Reactions of Chinese “drifting elderly” aged 50 years and over when facing negative experiences in urban living

Yuhui Ruan; Linyi Zhou

doi:10.2224/sbp.11478

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Published: May 4, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.11478

Issue: Vol. 50 No. 5 (2022)

Keywords:

drifting elderly in China, negative experiences, risk perception, present losses, future gains, risk aversion

Article Highlights

Reactions of “drifting elderly” (known as laopiao in China), aged 50 years and over, when facing negative experiences in urban living were found to be associated with their perception of risks, losses, and gains.
Obvious bias was found in drifting elderly when facing negative experiences, by accepting present losses and expressing risk aversion regarding future gains.
A stronger social support system should be established for the drifting elderly to help them avoid future risk.

Yuhui Ruan

School of Politics and Public Administration and Institute of Public Health, Soochow University, and School of International and Public Affairs and Institute of Health Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Linyi Zhou

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Cite this article: Ruan, Y., & Zhou, L. (2022). Reactions of Chinese “drifting elderly” aged 50 years and over when facing negative experiences in urban living. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 50(5), e11478.

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Our aim was to analyze and interpret the behavioral reactions of Chinese laopiao (drifting elderly), that is, people aged 50 years and over who have migrated from rural to urban areas to rejoin adult sons/daughters, and who face negative experiences as a result of this move. We employed grounded theory and interviewed 31 migrants living in Shanghai. Most participants showed an obvious bias when facing negative experiences: they prioritized the future over the present, were accepting of present losses, and expressed risk aversion regarding future gains. Regarding the present, participants expressed a relatively weak desire for anticipatory gains and a positive attitude regarding risks. In contrast, regarding the future, they expressed a strong desire for anticipatory gains and a strong desire to delay related risks. Therefore, for the sake of future gains and to avoid greater risk, they continued to live as drifting elderly even when they were currently facing some seemingly negative social consequences.

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