Kinship Interaction over the Family Life Span

There has been considerable ambiguity in previous research about the relationship between family life span and kinship interaction. This study identified several possible explanations and methodological problems and three specific hypotheses were developed to try to resolve at least some of these issues. Two different data sets were used to test these hypotheses: one from interviews of 799 adults in North Carolina and the other from a survey of 478 more randomly selected respondents in Indiana. It was found that the family life span variable has no effect on the amount qf interaction, whereas other variables have substantial effect. The degree of kinship propinquity makes a great deal of difference in kinship interaction. Adults have considerable interaction with close relatives such as parents, married children, and siblings, and much less interaction with more distant relatives such as cousins. Geographical distance has a negative effect on the amount of interaction, but substantial interaction occurs despite the distance between relatives. Affectional closeness and enjoyment also affect the amount of kinship interaction, especially for more extended kin.