Social Relations and Technology: Continuity, Context, and Change

Copyright © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

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Abstract

Social relations, although basic to human nature, health and well-being, have become increasingly complicated as a result of changing population demography and technology. In this essay, we provide a historical overview of social relations, especially as they affect older people. We briefly review the evolution of theory and measurement surrounding social relations as well as early empirical evidence. We consider how social relations have changed over time as well as continuity and change regarding basic characteristics of social relations. Of special interest is the emerging influence of technology on how people maintain contact, especially the changing ways people can use technology to increase, decrease, maintain, or avoid social relations. We consider both negative and positive aspects of these new technologies and their influence on health and well-being. Finally, we conclude that new and emerging technologies hold great promise for the future by overcoming traditional barriers to maintaining social contact, support exchange, and information acquisition. Nevertheless, we caution that these new technologies can have the dehumanizing effect of distance thus creating the potential for insensitivity and increased negativity. In sum, we are cautiously optimistic about the promise of technology to expand, but not replace, traditional forms of social contact.

Translational Significance

Incorporating technology into our study of social relations will be informative for our understanding of how communication modalities influence or are an expression of closeness and/or conflict. Further, technology has important potential for keeping social networks linked and for delivering potential interventions from telehealth to caregiving.

Social relations are a fundamental aspect of human life. This has been advocated early in the history of social science by luminaries such as Cooley (1902), Durkheim (1915), and Mead (1913), and continues to be of significance today as scholars document this point both theoretically and empirically, see Antonucci, Ajrouch, & Birditt (2014), for a review. Context also matters, in that the ways in which social relations evolve and influence well-being have been shown to vary across time and place (Ajrouch, Fuller, Akiyama & Antonucci, 2017; Fiori, Smith & Antonucci, 2007). At the same time, technological developments are fundamentally changing the ways in which we experience social relations, and may impact health and well-being accordingly. In this invited essay, we identify the convoy model as our guiding theoretical framework for understanding continuity and change in social relations. We consider how social relations have changed over time, specifically how technological advances engender new modes of contact for older adults. This is followed by a consideration of challenges facing the study of social relations, with particular attention to the need for theoretical and empirical assessments that take into account newly developing characteristics of our society. These include changes in the demography of the family and changes in migration patterns. We then elaborate on how new of experiencing social relations may have both positive and negative effects, thereby differentially influencing health and well-being. An important challenge to the field of social relations is to consider how to incorporate these developments into current and timely research.

The Convoy Model of Social Relations

The convoy model was developed to specify the scientific study of social relations by detailing the antecedent factors influencing social relations (personal and situational), identifying multiple dimensions of social relations, and illustrating how these factors influence health and well-being (Antonucci, 2001; Kahn & Antonucci, 1980). Individual characteristics such as age, gender, race, and religion illustrate the personal characteristics thought to influence social relations, whereas situational characteristics such as roles, norms, organizations, and communities were identified as important external factors influencing social relations. Multiple dimensions of social relations were specified to include convoy structure, support, and satisfaction or relationship quality. The tenets of the convoy model were built on key findings in the literature showing that social relations are an important part of the health and well-being of older people in the United States and around the globe.

Structure refers to characteristics of the people in one’s network such as size, composition, contact frequency, and geographic proximity. Size and composition are important in so far as larger, more diverse networks are associated with positive outcomes. Much evidence has accumulated to indicate that older people enjoy spending leisure time with friends and that these relationships are associated with positive well-being (Adams & Blieszner, 1989; Antonucci & Akiyama, 1995). On the other hand, older people also frequently report that they would turn to family, specifically spouse and children when in need. Cantor’s (1979) hierarchy of caregiving clearly designated the order of caregiving preference to be spouse/partner, child, other family, friend\neighbor, and formal caregiver.

A great deal of attention over the last century was given to the “decline of the family” as well as the decreased status of elders in our society. It was argued that older people were increasingly disrespected, alone, and isolated. Yet, classic studies challenged these notions with extensive, empirical investigations. It is now fairly well established, and convoy data continue to empirically support, that older people generally live quite close to and are in regular contact with their children (Ajrouch et al., 2017; Fiori, Antonucci & Akiyama, 2008; Shanas et al, 1968). Not only do older people receive help, support, and contributions from their children, they also provide these same types of assistance to their children. In fact, older people often provide more than they receive (Akiyama, Antonucci, & Campbell, 1997; Webster et al., 2012; Wiemers, Seltzer, Schoen, Hotz & Bianchi, 2016). In sum, social support structure includes various elements, all of which are included in the convoy model.

Support refers to the provision and receipt of support, such as aid, affect and affirmation. Lack of social support can have a significant negative impact on health and well-being. One of the most intriguing classic findings is that the single factor most likely to prevent nursing home placement is the report by the older person that they had a confidante, someone with whom they could share their intimate feelings (Lowenthal & Haven, 1968; this finding has been replicated around the world, e.g. in Australia by Giles, Glonek, Luszcz, & Andrews, 2007). Social support, and, in particular, protection from isolation and loneliness, are clearly important for the health and well-being of older people. The convoy model recognizes various support types, including instrumental and emotional support, as key predictors of health and well-being.

Satisfaction refers to one’s assessment of one’s social relations, sometimes referred to as adequacy or quality of relationships. It was thought that the existence of a relationship presupposed positive relationship quality and support. These assumptions were increasingly questioned as people began to note that while some families did evidence close, positive relationships, others might better be characterized as negative or ambivalent (both positive and negative) at best. Troll (1971) used the term residential propinquity to note that while many older people wanted to remain close to their family, they actually preferred not to live with them. She suggested that people recognized that it was easier to maintain positive relationships when some distance, privacy, and independence could be maintained. Family relations often include intergenerational relations. Bengtson and his colleagues expanded the family social relations literature by examining intrafamily intergenerational relations and introducing solidarity theory. According to this theory, positive features of adult child–parent ties include contact, emotional bonds, and support exchanges (Fingerman, Sechrist, & Birditt, 2013; Silverstein & Bengtson, 1997). In addition, once Bengtson and colleagues expanded this work to investigate the possibility of negativity in intergenerational relations (Silverstein, Parrott, Angelinni, & Cook, 2000), they found that in most families some level of conflict also existed, with younger people reporting more conflict than older people. Bengtson attributed this to differences in intergenerational stake, which referred to the fact that older people were more invested in family links to ensure their legacy, whereas younger people sought to establish independence and create their own legacy (Bengtson & Kuypers, 1971). Empirical evidence has accumulated supporting both these theoretical perspectives (Suitor, Sechrist, Gilligan, & Pillemer, 2011). The convoy model ensures attention to the complexity of relationships quality.

Over the years, evidence has accumulated in support of the convoy model (Antonucci, 2001; Ajrouch et al., 2017). Fortunately, the model is designed to incorporate the study of newly emerging developments that might influence social relations. Technological advances, especially with regard to communication technology and social media, offer new ways for enabling older adults to establish social connectedness with family and friends (Czaja et al., 2017; Delello & McWhorter, 2017; Leist, 2013). Technology can also provide pathways for support in managing health conditions among older adults and those who provide care (Czaja, 2017). Though, as the convoy model posits, use and benefits of technology likely vary according to personal and situational characteristics, and will influence health in unique ways.

Incorporating Technological Developments Into the Study of Social Relations

The nature of social interaction has changed as technological advances have provided new methods of contact. Consider the evolution from in-person contact and letter writing to the telegraph and telephone and, most recently, to ever more individualized and electronic forms of contact such as cell phones, video calls (e.g., Skype, FaceTime), and social media (e.g., Facebook). We know very little about how different forms of communication influence social relations, health, and well-being.

To address the observation that social relations are now experienced in new ways because of technological developments, we recently analyzed a measure of contact frequency that distinguished in-person contact from telephone and electronic contact using the longitudinal Survey of Social Relations (Antonucci, Birditt & Webster, 2010). See Table 1 for a description of participant characteristics. We then examined the degree to which positive and negative relationship quality measured at Time 1, predicted adults’ frequency and use of different forms of communication 10 years later with members of their convoy, namely parents, spouse, child, and friend. We briefly report on our findings in the following paragraphs. For those who might doubt their use, we should note that older adults are increasingly using social media. While over 90% of young people are online and have cell phones, over half of adults age 65 and over are online and 78% own a cell phone (Anderson, 2015; Zickuhr & Madden, 2012).

Table 1.

Social Relations Study Wave 3 (Time 2) Sample Descriptives (N = 557)