Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T00:18:53.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationships in late life from a personal communities approach: perspectives of older people in Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2020

Maria-Jose Torrejon Open the ORCID record for Maria-Jose Torrejon [Opens in a new window]  and
Anne Martin-Matthews
Maria-Jose Torrejon*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Anne Martin-Matthews
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although the literature on social capital, social support and social networks uses the concept of emotional support, studies rarely recognise nuances of the emotional relationships in late life. Using a personal communities framework, we examine the subjective meaning of family and friendship ties that form the network of emotionally close relationships of a cohort of Chilean people between 60 and 74 years of age. Chile is an interesting case to investigate personal communities, as the country is facing both a rapid process of population ageing and the consequences of abrupt socio-cultural changes triggered by a military government. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews using personal communities diagrams that enabled study participants to reflect on what and how different types of personal ties were important to them. Data analysis included thematic analysis of interview transcripts and classification of identified personal communities using Pahl and Spencer's typology. The personal communities framework proved useful in capturing the composition of older people's networks of close relationships and in reflecting the diverse ways different ties are relevant in late life. We further developed a complementary typology based on the distinction between ‘clustered’ and ‘hierarchical’ personal communities. This complementary typology adds a cultural dimension to understand better emotional closeness in late life in a context of rapid socio-cultural changes affecting levels of social trust.

Keywords

personal communitiesChileemotional supportfriendshipfamily ties
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 5 , May 2022 , pp. 1138 - 1158
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antonucci, TC (1986) Hierarchical mapping technique. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging 10, 10–12.Google Scholar
Antonucci, TC, Ajrouch, KJ and Birditt, KS (2014) The convoy model: explaining social relations from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Gerontologist 54, 82–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blieszner, R, Ogletree, AM and Adams, RG (2019) Friendship in later life: a research agenda. Innovation in Aging 3, igz005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowling, A, Banister, D, Sutton, S, Evans, O and Windsor, J (2002) A multidimensional model of the quality of life in older age. Aging & Mental Health 6, 355–371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bunout, D, Osorio, P, Barrera, G, Torrejón, MJ, Meersohn, C, Anigstein, MS, Miranda, JP, Espinoza, I, Hirsch, S and de la Maza, MP (2011) Quality of life of older Chilean subjects living in metropolitan Santiago, Chile. Influence of socioeconomic status. Ageing Research 3, e3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, E (2014) Comparative-historical analysis of aging policy reforms in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Working Paper 61.Google Scholar
Connidis, IA (2020) Who counts as family later in life? Following theoretical leads. Journal of Family Theory & Review 12, 164–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornwell, B, Laumann, EO and Schumm, LP (2008) The social connectedness of older adults: a national profile. American Sociological Review 73, 185–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De la Maza, G (2004) Modernization a la Chilena: integration and exclusion. ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America 3, 29–31.Google Scholar
Fine, M (2006) A Caring Society? Care and the Dilemmas of Human Services in the 21st Century. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Forsman, AK, Herberts, C, Nyqvist, F, Wahlbeck, K and Schierenbeck, I (2013) Understanding the role of social capital for mental wellbeing among older adults. Ageing & Society 33, 804–825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, A (2009) The social capital of older people. Ageing & Society 29, 5–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higo, M and Williamson, JB (2011) Global aging. In Settersten, RA and Angel, JL (eds), Handbook of Sociology of Aging. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 117–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, ME and Waite, LJ (2007) The aging of the second demographic transition. In Schaie, KW and Uhlenberg, P (eds), Social Structures: The Impact of Demographic Changes on the Well-being of Older Persons. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 179–211.Google Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas de Chile (INE) (2018) Estimaciones y proyecciones de la población de Chile 1992–2050. Síntesis de Resultados. Santiago: INE.Google Scholar
Kahn, RL and Antonucci, TC (1981) Convoys of social support: a life-course approach. In Kiesler, SB and Oppenheimer, VK (eds), Aging: Social Change. New York, NY: Academic Press, pp. 383–405.Google Scholar
King, A. (2008) In vivo coding. In Given, L (ed). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 472–473.Google Scholar
Krause, N and Rook, KS (2003) Negative interaction in late life: issues in the stability and generalizability of conflict across relationships. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 58B, 88–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, FR and Carstensen, LL (1994) Close emotional relationships in late life: further support for proactive aging in the social domain. Psychology and Aging 9, 315–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larrain, J (2006) Changes in Chilean identity: thirty years after the military coup. Nations and Nationalism 12, 321–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lechner, N. (2000) Desafíos de un Desarrollo Humano: individualización y capital social. In Kliksberg, B and Tomassini, L (eds). Capital Social y Cultura: Claves Estratégicas para el Desarrollo, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, pp. 101–127.Google Scholar
Mason, J (2002) Qualitative Researching, 2nd Edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Matthews, SH (1983) Definitions of friendship and their consequences in old age. Ageing & Society 3, 141–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meersohn Schmidt, C and Yang, K (2020) Controlling active ageing: a study of social imaginaries of older people in Chile. Ageing & Society 40, 1428–1454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miche, M, Huxhold, O and Stevens, NL (2013) A latent class analysis of friendship network types and their predictors in the second half of life. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 68B, 644–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, S and Rosenthal, D (2016) Grandparenting: Contemporary Perspectives. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyqvist, F, Gustavsson, J and Gustafson, Y (2006) Social capital and health in the oldest old: the Umeå 85+ study. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life 1, 91–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pahl, R (2005) Are all communities communities in the mind? Sociological Review 53, 621–640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pahl, R and Spencer, L. (2004) Capturing personal communities. In Phillipson, C, Allan, G and Morgan, D (eds). Social Networks and Social Exclusion: Sociological and Policy Perspectives. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, pp. 72–96.Google Scholar
Pahl, R and Spencer, L (2010) Family, friends, and personal communities: changing models-in-the-mind. Journal of Family Theory & Review 2, 197–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C (2013) Ageing. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Roseneil, S and Budgeon, S (2004) Cultures of intimacy and care beyond ‘the family’: personal life and social change in the early 21st century. Current Sociology 52, 135–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santander and Centro UC Políticas Públicas (2015) Confianza, la clave para el desarrollo de Chile. Santiago: Santander and Centro UC Políticas Públicas.Google Scholar
Shanas, E (1979) The family as a social support system in old age. The Gerontologist 19, 169–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spencer, L and Pahl, R (2006) Rethinking Friendship: Hidden Solidarities Today. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Takahashi, K, Tamura, J and Tokoro, M (1997) Patterns of social relationships and psychological well-being among the elderly. International Journal of Behavioral Development 21, 417–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomassini, C and Glaser, K (2007) Gender and support of older unmarried people in Italy and Britain. In Pinnelli, A, Racioppi, F and Rettaroli, R (eds), Genders in the Life Course. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, pp. 237–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Development Programme (2010) Desarrollo Humano en Chile 2010. Género: los desafíos de la igualdad. Santiago: United Nations Development Programme.Google Scholar
Van Der Gaag, M and Snijders, TAB (2005) The Resource Generator: social capital quantification with concrete items. Social Networks 27, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Tilburg, T and Thomése, F. (2010) Societal dynamics in personal networks. In Dannefer, D and Phillipson, C (eds). The SAGE Handbook of Social Gerontology. London: Sage, pp. 215–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victor, CR, Scambler, S and Bond, J (2009) The Social World of Older People. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Wall, K and Gouveia, R (2014) Changing meanings of family in personal relationships. Current Sociology 62, 352–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellman, B (2001) The Persistence and Transformation of Community: From Neighbourhood Groups to Social Networks. Ottawa: Law Commission of Canada.Google Scholar
World Values Survey Association (2012) World Values Survey: Wave 6 2010–2014. Madrid: World Values Survey Association.Google Scholar