Personal networks and sacred texts: Social aging in Delhi, India

Abstract

Social aging of residents of a middle-class neighborhood of Delhi, India is examined from a personal network perspective. The analysis reported here addresses the size and composition of personal networks of a random sample of men and women 55 years and older. Analysis of the entire sample indicates no age related reduction in network size among people 74 years and below. Among older persons in age strata 75 years old and above there is a substantial reduction in network size. In addition to being influenced by a person's age, network size is also influenced by gender, health status, and household resource control but not by the material style of life of the household and household type. The results of this analysis are interpreted in terms of Hindu sacred texts that describe the ideal life course and comparison with related studies from India and the United States.

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

“…One of the most highly reliable findings in social gerontology is that the rates of social interaction decline with age (e.g, Field & Minkler, 1988;Lee & Markides, 1990;Palmore, 1981). This finding has been replicated in many cultures (Bowling et al, 1995;Willigen et al, 1995). Traditionally, the decline has been interpreted as an inevitable loss associated with the aging process, due either to a process of mutual emotional distancing between aging people and societies, as in disengagement theory (Cumming & Henry, 1961), or to physical and social barriers that bar older people from desired social interactions, as in activity theory (Havighurst & Albrecht, 1953;Maddox, 1963Maddox, , 1970.…”

“…Social relationships are widely recognized to be an important predictor of psychological well being (Bowlby, 1969;Watzlawick, Jackson, & Beavin, 1967). However, even though social interactions decrease in later life (Bowling, Grundy, & Farquhar, 1995;Field & Minkler, 1988;Lee & Markides, 1990;Palmore, 1981;Willigen, Chadha, & Kedia, 1995), life satisfaction and subjective well being are maintained or improved (Baltes & Carstensen, 1996). In the present research, we attempt to interpret this paradox from the perspective of socioemotional selectivity theory.…”

Marital Status, Family Ties, and Self-rated Health Among Elders In South India

“…In practice, however, older men were shown in one New Delhi study to report loss of authority and respect, and older women reported physical overwork. Older persons advised maintaining some control over resources to retain children's respect and to prevent themselves from feeling like a burden (Van Willigen, Chadha & Kedia, 1995). Marulasiddiah (1966) described how respect accorded by family members to elders in a rural Karnataka state village varied by gender, caste, class, and family situation.…”

Social Support and its Correlation with Loneliness: A Cross-Cultural Study of Nepalese Older Adults

“…Culturally, Nepali Hindu society, like Indian Hindu society, is structured partly by the notion of life that has four stages (ashramas) and that life is driven by four goals, i.e., Brahmacharya (sexual abstinence or life of student), Grihastha (marital life or life of householder), Vanaprastha (life in the jungle), and Sannyasa (asceticism) (van Willigen, Chadha, & Kedia, 1995). Each life stage is used to prepare for the next life stage, with the final goal of attaining redemption moksha from the cycle of rebirth.…”