Socio-Emotional Resilience Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The detrimental impact of social isolation on health and well-being has been reported in older adults (Prohaska, et al., 2020). Yet findings also demonstrate that older adults have a motivational shift to prioritize emotionally meaningful goals and experiences (Carstensen, 1993; Sakaki, et al., 2019), prioritize emotional meaning in situations, focus on positive emotions and stimuli over negative feelings and live in the present rather than focus on future preparedness. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) (Carstensen, 1993; Carstensen, Fung & Charles, 2003) suggests that older adults have a limited sense of time left in life and shift their focus to meaningful and positive experiences. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic most individuals became physically separated from family, friends and social activities that are so important to overall well-being. To explore the contradicting evidence in the literature about detrimental effects of social isolation and the SST theory, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 older adults ranging in age from 62 to 86 years old to explore their experiences during the pandemic and specifically to address emotional well-being, social experiences and coping mechanisms. Qualitative analyses revealed themes of problem-solving and emotion-focused coping, social support, and meaning making with ample evidence of the positivity effect. These findings support the SST theory as many participants expressed great resilience as they discussed how they engaged in emotionally meaningful activities and experiences and even made the best of adverse experiences during the pandemic

カンボジア大学生の英語運用能力と異文化接触の関係--グローバライゼーションの考察

Research suggests that increases in the flow of foreigners and financial investments into Cambodia are having an influence on Cambodian people; moreover, these affects can be seen as a byproduct of globalization. This study investigated the relationships between Cambodian university students\u27 English proficiency, attitudes toward non-Cambodian people, students’ motivation to study English, and intercultural contact with "foreigners". A convenience sample (N=363) was drawn from the 17 classes at Royal University of Phnom Penh\u27s(RUPP) English Language Support Unit (ELSU). English proficiency was measured by the researchers\u27 original scale. To assure validity of English proficiency, the TOEFL was administered (N=52) and oral interviews were conducted (N=57) with a sub-group of students. Motivation and the degree of contact with foreigners were measured by the researchers’ original scale. And attitudes toward non-Cambodians were measured through semantic differential scales and social distance scales. Students perceived English ability was in the low-intermediate range and the TOEFL scores of the subgroup (N=52) strongly correlated with these self-assessment ratings. The degree of Contact with foreigners was relatively high; nearly 86 percent of the respondents had contact with foreigners. A moderate positive significant correlation (r=.38) was found between English Proficiency and Contact. To understand more about the results, a discussion of Cambodia\u27s social context is provided and suggestions are made for future researc