研究背景
社會參與是影響老人退休生活品質的重要因素之一，過去相關的研究多討論退休後的社會參與類型與程度，以及社會參與高低與生活滿意度的關係，較少關注於退休前後社會參與程度的變化情形。一般認為社會參與程度愈高愈好，但變化幅度可能比絕對水準的高低對生活的衝擊更大。當討論社會參與的性別差異時，文獻上多以角色理論或女性主義理論來描述與驗證，晚近McDonald（2000）提出的性別公平差異發展理論，其實更能符合新時代的性別角色關係，三種理論皆蘊含性別角色於退休前後變遷過程對於退休生活適應的影響。在三種理論為基礎上，推測不同世代老人其退休後社會參與的變化之性別差異應該有不同的樣貌，且不同的社會參與類型可能需要用不同的理論來解釋。因此「世代」、「類型」與「落差」，是高齡者社會參與變化性別差異之論述主軸。

研究目的
以生命歷程觀點，探討台灣退休老人退休前後社會參與變化之性別差異。依據角色理論、女性主義觀點及性別公平差異發展理論，針對不同的社會參與類型，提出不同的變化路徑假設，驗證不同世代老人於不同類型的社會參與上，其退休前後變化的性別差異是否有不同的表現。
研究方法
本研究運用行政院衛生署國民健康局自1989、1993、1996、1999、2003及2007年進行的大規模「台灣地區中老年身心社會與生活狀況長期追蹤調查」，分析兩性在退休前、退休初期及退休三年以上三個階段，三種社會參與類型（休閒參與、親友連繫、志願服務）之參與程度變化，並採用分層分析進一步了解兩性變化落差之影響因素。

研究結果
角色理論強調工作角色轉換對於個人的影響。傳統的性別角色分工為「男主外、女主內」，隨著退休生活來臨，失去工作角色的男性社會參與程度可能隨即下降，而女性因婚後一直以維持美滿家庭生活為目標，退休反而回到原本的生活重心，可能使得社會參與隨著退休年數的增加而上升。不過今日的性別角色分工其實是「男主外、女主內外」，因此角色理論應該比較適合用來解釋年長世代的社會參與變化之性別差異。研究結果顯示，年長世代的親友連繫與志願服務參與，比較符合角色理論的預期。
女性主義試圖傳達性別間的差異與不平等，源自於女性在各方面受到男性壓迫與剝削的結果，例如職場上的性別歧視、家務分工的不均等以及缺乏教育機會等，使得男性較女性擁有更多的社會資源從事社會參與。在休閒活動的參與方面，無論退休前後男性的參與程度均高於女性，且經濟是顯著的影響因素。休閒活動參與的性別差異比較符合女性主義的預期。
性別公平差異發展理論強調退休前兩性在「個人取向的社會制度」及「家庭取向的社會制度」中的不均發展，雖然使女性在退休前面臨蠟燭兩頭燒的困境，導致女性退休前參與社會活動的機會與時間被壓縮，但退休卻對女性的生活衝擊較小，對男性的衝擊較大，特別是「親友連繫」相關活動方面，女性可能只要延續退休前的生活習慣即可以維持一定的參與強度。研究結果顯示，在親友連繫方面，兩性均呈現先降後升的趨勢，且第三階段女性略高於男性，不過並無統計上的顯著差異。另外，在志願服務方面，女性於退休後期的參與程度高於男性。親友連繫及志願服務參與的變化比較符合「性別公平差異發展理論」的預期。
最後，分層分析顯示年輕世代及高教育程度的老人，退休前後社會參與變化的性別差異越來越小。因此，推測未來年輕一代且高教育程度的女性老人，可能不再是弱勢族群。

Background
Social participation is one of the positive factors for successful retirement. In the past, most social participation investigations focused on the effects of types and intensity of social participation in relation life satisfaction. The general consensus is that the higher the level of social participation, the better the elderly livelihood. However, this study wants to show that besides the amount of social participation, the relative change in social participation before and after retirement is important as well.
In the past, discussions on the retirement adaptation can be simply classified according to two theories, the role theory and feminism. In 2000, McDonald proposed the gender equity theory that may be more suited for understanding today’s gender difference in social participation. All three theories imply that the changes in gender role before and after retirement affect elderly livelihood. Base on the three theories, speculation regarding the gender difference in social participation for different generations of elderly population will have different presentations. In addition, effects of different social presentations types may require different theoretical explanations. Therefore, generations, social participation types, and relative changes (before and after) are crucial factors with regards to changes in social participation for men and women.

Purpose
In the life course viewpoint, the main purpose of the study is to investigate social participation patterns of the elderly. The role theory, feminism, and gender equity theory each proposes specific effects on elderly livelihood according to various patterns of changes in social participation. This study will examine the effects of changes in different types of social participation for different generations in three life stages: work life, newly retirement and retired over 3 years.

Design and Methods
By analyzing the social participations of a sample drawn from the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan conducted in 1989, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2007, the study attempts to identify gender differences in social participation transition from work life to newly retired life to retirement life over 3 years. The social participation evaluation includes involvement in leisure activities, contacts with relatives and friends and participation in volunteer work. Stratification analysis is employed to further examine influencing factors in general difference in social participation.

Results
The role theory emphasizes the effects of role changes on an individual. The traditional role division of labor portrays men as breadwinners and women as homemakers, thus the effects of retirement manifest differently. In retirement, men lose their work identity which lead to a decline in social participation while women gain more time to fulfill their homemaker role which, reversely, lead to an increase in social participation. However, the traditional role division of labor is no longer the social norm today, thus the role theory are restricted to rationalize only the elderly cohort’s social participation changes. Results show that the elderly cohort’s social participation in contact with relatives and friends and volunteer participation are closely related to role theory’s predictions.
Feminism attempts to reveal gender differences and inequality, in which the disadvantaged women are constantly oppressed and exploited by men, ranging from unequal pay and work opportunity, imbalanced division of household labor, uneven educational inclination, and much more. Thus, men are able to acquire more social resources, which enable men to excel in the social participation. Men display a higher level of social participation in leisure activity both pre and post retirement, with financial status as a significant factor. The gender difference in social participation in leisure activity correlates to the expectations of feminism.
The gender equity theory highlights the uneven development in “individual-oriented institutions” and “family-oriented institutions” between the sexes before retirement. Though women are pressed for time between work and family before retirement, retirement appears to have a minimal effect on the daily lives of women. On the other hand, retirement affects men’s daily lives significantly, especially in social participation in contact with relatives and friends. Results show, in terms of social participation in contact with family and friends, both gender displays a decrease followed by an increase in retirement, furthermore women in retirement over 3 years display a higher participation level than men though without statistical significance. In terms of volunteer participation, women in retirement over 3 years display a higher participation level than men. The social participation changes in contact with relatives and friends and volunteer participation closely match the gender equity theory projections.
Lastly, stratification analysis shows that younger cohorts and well-educated elder populations display minimal gender differences in pre and post social participation. In deduction, the future younger and more educated elderly women may no longer be the minority.

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