Mindfulness, pension, and life satisfaction of retired older adults in China: mediation effects of positive and negative affect

With rising average life expectancies and continuing early retirement, China has more retirees than ever before. This study builds from previous research to understand how mental and financial resources affect life satisfaction amongst 1,018 Chengdu, China retirees. Specifically, our research examined how the extents of mindfulness and pension influence life satisfaction and whether the relations are mediated by positive and negative affect (PANA). The SEM results indicate mindfulness has a significant direct (β = 0.26) and an indirect (β = 0.18) effect on life satisfaction via PANA, while the amount of pension has small effect on life satisfaction (β = 0.04) and only via negative affect. The estimates, however, varied by gender and age. Mindfulness had a strong influence on reducing NA for female older adults while substantially increasing PA for male older adults. Additionally, the amount of pension significantly reduced NA for older retirees aged 65 and above. These findings call for increased mindfulness interventions and robust pension policies to better support retired older adults in China.