Abstract

Little is known about the experience of older adults’ loneliness in Southeast Asia. Situated in southern Myanmar, this study uses ethnographic interviews to shed light on coping strategies that older adults deploy to prevent and reduce loneliness. A resilient mindset was identified as essential to alleviating loneliness in older adults, a strategy described as including acceptance of loneliness and finding strength to fight against loneliness. Acceptance was facilitated by religious practices such as praying and meditating. Efforts to reduce loneliness included leisure activities “just to pass the time” and engagement in care provision. Culturally specific concepts such as prosociality and social harmony, as well as religious ideas such as karma and the desire for a non-lonely afterlife influenced the ways the people we interviewed coped with loneliness and adverse life events.

摘要

人们对东南亚老年人的孤独感知之甚少。这项研究位于缅甸南部，使用民族志访谈来阐明老年人为预防和减少孤独感而采取的应对策略。弹性心态被认为是减轻老年人孤独感的关键，这种策略被描述为包括接受孤独感和寻找力量来对抗孤独感。祈祷和冥想等宗教习俗促进了接受。减少孤独的努力包括“只是为了打发时间”的休闲活动和参与提供护理。具有文化特色的概念，例如亲社会性和社会和谐，