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Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?

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, cont...

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Autores principales: Litwin, Howard, Levinsky, Michal
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8734542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018168
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8
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author Litwin, Howard
Levinsky, Michal
author_facet Litwin, Howard
Levinsky, Michal
author_sort Litwin, Howard
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description 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8.
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spelling pubmed-87345422022-01-07 Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans? Litwin, Howard Levinsky, Michal Eur J Ageing Original Investigation 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8. Springer Netherlands 2022-01-06 /pmc/articles/PMC8734542/ /pubmed/35018168 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022
spellingShingle Original Investigation
Litwin, Howard
Levinsky, Michal
Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title_full Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title_fullStr Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title_full_unstemmed Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title_short Does personality shape the personal social networks of older Europeans?
title_sort does personality shape the personal social networks of older europeans?
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8734542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35018168
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-021-00678-8
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