Relations between Gratitude Disposition and Ego-Integrity of Korean Elderly Men and Women: Mediating Effects of Generativity and Relatedness

Abstract

This study investigated the relations between gratitude disposition and the ego-integrity of elderly men and women, focused on generativity and relatedness toward spouse, children, and friends as well as examined gender differences for each path. The subjects were 341 Korean elderly men and women over the age of 60 living in the Busan, Daegu, and Gyeongsang areas. Collected data were analyzed by PASW ver. 18.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs; in addition, frequency, Cronbach a, Pearson's correlation coefficients, t-test and structural equation modeling were also used for data analysis. The results were as follows. First, the Korean elderly's gratitude disposition had a positive influence on ego-integrity and generativity as well as on relatedness toward spouse, children, and friends. In addition, the relatedness toward spouse, children, and friends of Korean elderly had direct influences on generativity and indirect influences on ego-integrity by mediating generativity. Second, it showed that there was a gender difference in the structural model that explained the relations among the variables. Korean elderly men's relatedness toward spouse, children, and friends had direct effects on generativity. However, in case of Korean elderly women, only relatedness toward children and friends had effects on generativity. The results were discussed in terms of elderly education.