Does health divide? Social networks and emergent social boundaries in a retirement community

Markus H Schafer, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation consists of three studies which investigate the nature of emergent inequality in a retirement community. Health, as a valued trait among older individuals, is expected to form an important basis of social stratification. The first empirical study examines whether healthier people report more social interaction with their peers and whether they receive more social ties from others in the community. The results indicate some support for the hypothesis that healthier people are more popular, though these findings are contingent upon what type of social relation is being considered. For confidant relations, healthier people report the fewest number of ties. The second empirical paper builds on the finding that people receiving reports of social ties tend to have better health than those who report the ties. Incorporating data about physical proximity, Chapter 3 analyses reveal that the tendency to report interactions with people who live nearby enhances the patterns of health inequality within reported social ties. The final study examines whether higher-order properties of a network, such as clustering, explain people's apparent preference for interacting with healthier people. The findings reveal that clustering does account for why healthier people receive more ties, but it does not reduce the tendency for the healthiest people to disproportionately associate with other healthier people. Less healthy people tend also to be less discriminating in who they select as a social tie.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Feld, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Gerontology|Social structure

COinS