CJS Noon Lecture - Gender-based Differences in Social Interactions and Their Effects on Subjective Well-being Among Older Japanese Adults

"Gender-based differences in the types of social interactions among older adults in Japan are examined in the context of their effects on subjective well-being. We conducted a longitudinal survey to measure changes in life satisfaction and depression, and the effects of social interaction on these measures. We find that the number of children seems to be more important as sources of social support for female rather than male elders. Further, spousal conversation and non-obligatory social interaction, such as unpaid social activities and friendships, appears to be important for both male and female older adults. Our findings suggest that social relations among Japanese elders may be moving away from more gender-dependent patterns seen in the past."

About the Speaker:
Gavin W. Hougham, a medical sociologist at the University of Chicago, is Deputy Director of the Center for Health and the Social Sciences and Assistant Professor of Medicine. He has published in the areas of aging, research ethics, informed consent, Japanese gerontology, trajectories of grief, and quality of care. He is currently developing new methods of data analysis using sequence pattern matching algorithms borrowed from computational genomics.