Abstract: With the acceleration of urbanization, a large number of young and middle-aged rural laborers have flocked to cities, leading to an increase in the number of left-behind elderly people in rural areas. These left-behind elderly people face multiple problems such as economic support and daily care, monotonous lives, and a lack of family atmosphere, resulting in their lack of emotional needs. The emotional needs of rural elderly people are studied from the perspective of the interactive ritual chains, by the methods of action research and field interviews combined with the practical experience of social work services for rural left-behind elderly people. The results show that social work services carried out from the perspective of the interactive ritual chain can help the elderly increase the emotional energy, strengthen their common symbolic identification, meet the emotional needs of rural left-behind elderly people, and enhance their sense of happiness.

Key words: interactive ritual chains, left-behind elderly people, emotional need