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Going to the Mall: A Leisure Activity of Urban Elderly People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Dawn Fowler Graham ,
Ian Graham  and
Michael J. MacLean
Dawn Fowler Graham
Affiliation:
Health and Welfare Canada
Ian Graham
Affiliation:
McGill University
Michael J. MacLean
Affiliation:
McMaster University*
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, define and test a theoretical model which explains elderly people's use of urban shopping centres as places for social exchange. We suggest that elderly people use shopping centres to satisfy social and leisure are individual or predisposing variables and environmental or encouraging variables which differentiate elderly people who engage in this activity. Using a secondary data analysis of a probability sample of 300 non-institutionalized elderly people in Montreal, we found that mallingering is an activity that 67 per cent of this sample do in three shopping centres in this city. Predisposing variables such as age, gender, education and feelings of loneliness, along with encouraging variables such as design and ambiance of the centre are related to this activity. Based on these findings, we suggest that this model contributes to our understanding of the leisure activities of non-institutionalized elderly people.

Résumé

Le propos de cet article est d'introduire, de définir et de tester un modèle théorique qui puisse expliquer la fréquentation par les personnes âgées des centres d'achats urbains, conçus comme des endroits d'échanges sociaux. Nous estimons que les personnes âgées vont dans les centres d'achats pour satisfaire leurs besoins de vie sociale et de loisirs. Nous créons le néologisme « mailler » pour aller au mail ou au centre d'achat. Nous émettons ensuite l'hypothèse qu'il existe des variables individuelles, c'est-à-dire de prédisposition et des variables environnementales, c'est-à-dire d'incitation, variables qui différencient les personnes âgées adeptes de ces activités de magasinage. En nous fondant sur l'analyse de données secondaires, tirées d'un échantillonnage de 300 personnes âgées montréalaises vivant à domicile, nous avons découvert que le magasinage, effectué dans trois centres d'achats de Montréal, constitue une activité pour plus de 67 pour cent des sujets de l'échantillon. Certaines variables sont à relier à cette activaté: variables de prédisposition telles que l'âge, le sexe, l'éducation et aussi le sentiment de solitude et variables incitatives comme l'architecture du centre d'achat et son ambiance. En nous fondant sur ces résultats, nous pensons que ce modèle nous aide à mieux comprendre les activités de loisirs des personnes âgées demeurant à domicile.

Keywords

SociabilityLeisure ActivityLeisure TimeShoppingMallingeringSociabilitéactivatés de loisirstemps de loisirsmagasinagemailler
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , Winter/hiver 1991 , pp. 345 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1991

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