Emotional support networks among men shrink by 50% between the ages of 30 and 90, reflecting an average decrease from two to one emotional support providers, according to research published in Psychology & Aging.
Research consistently shows that social networks tend to shrink with age. Emotional support, defined as providing comfort and understanding, is essential for well-being, particularly in older adults, where it predicts better cognitive health, emotional stability, and life expectancy. Past studies demonstrate that general social network contraction occurs globally and across genders. However, whether the decline extends to the most intimate forms of support is debated.
Motivated by frameworks like socioemotional selectivity theory, which proposes that older adults strategically prioritize close relationships, and theories emphasizing emotional independence with age, Kate Petrova and colleagues aimed to clarify how emotional support networks evolve and identify early predictors of their size.
This study utilized a unique longitudinal dataset drawn from a sample of 235 men who were originally recruited as Harvard University students between 1939 and 1942. These participants were followed for 71 years, with data collected at regular intervals to assess changes in their emotional support networks. Emotional support was defined as the number of people participants turned to for comfort and counsel during challenging times. Data collection involved seven waves of emotional support assessments conducted between 1951 and 2010.
Participants were asked open-ended questions about their emotional support providers, such as “Who do you turn to for emotional support?” or “With whom do you usually talk over personal problems?” The total number of support providers was calculated based on participants’ responses. However, generalized responses, such as “family” or “friends,” as well as mentions of non-human sources like pets, were excluded from formal analyses.
The study also examined early-life predictors of network size. Archival data from participants’ intake interviews in the late 1930s and early 1940s provided information about childhood family environments, including parental warmth and socioeconomic status (SES). Parental warmth was measured using coders’ ratings of the participants’ relationships with their mother and father, as well as the overall emotional climate of their home. Childhood SES was assessed using parental education and income levels. Life transitions, such as marriage and retirement, were also considered in the analysis, with data collected about participants’ marital and employment statuses throughout the study.
This comprehensive, longitudinal approach allowed the researchers to examine how emotional support networks changed over time and the factors that influenced these changes.
Petrova and colleagues found that emotional support networks declined significantly across the adult lifespan, with participants’ reported number of emotional support providers decreasing by approximately 50% between the ages of 30 and 90. At age 30, participants reported relying on an average of two support providers, which decreased to just one by age 90. This linear decline suggests that aging is accompanied by a reduction in the number of people individuals regularly turn to for emotional support. Interestingly, this decline was consistent across participants, indicating that the trajectory of network shrinkage was a shared experience within this cohort.
Results also highlighted the impact of specific life transitions on emotional support networks. Participants’ networks were smaller during periods when they were married, suggesting a consolidation of emotional reliance on their spouse. However, retirement did not appear to influence the number of emotional support providers.
The study also revealed that early-life experiences played a critical role in shaping network size. Participants who grew up in warmer family environments—characterized by supportive and nurturing relationships with parents—had larger emotional support networks in adulthood. In contrast, childhood SES, as measured by parental income and education, did not predict later-life network size.
These results emphasize the enduring influence of early family dynamics on socioemotional development, even as other life transitions occur throughout adulthood.
This research was limited by its all-male, predominantly White sample and its reliance on self-reported data. Additionally, the quality of emotional support and its impacts on well-being were not assessed.
The study, “Emotional support across adulthood: A 60-year study of men’s social networks,” was authored by Kate Petrova, Michael D. Nevarez, Robert J. Waldinger, and Marc S. Schulz.
