Social Networks of Older Adults: A Comparative Study of Americans ...

This eclectic theoretical stance is close to the socialviability theory—derived from the work of Mary Douglas—formulated by Thompson, Ellis, and Wildavsky (1990), in which they integrate the pattern of interpersonal relations with “social bias,” their term for shared values and beliefs. A similar integration of perspectives is the structuralist constructionism of Emirbayer and Goodwin (1994), who attempt to expand the typical structuralist, materialistic approach of much social-network research to also include culture and agency. A further influence of our approach derives from the theory of practice developed by Bourdieu, who insists there is no direct relationship between structure and practice, but rather that this relationship can only be understood through the mediation of habitus, the subjective dispositions internalized by individuals through socialization. His definition of habitus resembles some of the more psychologically oriented conceptions of culture: “a subjective but not individual system of internalized structures, schemes of perception, conception, and action common to all members of the same group or class” (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 86). In the analysis that follows, we tack back and forth between the major structural variable, social network, and key psychosocial elements relevant to a social-constructionist perspective.

Social Networks

Network analysis is a particularly useful approach to social-exchange theory with its emphasis on interaction that involves giving and receiving the goods and services commonly involved in transactions. One assumption of both network analysis and social-exchange theory is that individual behavior can only be understood within the context of one’s personal network (Stolte & Emerson, 1977). A further element often associated with personal networks is that network members are those to whom one is committed emotionally and who are crucial in establishing a personal sense of identity; this is a central concern of social-constructionist thought (Litwin, 1995b; Milardo, 1992).