IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v19y2022i3d10.1007_s10433-021-00678-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?

Author

Listed:
  • Howard Litwin

    (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

  • Michal Levinsky

    (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to clarify whether personality traits predict the structure, function and quality of egocentric confidant networks in later life. Data were drawn from Waves 7 and 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (N = 39,172). We regressed network size, contact frequency and network satisfaction on the Big-5 personality traits, using a single path analysis structure, controlling for country, sociodemographic background and health status. The findings showed that the personality traits were related to the social network outcomes, but their effect was modest and less predictive than the contextual factors. The country predictors explained the most variance, generally, with some surprising results. For example, confidant networks were the largest in Scandinavia and Central Europe, and smallest in the Mediterranean region and Eastern Europe. Among the personality traits, extraversion was the most consistent positive predictor, but conscientiousness was also predictive. Neuroticism was a negative predictor, but not of network size. The sociodemographic variables, particularly partner status, explained more variance than the personality traits did. In sum, the SHARE database offers a comprehensive and differentiated view of the complex interpersonal milieus in which older Europeans are embedded.

Suggested Citation

  • Howard Litwin & Michal Levinsky, 2022. "Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 717-727, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00678-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juliana Lustosa Torres & Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa & Michael Marmot & Cesar de Oliveira, 2016. "Wealth and Disability in Later Life: The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-12, November.
    2. Karen D. Lincoln & Robert Joseph Taylor & Linda M. Chatters, 2003. "Correlates of Emotional Support and Negative Interaction Among Older Black Americans," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(4), pages 225-233.
    3. Benjamin Cornwell & L. Philip Schumm & Edward O. Laumann & Jessica Graber, 2009. "Social Networks in the NSHAP Study: Rationale, Measurement, and Preliminary Findings," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(suppl_1), pages 47-55.
    4. James Iveniuk, 2019. "Social Networks, Role-Relationships, and Personality in Older Adulthood," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 74(5), pages 815-826.
    5. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
    6. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Anita Abramowska-Kmon, 2019. "Number of children and social contacts among older people: the moderating role of filial norms and social policies," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 95-107, March.
    7. Meng Huo & Jamie L Fuentecilla & Kira S Birditt & Karen L Fingerman & Derek Isaacowitz, 2020. "Empathy and Close Social Ties in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(8), pages 1648-1657.
    8. Howard Litwin, 2010. "Social Networks and Well-being: A Comparison of Older People in Mediterranean and Non-Mediterranean Countries," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 65(5), pages 599-608.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Iovino & Ercole Vellone & Nadia Cedrone & Barbara Riegel, 2023. "A Middle-Range Theory of Social Isolation in Chronic Illness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-12, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sarah Gibney & Mark E. McGovern & Erika Sabbath, 2013. "Social Relationships in Later Life: The Role of Childhood Circumstances," Working Papers 201319, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    2. Perkins, Jessica M. & Subramanian, S.V. & Christakis, Nicholas A., 2015. "Social networks and health: A systematic review of sociocentric network studies in low- and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 60-78.
    3. Joo, Won-tak, 2023. "Educational gradient in social network changes at disease diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    4. Ivaylo Vassilev & Anne Rogers & Anne Kennedy & Michel Wensing & Jan Koetsenruijter & Rosanna Orlando & Maria Carmen Portillo & David Culliford, 2016. "Social Network Type and Long-Term Condition Management Support: A Cross-Sectional Study in Six European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Rosaria Lumino & Giancarlo Ragozini & Marijtje Duijn & Maria Prosperina Vitale, 2017. "A mixed-methods approach for analysing social support and social anchorage of single mothers’ personal networks," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 779-797, March.
    6. Jenny Gierveld & Pearl A. Dykstra & Niels Schenk, 2012. "Living arrangements, intergenerational support types and older adult loneliness in Eastern and Western Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 27(7), pages 167-200.
    7. Damiano Fiorillo & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Nunzia Nappo, 2020. "Individual Heterogeneity in the Association Between Social Participation and Self-rated Health: A Panel Study on BHPS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 645-667, September.
    8. Daniel Graeber, 2017. "Does More Education Protect against Mental Health Problems?," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 113, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Zihan Cai & Ming Lu, 2018. "Social Integration Measurement of Inhabitants in Historic Blocks: The Case of Harbin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Maria Pavlova & Rainer Silbereisen & Kamil Sijko, 2014. "Social Participation in Poland: Links to Emotional Well-Being and Risky Alcohol Consumption," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 29-44, May.
    11. Hao-yu Hu & Wei Wang & Da-wei Feng & Hua-lei Yang & Zhong-kun Zhu, 2022. "Number of Children and Monetary Transfers to Elderly Parents in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 593-615, January.
    12. Liping Ye & Xinping Zhang, 2021. "The association mechanism between social network types and health‐related behaviours among the elderly in rural Hubei Province, China," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 826-846, May.
    13. Kanbur, Ravi & Fleurbaey, Marc & Viney, Brody, 2020. "Social Externalities and Economic Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 15179, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Byoung-Jin Jeon & Kang-Hyun Park, 2022. "The Impact of Social Network Characteristics on Health among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Korea: Application of Social Network Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-9, March.
    15. Francis, Jacinta & Wood, Lisa J. & Knuiman, Matthew & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2012. "Quality or quantity? Exploring the relationship between Public Open Space attributes and mental health in Perth, Western Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1570-1577.
    16. Miranda L. Ritterman & S. Leonard Syme, 2009. "The importance of community development for health and well-being," Community Development Innovation Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue 3, pages 001-013.
    17. Monika Ardelt, 2016. "Disentangling the Relations Between Wisdom and Different Types of Well-Being in Old Age: Findings from a Short-Term Longitudinal Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1963-1984, October.
    18. Cristina Bosch-Farré & Josep Garre-Olmo & Anna Bonmatí-Tomàs & Maria Carme Malagón-Aguilera & Sandra Gelabert-Vilella & Concepció Fuentes-Pumarola & Dolors Juvinyà-Canal, 2018. "Prevalence and related factors of Active and Healthy Ageing in Europe according to two models: Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, October.
    19. Vivian Welch & Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu & Victoria I. Barbeau & Elisabeth Boulton & Sabrina Boutin & Niobe Haitas & Dylan Kneale & Douglas M. Salzwedel & Roger Simard & Paul Herbert & Christopher Mik, 2022. "PROTOCOL: Digital interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness in older adults: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(3), September.
    20. Eibich, Peter & Goldzahl, Léontine, 2021. "Does retirement affect secondary preventive care use? Evidence from breast cancer screening," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00678-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.