Age-Related Patterns in Social Networks among European Americans and African Americans: Implications for Socioemotional Selectivity across the Life Span

Abstract

Socioemotional selectivity theory contends that as people become increasingly aware of limitations on future time, they are increasingly motivated to be more selective in their choice of social partners, favoring emotionally meaningful relationships over peripheral ones. The theory hypothesizes that because age is negatively associated with time left in life, the social networks of older people contain fewer peripheral social partners than those of their younger counterparts. This study tested the hypothesis among African Americans and European Americans, two ethnic groups whose social structural resources differ. Findings confirm the hypothesis. Across a wide age range (18 to 94 years old) and among both ethnic groups, older people report as many emotionally close social partners but fewer peripheral social partners in their networks as compared to their younger counterparts. Moreover, a greater percentage of very close social partners in social networks is related to lower levels of happiness among the young age group, but not among the older age groups. Implications of findings for adaptive social functioning across the life span are discussed.

Social networks and quality of life of elderly persons: a review and critical analysis of literature

“…This reduction in the size of social networks with age can be explained by the death of people close to the elderly person, health problems, children leaving home and by events that deprive the elderly of their social networks at work, but also by the theory of social-emotional selectivity. Such a theory postulates that elderly persons become increasingly aware of the limitations of the future time available to them and are motivated to be more selective in choosing social partners, favoring emotionally significant relationships over more peripheral ones 27 …”

“…According to this model, optimization means the acquisition, application, coordination and maintenance of internal and external resources involved in achieving higher levels of functioning, while compensation implies the adoption of alternatives to maintain functioning46. In fact, elderly persons can compensate for agerelated social barriers and optimize their social interactions by focusing their limited time and energy on a few social partners who are better able to meet their main social needs 27 .…”

Brand relations and life course: Why old consumers love their brands

“…Family plays a central role in the social relations of the elderly. When we take the metaphor of social relations literally, the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory applies, in particular, its prediction that older adults have the tendency to choose more familiar social partners (Fredrickson and Carstensen, 1990;Fung et al, 1999Fung et al, , 2001). These are social partners with which one has a relatively strong relationship.…”

The moderating role of age in the relationship between volunteering motives and well-being

“…Future studies should explore the mechanisms of this benefit. The benefit might occur through encouraging older adults to actively engage in more social activities, which may be physical; or indirectly through maintaining existing social networks, which is the most important source of life meaning among older adults (Fung et al 2001).…”

“…She/he then invests more to pursue emotionally meaningful goals. Such goals can be achieved by maintaining a closer social network (Fung et al 2001) and maximizing emotional gratification (Carstensen et al 2003) in the realms of emotions and social relationships. Applying the SST (Carstensen 2006) to volunteering motives, Okun and Schultz (2003) postulate that the motives of making friends, and the career and understanding motives are more age-relevant for younger people to gain new knowledge and expand the social network.…”