2014 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 23-30
The state of peripheral social relationships of elderly people living in a housing complex was investigated. Their acquaintances were classified into three categories depending on the degree of familiarity. The number of people in each category was counted. Furthermore, personal attribution factors that would be related to the numbers were analyzed. A questionnaire survey was conducted with elderly people living alone（N=250, from 65 to 84 years old）. The number of valid responses was 139（55.6%）. Multiple regression analysis was conducted with the amount of peripheral social relationship as the dependent variable. The results indicated that people had many social relationships with others not friends. People going out often, people with children living separately at a short distance, and people living for a long time were acquainted with many people whose address and name were recognized. People with children living separately at a short distance, and people living for a long time were acquainted with many people that were recognized by name only. People with a high educational background, people living for a long time were acquainted with many people that were recognized by sight only. Studies of peripheral social relationships are also important in the isolation problem of elderly people living alone.
