Abstract
This study is designed to identify factors that affect happiness of the elderly by studying residential environments and individual personalities as independent variables, and happiness of the elderly as a dependent variable. Data from the survey of Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted in 2008 were used for the analysis. The subjects of the study included a sample of 10,115 respondents who represent aged 65 and older in Korea. The result of analysis was as follows; First, the ratio of the elderly who are living in the house(62.1%) was higher than those of apartments(25.0%), whereas happiness of the elderly who are living in the house(2.14) was lower than those of apartments(2.28). Second, the ratio of single elderly household who are living alone or living with spouse only was 70.6%, whereas the ratio of the elderly household who are living with grown-up children was only 29.4%. The result means responsibility for supporting the elderly have to move from their family to their society. Third, the factors affecting on elderly' happiness in the individual personalities were age, education level, economic level, and health status. Finally, the happiness of elderly significantly related to convenience of housing, living arrangement, home ownership, region of living, and local safety in the residential environments.