| The ability to flourish over the life span results from the dynamic interaction between an individual and his or her environment. To contribute to the understanding of this interaction, structured interviews were conducted with 44 adults between the ages of 60 and 86 years. The interview gathered information on the respondents' (a) demographic background and personality, (b) productive and leisure activity participation, (c) general social networks, (d) support networks, (e) shared activity interests, and (f) perceived activity support and deterrence. Although the interview consisted of both quantitative and qualitative measures, the overarching analytic approach was qualitative. The information gathered from these interviews was used to create cases describing the interactions between activity and social relationships. Network maps of the relationships were used to assess whether the general patterns of interaction corresponded to specific leisure activity patterns. Cases were also analyzed to ascertain whether the social interaction patterns found in different activity forms corresponded to social support patterns described by Wenger (1994) and by Weiss (1974).; The findings revealed four social interaction forms within activity contexts clearly distinguished people as well as activity forms. These four forms included solitary, individual, dyad, and group interaction. Findings demonstrated the theoretical value of models of behavior that include interaction forms beyond that of individual. |
