Negative Interactions during Late Life

Impact of Negative Social Interactions on Health and Well-Being

Research that examines the impact of negative social interactions on health and well-being has often compared the effects of positive and negative interactions. A point of departure for such work has been the extensive body of evidence documenting health-related benefits of social ties. Across the life span, structural (e.g., network size, frequency of social contact) and functional (e.g., perceived support availability and quality) aspects of social networks significantly affect health and well-being. Social network members often provide emotional and instrumental support that dampens the adverse effects of life stress and provide opportunities for companionship and shared activities. Not surprisingly, people who have meaningful social relationships report less depression and susceptibility to chronic disease, and greater life satisfaction and longevity. The generally positive impact of supportive social relationships extends into later life; research with older adults indicates that supportive ties have a beneficial impact on mental and physical functioning.

Yet, interactions with social network members are not exclusively positive. Some network members, despite good intentions, engage in selfish, insensitive, or simply clumsy behavior at times. Analyses of social network composition indicate that although most network members function predominantly as a source of positive exchanges, many function as a source of both positive and negative exchanges, and a vexing minority function solely as a source of negative exchanges. These negative exchanges have the potential to elicit negative affect and arouse stress in their own right, thereby threatening well-being. [Page 1145]Negative interactions can take many forms. A review of the literature, however, suggests that they can be classified in four relatively broad categories. Although some degree of overlap exists across these categories, the categories have been validated and found to have distinctive effects in representative samples of older adults. These categories are insensitive or critical behavior by others, intrusive or unsound advice provided by others, failure by others to provide tangible or instrumental support in times of need, and rejection or neglect by others. These are directly parallel to four broad categories of positive exchanges that are consequential for well-being: emotional support, informational support, instrumental support, and companionship.

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