Subjective well-being and heterogeneity in cultural consumption in aging populations

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between cultural consumption patterns and well-being in the older population. Using data from the 2018 Italian Multipurpose Survey on Households “Aspects of daily life”, we employ Latent Class Analysis to identify distinct profiles of cultural consumers based on their attendance and engagement in various cultural and art activities. We then investigate the effects of these cultural consumption profiles on life satisfaction and other domains of well-being, including leisure and friend satisfaction. Our findings reveal a positive association between cultural engagement and subjective well-being across different domains. Specifically, individuals who allocate more time to diverse cultural experiences show higher levels of well-being. We also observe gender differences in well-being outcomes. These results highlight the importance of promoting cultural participation to enhance older adults’ well-being and inform the development of targeted welfare policies.