The study of the relationship between everyday creativity and subjective well-being in old age

Abstract

Introduction. The problem of subjective well-being of the elderly is becoming especially relevant in the conditions of demographic aging of modern society. The novelty of the research lies in the deepening of ideas about the relationship between subjective well-being and everyday creativity in old age. The purpose of this study is to research subjective, cognitive and hedonistic well-being in old age in relation to self-assessments of creative level and everyday creative activity. Methods. The voluntary study involved elderly people aged 60 to 90 years, 78 of them men (N = 202; M = 68.62; SD = 7.46). Self-report scales were used to determine self-assessments of creative activity and the subjective level of creativity. The level of subjective well-being was measured by the gerontological Life Satisfaction Index scale, LSI (authors Neugarten, Havighurst, Tobin, in N. Panina's adaptation) and the Subjective Happiness Scale, (authors Lyubomirsky, Lepper, in D. Leontiev's adaptation). For statistical analysis, the Wilcoxon, Kruskel-Wallis criteria, Welch's t-test, Pearson's consensus criterion, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used. Results. Noticeable positive correlations between the level of subjective well-being, creative activity and the subjective level of creativity were revealed: correlation coefficient r from 0.594 to 0.610; p < 0.001. Significant differences in the level of subjective well-being were found between creatively active and creatively inactive subjects (p < 0.001), as well as between subjects who rated themselves as "not creative" and as "creative": W = 1729; effect value r = 0.654; p < 0.001; 95% CI. Discussion. The results obtained expand the understanding of everyday creativity in old age, its relationship with subjective, cognitive and hedonistic well-being and can be used by socio-psychological services in working with older people to improve their psycho-emotional state and correct the level of subjective well-being.