Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fung, H. H.
Right arrow Articles by Lang, F. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fung, H. H.
Right arrow Articles by Lang, F. R.
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 63:P156-P164 (2008)
© 2008 The Gerontological Society of America

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cultural Specificity of Socioemotional Selectivity: Age Differences in Social Network Composition Among Germans and Hong Kong Chinese

Helene H. Fung, Franziska S. Stoeber, Dannii Yuen-lan Yeung and Frieder R. Lang

1 Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.
2 Department of Developmental Psychology, Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
3 Institute of Psychogerontology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Address correspondence to Helene Fung, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 328 Sino Building, Chung Chi College, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. E-mail: hhlfung{at}psy.cuhk.edu.hk

We examined age differences in social network composition among 330 Germans and 330 Hong Kong Chinese, aged 20 to 91 years. We measured social network composition with the Social Convoy Questionnaire. In both cultures, older age was associated with the same number of close social partners and fewer peripheral social partners than was younger age. However, the patterns of age differences in specific relationships differed across cultures: Age was negatively associated with the proportion of nuclear family members among Germans but the association was positive among Hong Kong Chinese. Age was positively associated with the proportion of acquaintances among Germans but the association was negative among Hong Kong Chinese. We discuss the findings in terms of whether the socioemotional selectivity theory holds in both cultures.

Key Words: Age differences • Social network composition • Socioemotional selectivity theory






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
All GSA journals The Gerontologist
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Copyright © 2008 by The Gerontological Society of America.