A review of the research on aging and friendship reveals distinct patterns by gender that are linked to sex role learning and expectations. Friendship behaviors that are adaptive at one part of the life course may be dysfunctional at another. In old age, it appears that the interpersonal skills of women are highly functional, allowing them greater flexibility in the construction of social networks than is the case for old men.
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Beth B. Hess (1979) studied this question.
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