Emotional Stability of the Elderly People

 

Prof. D. Kalpana¹*, Dr. Zenetta Rosaline²

¹Research Assistant, Department of Women’s Studies, Bharathiar University

²Professor/Director, Department of Women’s Studies, Bharathiar University

 

ABSTRACT:

Emotions have an influential value in life, control on emotions is essential for prosperous life. A person who fails to control their emotions faces lot of problems in day to day life. Even emotional stability results happy and adjustable life therefore emotional stability is an important aspect of human life. Emotional stability is the process in which the personality is continuously striving for greater sense of emotional health, both intra-physically and intra-personally. Emotionally stable individuals are calm and happy, they are satisfied with their life; they deal with the situation in perfect way and solve their problems easily. As population aging becomes more and more pronounced, the concern for mental health and wellbeing of older people is also increasing. With the unprecedented increase in the number of oldest adults, several studies have paid attention to centenarians and their lives exploring factors related to longevity, such as health, generic influences, general life style etc. However, till date in India, research on aging was primarily confined to socio-demographic profiles, problems of and services to the aged etc. As a result certain issues related to the problems of elderly have received in sufficient and one such area is elderly well-being, self-esteem and mental health. Even speculation about the nature of the problem has been difficult because of invisibility and sensitiveness of the problem. The elderly often experience mental health issues and mental disorders. The present study focuses on the emotional stability of the elderly people. The study is descriptive in nature. 102 elderly people were selected for the study. Purposive sampling method is used for collecting data.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Emotions have an influential value in life, control on emotions is essential for prosperous life. A person who fails to control their emotions faces lot of problems in day to day life. Even emotional stability results happy and adjustable life therefore emotional stability is an important aspect of human life. Aging is a normal stage of life, which comes to every person, the fruit of well spent life is enjoyed and unquestionable power of authority and respect are obtained.

 

 

In our Indian society old age has always been a concern due to lack of power in social, economic and professional spheres; and its closeness to death but with changed family patterns and value system there is a drastic change in the lifestyle and living standards in the society as well as at home front. As population aging becomes more and more pronounced, the concern for mental health and wellbeing of older people is also increasing. With the unprecedented increase in the number of oldest adults, several studies have paid attention to centenarians and their lives exploring factors related to longevity, such as health, generic influences, general life style etc. However, till date in India, research on aging was primarily confined to socio-demographic profiles, problems of and services to the aged etc. As a result certain issues related to the problems of elderly have received in sufficient and one such area is elderly well-being, self-esteem and mental health. Even speculation about the nature of the problem has been difficult because of invisibility and sensitiveness of the problem. The elderly often experience mental health issues and mental disorders.

 

In the most fundamental ways, social and emotional functioning changes little with age. At no point in life does the need to feel embedded in a larger social group lessen (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Charles and Mavandadi, 2003; Snowden, 2001), nor do the devastating consequences of isolation diminish (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, and Seeman, 2000; Mellor, Stokes, Firth, Hayashi, and Cummins, 2008). Intense, strong emotions remain, and the integrity of the constellation of physiological, facial, and subjective feelings associated with specific emotions is in old age what it was in youth (Tsai, Levenson and Carstensen, 2000). Though modest changes have been documented, personality traits also remain largely stable into old age. And in late life, as at earlier times, the experience of negative emotions affects physiological functioning and ultimately physical health. The present study focuses on the emotional stability of the elderly people.

 

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

People who perceive their friends and family members as supportive during times of need have a stronger sense of meaning in their lives; that is, they live their lives with a broader purpose, adhering to a value system that fits within the larger social world (Krause, 2007). In addition, people with strong social networks report greater emotional well-being in day-to-day life and also when they experience stressful life events (see classic review by Cohen and Wills, 1985). Both structural - i.e., the number and type of social partners in a given network -- and functional - i.e., the perceived or actual receipt of support - aspects of social networks contribute to emotional well-being (Cohen and Wills, 1985).

 

In old age, social spheres may also influence cognitive functioning. A growing number of studies have found that older adults embedded in strong social networks and high levels of social activity are less likely than their more socially disengaged peers to experience declines in cognitive functioning (e.g., Barnes, de Leon, Wilson, Beinias, and Evan, 2004; Zunzunequi, Alcarado, Del Ser, and Otero, 2003; Wilson et al., 2007).

 

In one prospective study, epidemiologist Laura Fratiglioni and colleagues of the Kungsholmen Project found that positive social networks may be protective against cognitive decline (Fratiglioni, Wang, Ericsson, Maytan, and Winblad, 2000).

 

More than 1200 older adults who were tested over a three year period, they observed that those with strong and positive social networks were sixty percent less likely to show signs of dementia three years later. Older people who engage in volunteer activities that are either socially or demanding also perform better on cognitive tasks than older adults engaged in solitary activities with low cognitive demands (Singh-Manoux, Richards, and Marmot, 2003).

 

Social support is related not only to staving off decline, but also to regaining functioning; stronger social networks and emotional support assessed soon after a stroke are associated with greater improvements in cognitive functioning six months later even after controlling for age and education (Glymour, Weuve, Fay, Glass, and Berkman, 2008).

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.     To know the demographic profile of the respondents.

2.     To understand the level of emotional stability of the elderly people

3.     To assess the significant difference between the socio-economic variables and emotional stability

 

METHODOLOGY:

The study is descriptive in nature. 102 elderly people were selected for the study. Purposive sampling method is used for collecting data. Tools used for data collection is based on review of literature. The statistical tools used are average mean, standard deviation and chi-square. The tests of significance have been carried out with the level of significance fixed at 5 percent.

 

 

Analysis and Interpretation:

Table No: 1 Demographic profile of the Respondents in terms of Age, Gender, Education, Family Type, Family members, Total Family Income and Number of Children

S. No	Variables	Category	Percent	Mean	SD
1.	Age	Up to 62 Years 63 to 72 Years 73 Years and Above	23.5 56.9 19.6	1.96	.659
2.	Gender	Male Female	73.5 26.5	1.26	.443
3.	Education	Post Graduate Under Graduate Higher Secondary Level Secondary Level Primary Level Illiterate	9.8 8.8 2.6 24.5 19.6 34.3	4.38	1.647
4.	Family type	Nuclear Family Joint Family	24.5 75.5	1.75	.432
5.	Family Members	Upto 2 Members 3 to 4 Members 5 Members and Above	42.2 42.2 15.7	1.74	.717
6.	Total Family Income	Up to 15000 15001 to 25000 25001 to 35000 35001 and Above	48.0 17.6 8.8 25.5	2.12	1.261
7.	Number of Children	One Child 2 to 3 Children 4 Children and Above	14.7 65.7 19.6	2.05	.587

 

 

·       More than half of the respondents are in the age group of 63 to 72 years

·       Majority of the respondents are male

·       Nearly half of the respondents are educated up to secondary and higher secondary level.

·       Majority of the respondent are from joint family

·       Majority of the respondent have 2 to 4 members in their family

·       Nearly half of the respondents have their total family income up to 15000.

·       More than half of the respondents have 2 to 3 children

 

Table No: 2 Level of Emotional Stability

Level of Emotional Stability	Number of Respondents
Low	14
Moderate	78
High	10

 

The above table shows that majority of the respondents level of emotional stability is at moderate level.

 

Table No: 3 Chi Square Test

Independent Variables	Emotional Stability of the Elderly People
Age	.624
Gender	.068
Education	.153
Family Type	.023
Family Size	.154
Total Family Income	.036
Number of Children	.006

 

As observed from the above table family type, total family income and number of children has significant difference whereas age, gender, education and family size have no significant difference in the emotional stability of the elderly people.

 

CONCLUSION:

Emotional stability is the process in which the personality is continuously striving for greater sense of emotional health, both intra-physically and intra-personally. Emotionally stable individuals are calm and happy, they are satisfied with their life; they deal with the situation in perfect way and solve their problems easily. The finding of the study shows that family type, total family income and number of children has significant difference in the emotional stability of the elderly people.

 

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Received on 24.10.2018         Modified on 10.11.2018

Accepted on 24.11.2018      ©AandV Publications All right reserved