27 research outputs found
Patterns of medical pluralism among adults: results from the 2001 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan
Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review
In a meta-analysis, Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues find that individuals' social relationships have as much influence on mortality risk as other well-established risk factors for mortality, such as smoking
Breaking Bread: the Functions of Social Eating
Communal eating, whether in feasts or everyday meals with family or friends, is a
human universal, yet it has attracted surprisingly little evolutionary attention. I use
data from a UK national stratified survey to test the hypothesis that eating with others
provides both social and individual benefits. I show that those who eat socially more
often feel happier and are more satisfied with life, are more trusting of others, are
more engaged with their local communities, and have more friends they can depend
on for support. Evening meals that result in respondents feeling closer to those with
whom they eat involve more people, more laughter and reminiscing, as well as
alcohol. A path analysis suggests that the causal direction runs from eating together to
bondedness rather than the other way around. I suggest that social eating may have
evolved as a mechanism for facilitating social bonding
Migrant Remittances, Population Ageing and Intergenerational Family Obligations in Sri Lanka
As Sri Lanka’s population ages, its migrant women face a difficult choice: should they work abroad to remit money to provision their families, or should they stay at home to look after elderly kin? Although numerous studies have explored migration’s effects on children, fewer works focus on issues of elder care. This essay presents contextualizing information on transnational migration from Sri Lanka and the rapid ageing that is transforming the country’s population structure from a pyramid with many youth and few elders into a column. Using qualitative ethnographic data gathered from a labour-sending village in southern Sri Lanka, this anthropological essay considers social priorities around remittances and intergenerational family obligations for care work. Villagers make decisions about allocating able-bodied family members’ labour based on key concepts of filial duty, combined with an analysis of a family’s financial and social resources and the vulnerabilities of its members based on their gender and age. Critiquing assumptions about elders’ lack of economic activity, the essay notes their key role in facilitating labour migration. The data reveal the importance of gender roles, educational achievements, and generational shifts in evaluating emerging practices. In the future, intergenerational family obligations to mutual care will persist despite population aging. But as extended families shrink and care work grows more demanding, choices between elder care and migrant remittances will become more challenging