easily and conveniently implemented. Through frequent practice, the psychological resources in these two aspects can naturally be enhanced, making elders happier and age more positively. Although there are already some intervention programs that enable elders to age more positively, these intervention programs have not explored the internal mechanism. The results revealed in this study can be further applied in programs intended to enhance the wellbeing of elders. With a more refined and more appropriate intervention program design, it can be applied in various elderly institution activities and courses, enabling elders to more positively take purposeful actions on their own to make themselves happier and lessen the financial burden on the nation and society and the load on the children. Finally, this study incidentally found the part where gratitude disposition is inconsistent with previous research (such as gratitude disposition in the model directly and negative affect positive emotions). This study especially provided an explanation on this part. Furthermore, the research limitations, future research direction, and feasible programs were put forward, hoping that the solution formulated can serve as a stimulus for more psychologists to make substantive contributions to Taiwan's aging society.

並列關鍵字

aging ； gratitude disposition ； positive reminiscence ； psychological resources ； well-being

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