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The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model that contrasts two competing explanations of how feelings of satisfaction with social support emerge in later life. The first suggests that satisfaction with support is determined primarily by the amount of assistance provided by significant others, while the second view proposes that negative interaction may play a larger role in this process. Two main findings were obtained from this recent nationwide survey of older adults. First, negative interaction appears to be more strongly related to satisfaction with support than measures of support received from others. Second, statistical interaction effects were detected which suggest that the impact of negative interaction and received support depends upon the amount of assistance that the elderly study participants provide to their significant others.
Neal Krause (Wed,) studied this question.