Social Development Research

Social Development Research

PSY/201

June 5, 2013

Social Development Research

The topic of this article is social relationships in later adulthood. The article is based on studies about older adults and the way they maintain the social resources with the transition through the stages of life. This article covers research on the changes that occur from the young, middle aged and older adults and the decreases of social relationships. The older adult remains close to family and friends and gradually chooses not to have as many contacts with people they are not close to. People manage their social relationships based on their personality at the time in their life. As a person ages and visualizes their future of dying they regulate their social relationships by decreasing their network of people even more to distance themselves from other people. The older person stays close to people they love and care about when they feel closer to dying. The person determines their goals by time perspectives of their life. Social relationships keep a person healthy and active throughout their life.

I chose this article and topic because the research information is valuable in understanding social development through the stages of our life. The topic of aging we discussed in class and is related to the changes in our social relationships. There are positive and negative social network changes we make as we age during our lifetime. The people we socialize with can determine the decisions we make to eliminate the friends in our social circle.

If I had to write a research paper on this topic, I probably wouldn’t use this article because I would prefer to do further research on other issues of social development. The issues I would research are marriage, career, family, and finances. I would learn about the social development changes we go through during transition into each stage. The article has given me an interest in broader areas of our social development.

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