A Study on the Relationship between Social Network Types and Life Satisfaction of New Middle-aged : Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Generativity

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of social networks of the new middle-aged through the categorization of social networks of the new middle-aged, and to understand the effects of social network types on life satisfaction. In addition, it is to verify the mediating effects of generativity on the effects of social network types of the new middle-aged on life satisfaction. For data collection, a total of 600 people, with 300 people in their 50s and 300 people in their 60s were surveyed using a structured questionnaire, and all 600 copies of collected questionnaires were used as final analysis data. The main analysis methods used were two-stage cluster analysis proposed by Hair and Black, the chi-square test(  ), multiple regression analysis, mediating effect analysis proposed by Baron and Kenny, and bootstrapping. The main results are as follows. First, the social network types of the new middle-aged were divided into four types. Second, as a result of analyzing whether the social network types of the new middle-aged, which are categorized into four types, differ according to demographic characteristics, there were significant differences with the variables of gender, religion, residential area size, subjective health status, education level, economic activity(occupation), and annual gross household income. Third, differences in life satisfaction were found according to the social network type of the new middle-aged. Fourth, generativity was shown to have a mediating effect in the relationship between social network and life satisfaction. Discussions were conducted centering on these research results, and policy and practical measures were suggested to improve the generativity and life satisfaction of the new middle-aged.