bs_bs_banner Asian Journal of Social Psychology

Asian Journal of Social Psychology (2019), 22, 172–182 DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12353

A longitudinal study of the moderating effects of social capital on

the relationships between changes in human capital and ikigai
among Japanese older adults
Ai Fukuzawa, Keiko Katagiri, Kazuhiro Harada, Kouhei Masumoto, Makoto Chogahara,
Narihiko Kondo, and Shuichi Okada
Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

Ikigai, one of the indices of well-being, tends to decline with age because resources relating to ikigai
decline. However, there are individual differences in this decline. This study tested for maintenance of
ikigai among Japanese elderly, using a longitudinal study investigating the moderating role of social capital
on the effects of changes in human capital on ikigai. We conducted a panel survey targeting 1,068 people
(M age = 73.01 years) in 2013, and 686 people in 2017. The variables were ikigai, changes in human
capital (self-rated financial status, physical health) and social capital (social networks, trust in others),
educational level, and control variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed the interaction effects of
changes in physical health and changes in social networks (strong ties, weak ties) on follow-up ikigai. Post
hoc analyses indicated that declines in physical health predicted declines in ikigai among those whose
social networks (strong ties and weak ties) had declined in the 4-year study, but these relationships were
not significant among those whose social networks had increased. The results suggest that older adults can
weaken the adverse effect of a decline in human capital on ikigai by maintaining or increasing social
networks.

Keywords: aging, human capital, ikigai, social capital, well-being

Maintaining well-being is an important aspect of suc-
cessful aging (Baltes & Baltes, 1986; Murayama et al.,
2015; Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000; Tanno et al., 2009).
Ikigai, one of the indices of well-being, is said to be the
most used index of well-being in Japanese studies target-
ing the elderly (Mori et al., 2017; Sone et al., 2008;
Yamamoto-Mitani & Wallhagen, 2002). Like the other
indices of well-being (Koivumaa-Honkanen et al., 2000),
this concept can reduce the mortality risk among the
elderly (Koizumi, Ito, Kaneko, & Motohashi, 2008;
Nakanishi, Fukuda, & Tatara, 2003; Tanno et al., 2009),
so that it is desirable to maintain and improve ikigai.
However, many people lose ikigai with age, and there
are remarkable individual differences in the decline in
ikigai (Nakanishi et al., 2003). This study looks at who
can maintain or increase ikigai among Japanese elderly.
Ikigai is defined as a feeling obtained by a person
who is doing something useful for someone else or for
Correspondence: Ai Fukuzawa, Graduate School of Human
Development and Environment, Kobe University, 3-11,
Tsurukabuto, Nada, Kobe City, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
E-mail: fukuzawa.ai@gmail.com
Received 4 April 2018; revision 24 October 2018; accepted 25
October 2018.
society and, consequently, feels that life is worth living
(Nakanishi, 1999; Shibata, 1998). Ikigai is a comprehen-
sive concept which is seen as both individual and social
(Mathews, 1996). It represents both the hedonic aspect
(i.e., depressive mood, satisfaction with life, positive and
negative moods) and the eudaimonic aspect (i.e., mean-
ing of one’s life) of well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001;
Shirai et al., 2006; Tanno et al., 2009).
Ikigai thus has both similarities and differences with
the other indices of well-being, such as subjective well-
being (satisfaction with life, positive and negative
moods; Diener, 1984) and psychological well-being
(autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth,
positive relations with others, purpose in life, self-accep-
tance; Ryff, 1989). The principal component analysis of
Kumano (2006) demonstrated that the central concepts
of ikigai were life-affirmation, goals/dreams, meaning of
life, meaning of existence, sense of fulfillment, and com-
mitment. Although subjective well-being and psychologi-
cal well-being commonly included some of those
components, meaning of life, meaning of existence,
sense of fulfillment, and commitment were unique com-
ponents of ikigai (Kumano, 2006). Imai, Osada, and
Nishimura (2009) also demonstrated that whereas ikigai
and subjective well-being commonly included personal

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Ikigai among Japanese older adults
satisfaction with current and past life, the positive per-
ception for one’s future and one’s social relationships
are unique concepts to ikigai.
Thus, ikigai is unique compared to the other indices
of well-being in that it includes satisfaction for one’s
social relationships; this is why ikigai is argued to be an
appropriate index of well-being of Japanese elderly. It
has been demonstrated that East Asians, including the
Japanese, tend to perceive interdependence goals (goal
attainment for their friends and family) as important
whereas Westerners tend to perceive independence goals
(goal attainment for themselves) as important (Iyengar &
Lepper, 1999; Markus & Kitayama, 1991), and the
achievement of the each goal is related to well-being
(Oishi & Diener, 2001). In addition, losing one’s social
roles due to retirement or death of family is said to be
an unavoidable risk which reduces well-being among the
elderly (Katagiri, 2012). Thus, maintaining ikigai, which
is an index of satisfaction for one’s social relationships,
is argued to be an important task, especially for
Japanese elderly.
It has been suggested that “ikigai” tends to decline
with age because the variables relating to it tend to
decline with age (Nakanishi et al., 2003; Yamamoto-
Mitani & Wallhagen, 2002). In common with the other
indices of well-being, human capital and social capital
variables are important predictors of ikigai. Human capi-
tal refers to “resources attached to individuals that make
productive activities possible” (Wilson & Musick, 1997,
p. 698). Physical health status and financial status, which
are categorized into human capital (Wilson & Musick,
1997), are positively related to ikigai (Fujimoto, Okada,
& Izumi, 2004; Nakahara, 2008; Shirai et al., 2006).
Social capital is defined as “social organization, such
as trust, norms, and networks” (Putnam, 1993, p. 167).
This definition shows that social capital contains a quan-
titative aspect (i.e., social networks) and a cognitive
aspect (i.e., trust in others, social cohesion; Harper,
2002; Murayama et al., 2015; Takagi, Tsuji, & Ikeda,
2010). Several studies of ikigai have demonstrated that
social capital variables such as existence of friends, exis-
tence of those who provide supports, and the extent of
networks among neighborhood were important determi-
nants of ikigai (Aoki, 2015; Fujimoto et al., 2004;
Kaneko, 1987; Kojima & Kato, 2017; Kondo &
Kameda, 2004).
Pinquart and Sorensen (2000) provide a meta-analysis
of how and why human capital and social capital vari-
ables are commonly related to well-being, including iki-
gai. Higher financial status is related to high levels of
well-being because it means the accomplishment of
one’s life, and those with higher financial status are free
from the economic strain which leads to low well-being.
Better physical health status is related to higher well-
© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
173
being because physical health is necessary for maintain-
ing autonomy, resisting role losses, and maintaining the
ability to undertake social activities, which are important
aspects of well-being. Social capital can predict well-
being because abundant social capital is related to the
perception that one is being respected by others
and therefore provides social support in problematic
situations.
Human and social capital tend to decline in line with
life events such as aging, retirement, death of peers, and
increase in healthcare costs (Fujiwara et al., 2012;
Katagiri, 2012; Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000), so ikigai
seems to face the unavoidable risk of decline. However,
there are remarkable individual differences in the extent
of decline in ikigai. Nakanishi et al. (2003) demonstrated
that although about half of their study participants had
not possessed ikigai or lost ikigai over several years, and
this decline increased the risk of mortality, the others
maintained ikigai. However, few longitudinal studies
have discovered just who loses ikigai or who can main-
tain or increase ikigai with age.
The present study
This study longitudinally tests how to maintain ikigai
among Japanese elderly, who tend to lose their resources
with aging. We argue that social capital can moderate
the negative effect of declined human capital on ikigai
because previous studies on the other aspects of well-
being have demonstrated the moderating role of social
capital. It was revealed that the effect of daily stressors
(Murayama et al., 2015) and neighborhood income
deprivation (Fone et al., 2007) on depressive mood were
reduced by the participants’ neighborhood cohesion,
which is categorized as part of the cognitive aspect of
social capital.
Social capital can be comparatively controllable by
factors such as personal effort or the intervention pro-
grams of the community, although the decline in human
capital is more difficult to prevent. If social capital can
moderate the negative effect of declined human capital
on ikigai, it would be possible to maintain older peo-
ple’s ikigai by interventions to maintain or improve
social capital.
The aforementioned studies about the moderating role
of social capital did not test if declines in human capital
can be compensated for by social capital, and they
focused only on the hedonic aspect of well-being (i.e.,
depression), not on ikigai. In addition, although previous
studies have demonstrated the moderating role of the
cognitive aspect of social capital, few studies have tested
the moderating role of the quantitative aspect of social
capital. Because ikigai and the hedonic aspect of well-
being include common components (Kumano, 2006) and
174
common relationships with human capital and social
capital (Fujimoto et al., 2004; Pinquart & Sorensen,
2000), we hypothesized that declines in human capital
can be moderated by the cognitive aspect of social capi-
tal. In addition, we hypothesized that the quantitative
aspect of social capital would have a moderating effect
because several studies have demonstrated that the quan-
titative aspect of social capital variables were important
determinants of ikigai (Aoki, 2015; Fujimoto et al.,
2004; Kaneko, 1987; Kojima & Kato, 2017; Kondo &
Kameda, 2004).
The present study longitudinally examined whether
the effects of changes in human capital (i.e., financial
status and physical health) on ikigai are moderated by
changes in the cognitive aspect (trust in others) and the
quantitative aspect (social networks) of social capital
amongst Japanese older adults. We hypothesized that
declines in human capital do not decrease ikigai among
those with maintained or increased social capital.
Figure 1 shows the flow diagram for our hypothesis.
We created the following hypotheses based on the
prior discussion:
H1. A decline in human capital would decrease ikiga.
H2. The relationships between the decline in human
capital and ikigai are moderated by social capital.
Method
Participants
The present study conducted a secondary analysis of
4 years of data from the Active Aging Project of Kobe
University, Japan. The primary purpose of the project
was to examine whether community-based intervention
programs by the university could promote interpersonal
Changes in human capital
Baseline human capital (financial status, IADL) –
Follow-up human capital (financial status, IADL)
Changes in social capital
Baseline social capital (social networks, trust in others) –
Follow-up social capital (social networks, trust in others)
Figure 1 Flow diagram for our hypothesis.
© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Ai Fukuzawa et al.
communication among neighbors. The project targeted
the Tsurukabuto community in the Nada ward of Kobe
City. The baseline survey was conducted in 2013 and
targeted all residents over the age of 60 years in this
community (n = 1,769); 1,068 (443 men and 613
women; M age = 73.01 years, SD = 8.04) participated in
this survey. In 2017, these respondents were asked to
again complete a survey questionnaire (i.e., the follow-
up survey). A total of 686 people (294 men, 385 women
(M age = 75.14 years, SD = 7.06) participated in this
phase. The response rate was 60.37% for the baseline
and 64.23% for the follow-up. Because it has been sug-
gested that the response rate should be over 60%
(Fincham, 2008), we are satisfied that these response
rates are adequate.
Surveys were conducted in accordance with the
Helsinki Declaration. The Tsurukabuto Active Aging
Project received approval from the ethical committee of
the Graduate School of Human Development and
Environment, Kobe University. Informed consent was
obtained from all participants.
Measures
Ikigai. Ikigai was measured using the Ikigai 9 scale,
whose validity was confirmed (Imai, Osada, &
Nishimura, 2012) in both the baseline and follow-up sur-
veys. Participants answered how much they agreed with
nine items such as “I often feel that I am happy” and “I
want to learn or start something new.” They responded
using a scale of 1 (very much) to 5 (not at all). The
score of each item was added after being reverse-coded,
baseline: a = .89; follow-up: a = .91.
Human capital. We assessed (a) self-rated financial
status and (b) instrumental activity of daily living
(IADL) as indices of human capital in both the baseline
and the follow-up surveys. Self-rated financial status was
Dependent variable
Ikigai (follow-up)
Ikigai among Japanese older adults
assessed using the question “What do you think about
your current financial status?” Participants responded to
this question using a scale of 1 (insufficient) to 5 (suffi-
cient). This study measured self-rated financial status
because relationships between actual income and the
other variables tend to be lower among Japanese than
among Westerners (Marmot & Wilkinson, 2006; Nakaya
& Dorling, 2005); thus, self-rated financial status is said
to be the better predictor among Japanese than is actual
income (Fujiwara et al., 2012). IADL was measured by
one of the subscales (i.e., intellectual activity and social
role) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute Index of
Competence (Koyano, Shibata, Nakazato, Haga, &
Suyama, 1987, 1991). We measured IADL via five
items, such as “Can you use public transportation (bus
or train) by yourself?” and “Are you able to shop for
daily necessities?” Participants responded by using a bin-
ary scale with values of 1 (yes) and 0 (no). We treated
the number of items that they answered 1 (yes) as the
IADL score.
In the baseline survey, we also assessed education
level as a human capital index, which is usually
unchanged with age. We used a scale of 1 (junior high
school) to 4 (university or graduate school).
Social capital. Social capital was assessed using two
variables: (a) trust in others and (b) social networks in
both the baseline and follow-up surveys. We modified
the scales of previous studies (Harper, 2002; Murayama
et al., 2015) for measuring trust in others in a neighbor-
hood. The scale consisted of four items: (a) “There are
local residents who are trustworthy,” (b) “There are local
residents who support me when I am in trouble,” (c)
“Most people are trustworthy,” and (d) “I provide
friendly support to others in trouble.” Participants
responded to each item using a scale of 1 (Highly agree)
to 4 (Highly disagree). After reverse-coding, the score
on each item was added, baseline: a = .67, follow-up:
a = .66. We measured strong ties (close people) and
weak ties (acquaintances) as indices of social networks
by asking the question “With how many people do you
have relationships in the Tsurukabuto community?”
Strong ties were shown by the number of people that the
participants (a) joined with to engage in neighborhood
activities together, (b) helped when they had problems,
and (c) visited at home. Weak tie values were measured
by the number of people (a) participants greeted and (b)
participants who stand around chatting. These items
were based on previous studies (Harper, 2002; Takagi
et al., 2010). The mean number for the three strong tie
items, baseline: a = .79, follow-up: a = .81, and the two
weak tie items, baseline: r = .94, p < .01, follow-up:
r = .75, p < .01, were treated as the scores of strong ties
and weak ties.
© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
175
Changes in human capital, social capital, and
ikigai. Scores of the changes in human capital and
social capital variables were calculated by subtracting
the follow-up scores from the baseline scores. We also
calculated the changes in ikigai by the same calculation
method to check how many people had decreased their
level of ikigai and how many people had maintained or
increased ikigai in the 4-year period. The positive scores
meant that human capital, social capital, and ikigai
decreased, and the negative scores meant that they
increased from the baseline to the follow-up.
Control variables. Age (years), gender (1 = male,
2 = female), and marital status (1 = married, 0 = not
married) were measured as control variables. Scores of
the human capital variables, social capital variables, and
ikigai of the baseline survey also were control variables.
All missing data in the data set were treated using the
pairwise deletion method.
Results
We conducted attrition analysis to compare the results of
those who answered both the baseline and the follow-up
surveys (completers) and those who dropped out from
the follow-up survey (dropouts). Results of the v² test
and t tests showed that completers were significantly
younger and more highly educated, and had higher self-
rated financial status, higher IADL scores, and higher
ikigai than did dropouts (Table 1).
Table 2 provides the descriptive statistics of ikigai,
control variables, human capital variables, social capital
variables in the baseline and the follow-up, and their
correlations with ikigai (follow-up). It shows that ikigai
(follow-up) was positively correlated with all the human
capital and social capital variables in both the baseline
and the follow-up.
Table 3 provides a summary of the changes in ikigai,
human capital, and social capital variables among those
who answered both the baseline and the follow-up.
Table 4 provides the correlations among ikigai at the
follow-up and changes in human capital and social capi-
tal variables. The follow-up ikigai was negatively corre-
lated with changes in IADL, trust in others, and strong
and weak ties, meaning that the more those human capi-
tal and social capital scores decline, the lower the fol-
low-up ikigai becomes.
Table 5 provides the results of multiple regression
analysis predicting the follow-up ikigai from changes in
the human and social capital variables. In Model 1, inde-
pendent variables included changes in human capital
variables, changes in social capital variables, and educa-
tional level, and control variables were include using the
forced entry method. Changes in self-rated financial
176 Ai Fukuzawa et al.

Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of Participants

Completers (n = 686) Dropouts (n = 382)

n M SD n M SD p

Gender (baseline)
Male 293 (43.34%) 150 (39.47%) .22
Female 383 (56.66%) 230 (60.53%)
Age (baseline) 676 72.04 7.19 379 74.74 9.13 .00
Education (baseline) 682 2.68 0.99 379 2.51 1.01 .01
Self-rated financial status (baseline) 668 3.15 0.77 369 3.02 0.84 .01
IADL (baseline) 668 4.82 0.65 367 4.56 1.15 .00
Trust in others (baseline) 646 11.75 2.09 328 11.72 2.10 .84
Strong ties (baseline) 515 2.10 2.93 241 2.05 3.21 .81
Weak ties (baseline) 572 11.93 11.26 285 11.09 10.14 .29
Ikigai (baseline) 645 30.01 6.99 339 27.96 7.51 .00

Note. Gender (1 = male, 2 = female); Age (years); Marital status (1 = married, 0 = not married); Education = 1 (junior high
school) to 4 (university or graduate school); Self-rated financial status = 1 (insufficient) to 5 (sufficient); IADL (instrumental activity
of daily living) = 1–5; Trust in others = 4–16; Strong ties = M number for strong tie items; Weak ties = M number for weak tie
items; Ikigai = 9–45.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics and the Correlations Among Ikigai, Control Variables, Human Capital Variables, and
Social Capital Variables in the Baseline and Follow-Up Surveys

Correlations With Ikigai Correlations With Ikigai

M SD (follow-up) M SD (follow-up)

Ikigai (follow-up) 29.08 7.26 1 Self-rated financial status 3.10 0.80 .25**
(baseline)
Ikigai (baseline) 29.31 7.23 .66** IADL (baseline) 4.73 0.87 .19**
Age (baseline) 1.58 0.49 .07 Strong ties (baseline) 2.08 3.02 .19**
Gender (baseline) 73.01 8.04 .22** Weak ties (baseline) 11.65 10.91 .10*
Marital status 0.69 0.46 .04 Trust in others (baseline) 11.74 2.09 .34**
(baseline)
Education 2.62 1.00 .19** Self-rated financial status 3.08 0.80 .28**
(baseline) (follow-up)
IADL (follow-up) 4.77 0.77 .24**
Strong ties (follow-up) 2.52 3.92 .25**
Weak ties (follow-up) 12.46 12.15 .21**
Trust in others (follow-up) 11.67 1.98 .46**

Note. Gender (1 = male, 2 = female); Age (years); Marital status (1 = married, 0 = not married); Education = 1 (junior high
school) to 4 (university or graduate school); Self-rated financial status = 1 (insufficient) to 5 (sufficient); IADL (instrumental activity
of daily living) = 1–5; Trust in others = 4–16; Strong ties = M number for strong tie items; Weak ties = M number for weak tie
items; Ikigai = 9–45.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

status, IADL, and trust in others were negatively related
to follow-up ikigai, meaning that declines in human cap-
ital variables and trust in others predicted the decline in
ikigai after 4 years. In Model 2, interaction terms for
changes in human capital variables and changes in social
capital variables were added. We created the interaction
terms by multiplying the centered variables. Because it
is possible that some of the changes in social capital
variables would not interact with changes in human
capital variables, we include all the interaction terms
between changes in human capital and social capital
variables using the stepwise forward method into Model
2. We included the interaction terms of those variables
whose p value was less than .05 and excluded the inter-
action terms of those whose p value was above .05. Our
results show that the interaction effects of changes in
IADL and changes in strong ties as well as those of
changes in IADL and changes in weak ties were

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Ikigai among Japanese older adults 177

Table 3 Summary of Changes in Ikigai and Human Table 4 Correlations Between Ikigai (follow-up) and
and Social Capital Variables Changes in Human and Social Capital

n % M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6

Changes in ikigai 626 0.81 5.78 1 Ikigai (follow- 1

Increased 252 40.26 up)
Maintained 50 7.99 2 Changes in .05 1
Decreased 324 51.76 self-rated
Changes in human capital financial
Self-rated financial status 663 0.14 0.62 status
Increased 74 11.16 3 Changes in .24** .08 1
Maintained 434 65.46 IADL
Decreased 155 23.38 4 Changes in .16** .10* .02 1
IADL 667 0.13 0.71 trust in
Increased 20 3.00 others
Maintained 591 88.61 5 Changes in .20** .01 .06 .16** 1
Decreased 56 8.40 strong ties
Changes in social capital 6 Changes in .14** .11* .05 .13** .43** 1
Trust in others 605 0.15 1.81 weak ties
Increased 244 40.33
Maintained 154 25.45 Note. All change scores were calculated by subtracting follow-
Decreased 207 34.21 up scores from baseline scores.
Strong ties 481 0.54 2.99 High values mean that scores declined over the 4-year study.
Increased 207 43.04 IADL = instrumental activity of daily living.
Maintained 135 28.07 *p < .05. **p < .01.
Decreased 139 28.90
Weak ties 550 0.75 9.42
Increased 274 49.82 ikigai among those whose strong ties increased over the
Maintained 69 12.55 4 years (Table 6).
Decreased 207 37.64 Similarly, Table 7 shows results of the regression
models predicting follow-up ikigai among those with
Note. All change scores were calculated by subtracting follow- declined, maintained, and increased weak ties. Although
up scores from baseline scores. Higher values mean that scores
changes in IADL were negatively related to the follow-
declined over the 4-year study. IADL = instrumental activity of
daily living.
up ikigai among those with weak ties that had declined,
the relationship was not significant among those with
maintained or increased weak ties. Thus, the decline in
significant. The other interaction terms were not signifi- IADL did not predict the decline in ikigai among those
cant, so they were not included in the model. whose weak ties were maintained or increased.
For the post hoc analysis, we compared the three
regression models predicting follow-up ikigai among
Discussion
those respondents with declined, maintained, and
increased strong ties (Table 6). The regression analysis This study sought to determine if the effect of a
among all of the participants showed a negative main decline in human capital on ikigai would be moderated
effect from the changes in IADL on the follow-up ikigai by the cognitive/quantitative aspects of social capital
(Table 5), meaning that declines in IADL decreased iki- amongst older Japanese adults. Although previous stud-
gai among all participants. To test if strong ties would ies have demonstrated that ikigai tends to decrease with
moderate the negative effect of changes in IALD on iki- age (Nakanishi et al., 2003; Yamamoto-Mitani &
gai, we compared this negative effect between the three Wallhagen, 2002), few studies have identified the fac-
groups (declined strong ties group, maintained strong ties tors that might curb the decline in ikigai. Our findings
group, and increased strong ties group), and tested if this demonstrate that there are individual differences in the
negative relationship would be different between those decline of ikigai because 51.76% experienced a decline
three groups. Although changes in IADL were negatively in ikigai, but the others maintained or increased their
related to the follow-up ikigai among those with ikigai over the 4-year study (Table 3). This is consis-
declined or maintained strong ties, the relation was not tent with previous studies (Nakanishi et al., 2003). Our
significant among those with increased strong ties. That study aimed to find the factors that determine the indi-
is, the decline in IADL did not predict the decline in vidual differences.

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
178 Ai Fukuzawa et al.

Table 5 Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Ikigai (follow-up) from Human and Social Capital

Model 1 Model 2

B b SE B b SE

Changes in human capital

Self-rated financial status 1.20 .10** 0.42 1.16 .10** 0.42
IADL 1.81 .19** 0.32 1.15 .12** 0.37
Changes in social capital
Trust in others 1.31 .34** 0.15 1.27 .33** 0.15
Strong ties 0.16 .06 0.10 0.14 .05 0.10
Weak ties 0.02 .03 0.03 0.03 .04 0.03
Human capital (unchanged)
Education 0.75 .11** 0.24 0.71 .10** 0.24
Control variables
Gender 0.25 .02 0.51 0.30 .02 0.50
Age 0.04 .04 0.03 0.04 .04 0.03
Marital status 0.32 .02 0.54 0.22 .01 0.53
Self-rated financial status (baseline) 0.50 .06 0.35 0.47 .05 0.35
IADL (baseline) 0.73 .05 0.46 0.53 .04 0.46
Trust in others (baseline) 0.73 .21** 0.15 0.73 .21** 0.15
Strong ties (baseline) 0.01 .00 0.12 0.05 .02 0.12
Weak ties (baseline) 0.01 .02 0.03 0.01 .01 0.03
Ikigai (baseline) 0.56 .54** 0.04 0.57 .56** 0.04
Interactions
Change in IADL 9 Strong Ties 0.24 .08* 0.10
Change in IADL 9 Weak Ties 0.09 .08* 0.04
R .78 .79
R2 .61** .62**
Adjusted R2 .60 .61

Note. All change scores were calculated by subtracting follow-up scores from baseline scores. Higher values mean that scores
declined over the 4-year study. Gender (1 = males, 2 = females); Age (years); Marital status (1 = married, 0 = not married);
Education = 1 (junior high school) to 4 (university or graduate school); Self-rated financial status = 1 (insufficient) to 5 (sufficient);
IADL (instrumental activity of daily living) = 1–5; Trust in others = 4–16; Strong ties = M number for strong tie items; Weak
ties = M number for weak tie items; Ikigai = 9–45.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

Consistent with previous studies on ikigai (e.g.,
Fujimoto et al., 2004) and other indices of well-being
(Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000), ikigai was found to be pos-
itively correlated with all human capital and social capi-
tal variables in the baseline and follow-up surveys
(Table 2). The multiple regression analysis showed that
declines in self-rated financial status and IADL
decreased ikigai (Table 5). These findings were consis-
tent with our first hypothesis, and explicitly supported
the previous studies’ suggestions that the reason for a
decline in ikigai is because variables relating to ikigai
tend to decline with age (Nakanishi et al., 2003;
Yamamoto-Mitani & Wallhagen, 2002).
However, our findings also demonstrate that declines
in ikigai due to a decline in human capital can be mod-
erated by social capital. Consistent with our second
hypothesis, the interactions of changes in IADL and
changes in strong ties and weak ties were significant.
The negative association between changes in IADL and
the follow-up ikigai was not significant among those
whose strong ties were increased and those whose weak
ties were maintained or increased (Tables 6 and 7). That
is, declines in IADL did not decrease ikigai among those
whose social networks were maintained or increased
over the 4-year study. These findings suggest that the
quantitative aspect of social capital (i.e., strong ties,
weak ties) buffered the undesirable effects of a decline
in IADL on ikigai among older adults. Previous studies
have demonstrated that about the half of the participants
decreased their level of ikigai (Nakanishi et al., 2003).
This study indicated that those who could maintain iki-
gai are the sort of people who maintain or increase their
social networks even if their physical health status
worsens.
Although this buffering effect was shown among
those who maintained and increased weak ties, the

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Ikigai among Japanese older adults 179

Table 6 Post Hoc Analysis Stratified by Strong Ties Predicting Ikigai (follow-up)

Strong Ties

Declined Maintained Increased

B b SE B b SE B b SE

Changes in human capital

Self-rated financial status 1.48 .15** 0.83 1.16 .10 0.85 0.71 .06 0.68
IADL 2.73 .34** 0.54 2.42 .26** 0.64 0.17 .02 0.59
Changes in social capital
Trust in others 1.07 .31** 0.26 1.49 .36** 0.34 1.34 .33** 0.21
Weak ties 0.02 .03 0.05 0.05 .06 0.06 0.01 .01 0.04
Human capital (unchanged)
Education 0.97 .13 0.50 0.40 .06 0.55 0.62 .09 0.36
Control variables
Gender 0.86 .06 1.02 0.30 .02 1.23 0.79 .06 0.81
Age 0.03 .03 0.06 0.00 .00 0.08 0.04 .04 0.06
Marital status 0.14 .01 1.06 0.71 .04 1.21 1.13 .07 0.84
Self-rated financial status (baseline) 0.10 .01 0.71 2.10 .23** 0.68 0.47 .05 0.56
IADL (baseline) 2.23 .10 1.45 1.22 .10 0.87 0.24 .02 0.72
Trust in others (baseline) 0.55 .16 0.30 0.77 .21** 0.32 0.92 .27**
Strong ties (baseline) 0.10 .05 0.16 0.35 .06 0.49 0.11 .03 0.21
Weak ties (baseline) 0.01 .03 0.04 0.06 .05 0.11 0.00 .00 0.04
Ikigai (baseline) 0.52 .53** 0.08 0.54 .53** 0.08 0.66 .63** 0.07
R .80 .80 .79
R2 .64** .64** .62**
Adjusted R2 .59 .59 .59

Note. All change scores were calculated by subtracting follow-up scores from baseline scores. Higher values mean that scores
declined over the 4-year study. IADL = instrumental activity of daily living.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

number of strong ties needs to be increased to buffer
the effects of the decline in IADL on ikigai. We sug-
gest two reasons for this difference. First, our findings
demonstrated that the number of strong ties tends to be
smaller on average than that of weak ties. This finding
suggests that a person could maintain ikigai only if he
or she could maintain the number of weak ties because
the number of weak ties was already high. On the other
hand, although the small number of strong ties is not
problematic when a person is young and healthy, strong
ties need to increase when people are older and their
physical status worsens. Second, although significance
of the relationship between changes in IADL and the
follow-up ikigai was different, the effect sizes between
them were not dramatically different among those
whose strong ties or weak ties were maintained,
b = .22, n.s.; b = .26, p < .01, respectively;
Tables 6 and 7). Therefore, it is possible that the
buffering effect of weak and strong ties among those
whose IADL was declined were not different, and as a
result, it would be desirable to increase both strong and
weak ties to maintain ikigai.
The strength of our research was to longitudinally
show that social networks can moderate the negative
effects of declines in health status on ikigai.
Interestingly, changes in social networks did not have
a main effect on ikigai, but only interacted with the
changes in IADL. These findings suggest that although
declines in social networks do not threaten ikigai
when one is healthy, these do threaten ikigai when
one’s health status declines. Whereas strong ties can
provide emotional support, weak ties provide a greater
variety of information and support (Granovetter, 1983).
For those whose health status has declined, the pres-
ence of both strong and weak ties has an important
role in the emotional and instrumental support needed
to maintain ikigai.
Our findings emphasize the importance of a sustained
effort to increase social networks within communities
to protect the ikigai of those whose human capital is in
the process of decline. For example, it was demon-
strated that a university-led community intervention
providing opportunities for social participation and
communication among neighborhoods could increase

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
180 Ai Fukuzawa et al.

Table 7 Post Hoc Analysis Stratified by Weak Ties Predicting Ikigai (follow-up)

Weak Ties

Declined Maintained Increased

B b SE B b SE B b SE

Changes in human capital

Self-rated financial status 1.40 .12* 0.70 1.50 .15 1.55 1.08 .09 0.60
IADL 2.51 .33** 0.41 3.26 .22 2.55 0.68 .06 0.52
Changes in social capital
Trust in others 1.06 .27** 0.25 0.45 .14 0.61 1.59 .40** 0.20
Strong ties 0.30 .09 0.21 0.22 .06 0.48 0.09 .04 0.12
Human capital (unchanged)
Education 0.66 .09 0.42 0.70 .11 0.89 0.59 .09 0.36
Control variables
Gender 0.01 .00 0.81 0.17 .01 2.07 0.68 .05 0.75
Age 0.01 .01 0.05 0.05 .06 0.13 0.06 .05 0.05
Marital status 0.03 .00 0.87 1.23 .08 2.20 0.05 .00 0.76
Self-rated financial status (baseline) 0.84 .09 0.57 1.18 .14 1.38 0.42 .05 0.48
IADL (baseline) 1.93 .13* 0.85 3.91 .15 3.87 0.10 .01 0.59
Trust in others (baseline) 0.53 .15* 0.27 0.12 .04 0.78 0.91 .27** 0.19
Strong ties (baseline) 0.13 .05 0.19 0.16 .07 0.50 0.01 .00 0.16
Weak ties (baseline) 0.01 .02 0.03 0.01 .02 0.11 0.01 .01 0.04
Ikigai (baseline) 0.57 .52** 0.07 0.60 .69** 0.18 0.56 .54** 0.06
R .82 .75 .79
R2 .67** .57** .62**
Adjusted R2 .64 .37 .59

Note. All change scores were calculated by subtracting follow-up scores from baseline scores. Higher values mean that scores
declined over the 4-year study. IADL = instrumental activity of daily living.
*p < .05, **p < .01.

the extent and value of social networks for Japanese
elderly (Harada et al., 2017). Our results also show that
more than 40% of the participants increased both weak
ties and strong ties over the 4-year study. Our partici-
pants were from the Tsurukabuto community, the tar-
geted community of the Active Aging Project of Kobe
University, and many might have been motivated to
increase their social networks, to not reduce ikigai,
through this project. We suggest that community inter-
vention of this type can increase the elderly’s social
networks and, consequently, could maintain or increase
their ikigai. Future studies directly testing the effects of
interventions on ikigai among the elderly are needed to
confirm this suggestion.
Our results demonstrated that changes in trust in others
does not interact with other variables but has a main nega-
tive effect on ikigai. Our second hypothesis about the cog-
nitive aspect of social capital was thus not supported.
Previous studies have implied that the cognitive aspect of
social capital may buffer the effects of daily stressors
(Murayama et al., 2015) and neighborhood income depri-
vation (Fone et al., 2007) on the hedonic aspect of well-
being. While the cognitive aspect of social capital may
maintain the hedonic aspect of well-being, the quantitative
aspect of social capital is better suited to buffering the
effects of declines in human capital on ikigai.
This study had some limitations. First, participants
were from only one city; therefore, further research is
needed to test whether the current results can be general-
ized to older adults in other cities. Second, as shown in
Table 1, those who answered both the baseline and the
follow-up surveys were significantly younger and more
highly educated and had higher self-rated financial sta-
tus, higher IADL, and higher ikigai than those who
dropped out from the follow-up survey. Thus, the gener-
alization of our findings should be tested in the future.
In addition, further research is needed to test the process
of how social networks protect ikigai.
Notwithstanding the limitations of our study, the
results contribute to our understanding of how to main-
tain the ikigai of older adults, who must face the
unavoidable risk of losing their resources with age.
Although older adults are in the situation associated with
losing their human capital with age, they can compen-
sate for their lost resources with other existing, more
controllable social resources.

© 2018 Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Ikigai among Japanese older adults 181

Katagiri, K. (2012). Japanese retirees and social participation: A

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