• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The relationship between standard of living and quality of life for older New Zealanders : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    01_front.pdf (91.81Kb)
    02_whole.pdf (1.089Mb)
    Export to EndNote
    Abstract
    The well-being of older people is an increasingly important issue. This is due to both the increasing proportion of older people in the population and rising levels of inequality in New Zealand. What well-being is and what influences well-being is an important question when considering the welfare of older people. Standard of living and quality of life offer two different ways of understanding well-being. It is vital to understand the impact that changing standard of living has on older people’s quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between standard of living and quality of life and consider the impact of other factors on quality of life for older people in New Zealand. This study is a secondary analysis of data from the 2012 wave of the New Zealand Longitudinal Study of Ageing. This study includes 2984 people aged between 50 and 87 years of age. Bivariate and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed to explore the relationship between standard of living, quality of life, health-related variables (physical health, mental health, depression, mobility and loneliness) and demographic variables. Results revealed two main findings. Firstly, that a low standard of living does not preclude a high quality of life, but a high standard of living means a low quality of life is less likely. Secondly, the relationship between standard of living and quality of life is mediated by health-related variables. Psychological health-related variables (mental health, depression and loneliness) mediated the relationship more than physical health-related variables (physical health and mobility). These demonstrate that although a high standard of living is not a prerequisite for a high quality of life, it can potentially provide a buffer against factors which cause poor quality of life such as poor physical and mental health. Increases in standard of living for older people can therefore act to mitigate key factors contributing to poor quality of life. These findings have important implications for future policy development in relation to the welfare of older New Zealanders.
    Date
    2015
    Author
    Graham, Stewart Edwin
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/7338
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1
     

     

    Tweets by @Massey_Research
    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1