Family members are the major source of physical and emotional support for older adults, yet researchers suggest that friendships have a stronger bearing on subjective well-being. In this research we sought an explanation for this inconsistency in older adults' immediate experiences with friends. Retired adults provided self-reports on their subjective states at random moments during a typical week. Analyses of these reports confirmed the prediction that older adults have more favorable experiences with their friends than with family members. The difference is partly attributable to the greater frequency of active leisure activities with friends, but is also due to unique qualities of interactions with friends that facilitate transcendence of mundane daily realities. We propose that friends provide an immediate situation of openness, reciprocity, and positive feedback that engenders enjoyment and subjectively meaningful exchanges.

This research investigates the quantity and quality of time alone or "solitude" in the daily lives of older adults. A sample of 92 retired adults carried electronic pagers for 1 week and filled out self-reports on their companionship and internal states in response to signals received at random times. Analysis of the 3,412 reports indicates that those who were unmarried and living alone spent a majority of their waking hours alone and experienced low affect and arousal when in this dominant part of their lives. For the married, solitude was also a major part of daily life, filling 40% of their time, but, although it was related with somewhat lower affect, it was also related with higher arousal. These results suggest that being alone is not a wholley negative experience for this age group, especially for those who have the regular companionship of a spouse.

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Using a stratified sample of Canadian adolescents residing in Ontario (n=2,154) time use patterns and perceptions of time pressure are explored to determine gender differences among younger (12-14 years) and older adolescents (15-19 years). For both age groups, girls report a higher total workload of schoolwork, domestic activities and paid employment and spend more time on personal care while boys have more free time, especially during early adolescence. Feelings of time pressure for teens increase with age and are significantly higher for girls in both age categories. Gender differences are less pronounced on school days when time is fairly structured, but become more consistent with traditional gender schema on the weekend when time use is more discretionary.

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