Human Growth and Development / Unit 16 HGD 2267 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
The idea
Carstensen's socioemotional selectivity theory holds that as time horizons shorten, goals shift from gathering information, served by large and diverse networks, to emotional goals, served by fewer, closer ties. Older adults are not disengaging but selecting. In Western samples close ties hold steady while peripheral ties fall; in Eastern samples close ties increase and peripheral ties fall less. The convoy model describes the same pattern from a different angle.
In practice
A seventy-eight-year-old who declines invitations from acquaintances but spends every Sunday with her two oldest friends and her daughter.
Where people slip
The misconception is that shrinking networks mean older adults are withdrawing from life; they are choosing emotionally rewarding ties. The theory also explains the positivity effect: with limited time, emotional satisfaction becomes the priority. Exam items describe a narrowing network with deep close ties and ask for this theory.
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