Self-esteem of elder CSSA recipients and eligible non-CSSA recipients in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objectives: The present study compared the self-esteem of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme (CSSA Scheme) elder recipients with that of eligible but non-CSSA elder recipients. Respondents’ perception and importance of others’ (i.e., family members and mass media) view on CSSA recipients and their effects on the self-esteem of CSSA and eligible non-CSSA elder recipients were also examined.

Methods: Questionnaires consisted of items that assess the perception and importance of family members’ and mass media’s view on CSSA and non-CSSA elder recipients, items that measure self-esteem, and items that assess the demographic information of the respondents. Among the 73 completed surveys, 49 valid cases were chosen to be analyzed. The participants chosen were 49 Chinese elderly aged 60 to 79 years, of either CSSA recipients or eligible non-CSSA recipients.

Results: As expected, the CSSA elder respondents had lower self-esteem than the eligible non-CSSA elder respondents. A positive correlation was found between the others’ view on CSSA recipients and the self-esteem of CSSA respondents, irrelevant to the level of importance of others’ view to them. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between the others’ view on CSSA recipients and the self-esteem of eligible non-CSSA respondents. However, if only non-CSSA respondents who valued highly on family members’ view were considered, a significant negative correlation was found between their perception of family members’ view and their self-esteem.

Discussion: There are practical implications from the present study for the provision of social security for elders in Hong Kong. Merely meeting the financial needs of those in poverty is insufficient, it is also necessary to take care of their psychological needs.