The Effects of Social Comparisons on Psychological Well-Being Among Older Koreans Living in Rural Village Communal Homes

Village communal home (VCH) is a rural senior housing model for older adults living alone in South Korea. VCH is a small-group congregate housing which usually includes 5-10 residents. Older adults who are a part of VCH program still own their house in the community, but they can stay overnight and have dinner together at a local senior community center with other participants. Since it was introduced in 2006, this senior housing model has been successful in helping older adults who are at risk of social isolation and loneliness to exchange emotional and physical social support and to reduce anxiety about medical emergencies.

Guided by the social comparison theory, this study investigated to what extent and how social comparisons impact psychological well-being among older residents living in VCH which is a unique small-group residential setting. Social comparison can be considered as a regulative coping strategy moderating feeling of loneliness or depression when people compare themselves with those who are perceived to be more disadvantaged (i.e., downward comparison). However, comparisons to people who are perceived to be more advantaged could result in worsening psychological well-being (i.e., upward comparison). There has been limited understanding of the role of social comparisons as a coping strategy for negative psychological well-being among older adults.

We collected the data from VCHs in six rural communities through survey interviews in Kyoung-Sang Do, South Korea between December 2019 and February 2020. Our sample included 170 older Koreans aged 65 or over living in 42 VCH. Depressive symptoms and loneliness were used as measures for psychological well-being. In Model 1, we included individual sociodemographic (i.e., age, education, income, the number of chronic conditions and functional limitations) and social characteristics (i.e., contact frequencies with children in-person or phone). In Model 2, we added a series of a respondent’s sociodemographic and social characteristics compared by peers living in the same VCH. These comparison measures were calculated by the differences between individual characteristics and group means of the VCH the respondent lived in. OLS regression was used to examine the effects of individual and comparison characteristics on depressive symptoms and loneliness.

The average number of residents of 42 VCH was 4.15 (SD=1.57, range 2-8). We found that older age, greater numbers of chronic conditions and functional limitations, and limited contacts with children (in-person or phone) were significantly associated with greater levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms, which is consistent with previous findings. Relatively greater numbers of chronic conditions (Coef.=.82; p<.001) and functional limitations (Coef.=.79; p<.01) compared to peers in the same VCH were found to be associated with greater level of depressive symptoms. Relatively more frequent contacts with children compared to peers in the same VCH was associated with lower levels of loneliness (Coef.=-.55; p<.05).

The findings of this study show that social comparison matters in psychological well-being among older adults living in a small-scale rural senior housing. Further exploration of social comparison process among older adults may inform potential services or interventions for psychological well-being for this population.