CLOSE EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LATE-LIFE - FURTHER SUPPORT FOR PROACTIVE AGING IN THE SOCIAL DOMAIN

The idea that age-related reductions in network size are proactively m anaged by older people is explored by examining the interrelationships among chronological age, network composition, social support, and fee lings of social embeddedness (FSE) in a representative sample of 156 c ommunity-dwelling and institutionalized adults ages 70-104 years. Comp arisons between people with and without nuclear families are made to e xplore the influence of opportunity structures on network size. Social networks of very old people are nearly half as large as those of old people, but the number of very close relationships does not differenti ate age groups. Among Ss without living nuclear family members, the nu mber of emotionally close social partners predicted FSE better than am ong Ss with nuclear family members. Findings provide evidence for proa ctive selection, compensation, and optimization toward the goal of emo tional enhancement and social functioning in old age.