Abstract—This study examines the effect of urban farming on the well-being of the elderly, and with a focus on the effect of participation in urban farming on psychological well-being, and the mediating effects of social well-being and environmental well-being on that relationship. We surveyed individuals aged 55 or older residing in the Gyeonggi or Busan regions to measure their social well-being, psychological well-being, and environmental well-being. We conducted t-tests, correlation analyses, and regression analyses on a sample of 385 individuals, and our results were as follows. First, people who participated in urban farming reported a significantly higher level of social, psychological, and environmental well-being than those who did not. Second, social, psychological, and environmental well-being were related to each other in a statistically-significant way. However, age and well-being revealed a statistically negative relationship, as did the relationship between satisfaction with economic conditions and well-being. Third, our testing of mediating effects found that, regarding the effect of participation in urban farming on psychological well-being, social well-being was a complete mediator while environmental well-being was a partial mediator. These results suggest that urban farming enhances the well-being of the elderly, and the expansion of urban farming can be a viable component of improving welfare for the elderly. This study is also meaningful in that it investigates the social effects of urban farming, a topic that existing studies have not examined in depth.
Index Terms—Urban farming, the elderly, psychological well-being, social well-being, environmental well-being.
The authors are with the Hanguk Academy of Foreign Studies, Yongin, South Korea (e-mail: jenniferyjh@naver.com, shawn0813@naver.com).
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Cite: Ji-Hye Yang and Min-Hwan Na, "The Effects of Urban Farming on Well-Being of the Elderly: A Focus on Social, Psychological, and Environmental Well-Being," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 82-87, 2017.