Older widows and married women: their intimates and confidants.

Interview data obtained from 132 women sixty-five and older reveals that the widows and married women have a comparable number of primary friends. Being over age seventy-four influences the size of the friendship network for widows but not married women. The primary friendships of widows and married women parallel each other in terms of endurance and stability. Primary ties with men are the exception rather than the norm, for both widows and married women. Widows do differ from married women in that the former rely on confidant friends to a greater extent. Ties between older women and their confidants are characterized by norms of reciprocity.

Life satisfaction and activity theory: a multidimensional approach.

Life satisfaction is examined utilizing a multidimensional approach. Hypotheses were proposed and tested for each of the dimensions of LSIA (Life Satisfaction Index A) within an activity theory perspective. The results provide qualified support for the theory. Some dimensions; however, show a better fit than others. Lack of a more general confirmation proved to be due to problems with activity theory and its attendant measures rather than with the multidimensional approach. The patterns of relationships found across the dimensions provide further support for using a multidimensional analysis when dealing with LSIA.

The voluntary associations of the aged.

This paper examines the voluntary associations of the aged. A substantial majority of respondents were affiliated and more than one-half had multiple affiliations. Rate of affiliation remained high even for individuals over 80. Contrary to expectation, women were as likely as men to be affiliated and to have multiple memberships, and were significantly more active in voluntary groups than men. Those belonging to multiple associations were more active in each association than individuals with only one or two affiliations. Overlapping memberships were common. Reasons for active involvement are provided. The bulk of the memberships were of three types which, in function, are integrative at the personality level.

Aging and primary relations.

After listing all consanguinal and affinal kin, our sample of 800 respondents forty-five and older identified those with whom they felt very close and who among these were confidants. A parallel procedure was used to identify very close friends and confidant friends. These four types (primary relatives, confidant relatives, primary friends, confidant friends) were seen as constituting the primary-group resource of our respondents. Thirty of the 800 individuals lacked primary ties with kin, compared to 118 of 800 without primary ties with friends. While very few of the respondents were without very close ties of any kind, those with extensive primary-group resources were more likely to be women rather than men, younger rather than older, married rather than single, and in high rather than low-status occupation.