Senior Citizens Are More Socially Engaged Than Many
People May Think
Seniors more likely to volunteer, visit neighbors
than people in their 50s
April
16, 2008 - Most people think that people become more socially isolated
as they reach into their senior years and beyond. That is just not true,
say researchers at the University of Chicago. Their study finds them
remaining vital and active members of society. Many in their 80s are
more active than when they were 50.
The research team found that although older
individuals have fewer intimate relationships, they may respond to
social loss by becoming more likely to volunteer, attend religious
services and spend time with their neighbors than those in their 50s.
A persons social network will inevitably shrink a
little as they retire, as they begin to experience bereavements, and so
on. That is where the stereotype comes from, said University researcher
Benjamin Cornwell.
But that stereotypical image of the isolated
elderly really falls apart when we broaden our conception of what
social connectedness is. In our study, we looked at other forms of
social involvement as well and found that older adults are more socially
engaged in the community than we thought, he said. The study, the first
systematic, nationally representative look at both social networks and
community involvement among older Americans, revealed these details of
social involvement:
● About three-quarters of older adults between
the ages of 57 and 85 socialize with their neighbors, attend religious
services, volunteer or attend meetings of other organized groups on at
least a weekly basis. Those in their 80s were twice as likely as those
in their 50s to engage in one of these activities.
● Whereas about 50 percent of people in their
70s and 80s socialize with neighbors on at least a weekly basis, about
40 percent of people in their 50s and 60s do. In fact, people in their
early 80s are more than twice as likely to socialize with their
neighbors than people in their late 50s.
● About 50 percent of those in their 70s and 80s
attend religious services on at least a weekly basis, compared to 40
percent of people in their 50s and 60s. People in their 70s are twice as
likely to attend religious services on at least a weekly basis as people
in their late 50s, and those in their 80s are nearly 50 percent more
likely to do so.
● About 22 percent of people in their 70s and
80s volunteer on a weekly basis, compared to about 17 percent of those
in their older 50s. People in their 70s and 80s are about 36 percent
more likely to volunteer on at least a weekly basis than people in their
50s.
Cornwell, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center on
Demography and Economics of Aging at the University of Chicago, is the
lead author of the paper, The Social Connectedness of Older Adults: A
National Profile, published in the April issue of the American
Sociological Review. Other authors are Edward O. Laumann, the George
Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at the
University of Chicago, and L. Philip Schumm, Senior Biostatistician in
the Department of Health Studies at the University of Chicago.
The study was based on in-home interviews with
3,005 people, ages 57 to 85, between July 2005 and March 2006, as part
of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project supported by the
National Institutes of Health. The National Opinion Research Center at
the University of Chicago conducted the survey.
Laumann said the research provides a new way of
looking at how people relate to society as they age. Additional time
spent on social activities isnt necessarily a response to older
Americans having more time, he said, or the result of a different
perspective among older Americans as compared with baby boomers, many of
whom are in their late 50s.
In this light, we may better understand the
greater involvement of the oldest adults in civic activities not as an
outcome of generational differences in commitment to community or civic
spirit, but as an effort to regain control over their social
environments, he said.
Cornwell said, The new image of the older American
is this: Far from being helpless isolates, they are actually
extraordinary adaptive creatures. Not only are older adults
exceptionally adaptive to social loss, but we speculate that they may
also be more proactive than younger adults in establishing ties to the
community. In short, they appear to be more socially engaged.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April
16, 2008 - Most people think that people become more socially isolated
as they reach into their senior years and beyond. That is just not true,
say researchers at the University of Chicago. Their study finds them
remaining vital and active members of society. Many in their 80s are
more active than when they were 50.