The Social Connectedness of Older Adults: A National Profile

Benjamin Cornwell, Edward O. Laumann, and L. Philip Schumm ONLINE SUPPLEMENT to article in AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW, 2008, VOL. 73 (APRIL: 185–203) We are unable to identify the specific mechanisms that govern the apparent increase in associational involvement with age among older adults. The most common explanation is that this increase reflects an intentional adaptive response on the part of older adults who face interpersonal social loss. An alternative explanation is that interpersonal loss is often followed by developments that could affect one’s connectedness to the community, such as changes in living arrangements (e.g., taking up residence in a retirement community) or increased outreach efforts by local organizations. The extent to which such mechanisms come into play is likely to condition the impact of life-course challenges on older adults’ associational involvement in particular. We are unable, though, to evaluate these possibilities here.