Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between self-sacrifice and hope as well as the possible intervening roles of perceived family support and attitudes to aging in this relationship among Chinese older adults. A total of 475 older adults participated in the current study. They completed measures related to self-sacrifice, hope, perceived family support, and attitudes to aging. Attitudes to aging measured the extent to which older adults hold positive and negative attitudes toward aging in three domains of physical change, psychological growth, and psychosocial loss. The results showed that self-sacrifice was positively associated with older adults’ hope. Mediation analyses revealed that perceived family support mediated the relationship between self-sacrifice and older adults’ hope. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that attitudes to physical change moderated the relationship between self-sacrifice and older adults’ hope, and attitudes to psychological growth moderated the relationship between perceived family support and older adults’ hope. Specifically, the association between self-sacrifice and hope was stronger for older adults with less positive attitudes to physical change than for those with more positive attitudes to physical change. The association between perceived family support and hope was stronger for older adults with more positive attitudes to psychological growth than for those with less positive attitudes to psychological growth. The findings can contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between self-sacrifice and hope and can aid in designing effective interventions aimed at improving older adults’ hope.
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The data and material that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Qingxiu Dang: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing-Original Draft. Baoshan Zhang: Conceptualization, Writing- Review and Editing, Supervision.
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Dang, Q., Zhang, B. Linkage from Self-Sacrifice to Hope Through the Intervening Roles of Perceived Family Support and Attitudes to Aging in Chinese Older Adults. J Happiness Stud 23, 2405–2426 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00504-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00504-7