Personality Traits Predict Social Network Size in Older Adults

Jasmine Rollings; Jérôme Micheletta; Darren Van Laar; Bridget M. Waller

doi:10.1177/01461672221078664

Personality Traits Predict Social Network Size in Older Adults

Jasmine Rollings^*, Jérôme Micheletta, Darren Van Laar, Bridget M. Waller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Bristol Medical School (PHS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Humans live in unusually large groups, where relationships are thought to be maintained through complex socio-communicative abilities. The size and quality of social networks are associated with health and well-being outcomes throughout life. However, how some individuals manage to form larger social networks is not well understood. If socio-communicative traits evolved to form and maintain relationships, personality traits should be associated with variation in network size. Here, using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we investigate the impact of extraversion, agreeableness, and verbal communication on network size (N = 5,202) and network size change over time (N = 1,511) in later life for kin and friend networks. Higher levels of extraversion and agreeableness were associated with greater social network sizes but did not predict network size change over 14 years. The findings are discussed considering the evolutionary hypothesis that communicative and affiliative traits may have evolved to support the maintenance of social networks.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	925-938
Number of pages	14
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume	49
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221078664
Publication status	Published - Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) to JR (Grant reference: 2123967). European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant to BW also contributed to this project (Grant reference: 864694). The funding sources were not involved in the design, analysis, or interpretation of this research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Keywords

agreeableness
communication
extraversion
older adults
social groups
social networks

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@article{e4448a5d1b6449ba967247e3c533797e,

title = "Personality Traits Predict Social Network Size in Older Adults",

abstract = "Humans live in unusually large groups, where relationships are thought to be maintained through complex socio-communicative abilities. The size and quality of social networks are associated with health and well-being outcomes throughout life. However, how some individuals manage to form larger social networks is not well understood. If socio-communicative traits evolved to form and maintain relationships, personality traits should be associated with variation in network size. Here, using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we investigate the impact of extraversion, agreeableness, and verbal communication on network size (N = 5,202) and network size change over time (N = 1,511) in later life for kin and friend networks. Higher levels of extraversion and agreeableness were associated with greater social network sizes but did not predict network size change over 14 years. The findings are discussed considering the evolutionary hypothesis that communicative and affiliative traits may have evolved to support the maintenance of social networks.",

keywords = "agreeableness, communication, extraversion, older adults, social groups, social networks",

author = "Jasmine Rollings and J{\'e}r{\^o}me Micheletta and \{Van Laar\}, Darren and Waller, \{Bridget M.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) to JR (Grant reference: 2123967). European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant to BW also contributed to this project (Grant reference: 864694). The funding sources were not involved in the design, analysis, or interpretation of this research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1177/01461672221078664",

language = "English",

volume = "49",

pages = "925--938",

journal = "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin",

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AU - Rollings, Jasmine

AU - Micheletta, Jérôme

AU - Van Laar, Darren

AU - Waller, Bridget M.

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) to JR (Grant reference: 2123967). European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant to BW also contributed to this project (Grant reference: 864694). The funding sources were not involved in the design, analysis, or interpretation of this research. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

PY - 2023/6

Y1 - 2023/6

N2 - Humans live in unusually large groups, where relationships are thought to be maintained through complex socio-communicative abilities. The size and quality of social networks are associated with health and well-being outcomes throughout life. However, how some individuals manage to form larger social networks is not well understood. If socio-communicative traits evolved to form and maintain relationships, personality traits should be associated with variation in network size. Here, using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we investigate the impact of extraversion, agreeableness, and verbal communication on network size (N = 5,202) and network size change over time (N = 1,511) in later life for kin and friend networks. Higher levels of extraversion and agreeableness were associated with greater social network sizes but did not predict network size change over 14 years. The findings are discussed considering the evolutionary hypothesis that communicative and affiliative traits may have evolved to support the maintenance of social networks.

AB - Humans live in unusually large groups, where relationships are thought to be maintained through complex socio-communicative abilities. The size and quality of social networks are associated with health and well-being outcomes throughout life. However, how some individuals manage to form larger social networks is not well understood. If socio-communicative traits evolved to form and maintain relationships, personality traits should be associated with variation in network size. Here, using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we investigate the impact of extraversion, agreeableness, and verbal communication on network size (N = 5,202) and network size change over time (N = 1,511) in later life for kin and friend networks. Higher levels of extraversion and agreeableness were associated with greater social network sizes but did not predict network size change over 14 years. The findings are discussed considering the evolutionary hypothesis that communicative and affiliative traits may have evolved to support the maintenance of social networks.

KW - agreeableness

KW - communication

KW - extraversion

KW - older adults

KW - social groups

KW - social networks

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85129000984

U2 - 10.1177/01461672221078664

DO - 10.1177/01461672221078664

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 35393911

AN - SCOPUS:85129000984

SN - 0146-1672

VL - 49

SP - 925

EP - 938

JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

IS - 6

ER -

Personality Traits Predict Social Network Size in Older Adults

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