Does lifelong learning matter for the subjective wellbeing of the elderly? A machine learning analysis on Singapore data

Abstract

Our study explores whether lifelong learning is associated with the subjective wellbeing among the elderly in Singapore. Through a primary survey of 300 individuals aged 65 and above, we develop a novel index to capture three different aspects of subjective wellbeing, which we term "Quality of Life", "Satisfaction with Life" and "Psychological Wellbeing". Utilizing both supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques, our findings reveal that attitudes towards lifelong learning are positively associated with quality of life, while participation in class activities is positively associated with all three measures of wellbeing. Although the study does not establish causality, it highlights a connection between lifelong learning and the perceived wellbeing of the elderly, offering support for policies that encourage lifelong learning among this population.

Fig 1. Profile of the survey respondents.

Fig 2. Classes participated in the last 12 months.

Fig 3. Visited an exercise, cultural, and learning place in the last 12 months.

Fig 4. Attitudes towards lifelong learning.

Fig 5. Cross-correlations of the MWI measures.

Fig 6. Wellbeing and lifelong learning.

Fig 7. Factor maps on dimensions 1 and 2.

Fig 8. Attitudes towards lifelong learning and wellbeing.

Fig 9. MWI (quality of life) as the outcome variable.

Fig 10. MWI (satisfaction with life) as the outcome variable.

Fig 11. MWI (psychological wellbeing) as the outcome variable.