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The Relationship of Age to Personal Network Size, Relational Multiplexity, and Proximity to Alters in the Western United States
The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences (2014)
  • Adam Boessen, University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Emily Smith, University of California, Irvine
  • Christopher S Marcum
  • Zack W. Almquist, University of Minnesota
  • John R. Hipp, University of California, Irvine
  • Nicholas N Nagle
  • Carter T Butts, University of California, Irvine
Abstract
Objectives. This study examines the association of age and other sociodemographic variables with properties of personal networks; using samples of individuals residing in the rural western United States and the City of Los Angeles, we evaluate the degree to which these associations vary with geographical context. For both samples, we test the hypothesis that age is negatively associated with network size (i.e., degree) and positively associated with network multiplexity (the extent of overlap) on 6 different relations: core discussion members, social activity participants, emergency contacts, neighborhood safety contacts, job informants, and kin. We also examine the relationship between age and spatial proximity to alters.

Publication Date
October 16, 2014
DOI
10.1093/geronb/gbu142
Citation Information
Adam Boessen, Emily Smith, Christopher S Marcum, Zack W. Almquist, et al.. "The Relationship of Age to Personal Network Size, Relational Multiplexity, and Proximity to Alters in the Western United States" The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Vol. 70 Iss. 1 (2014) p. 91 - 99
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/adam-boessen/26/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.