Social relationships, psychosocial adaptation, and intrainstitutional relocation of elderly men

The intrainstitutional relocation of 40 men aged 53 to 91 years was studied in relation to social integration, and to behavioral and self-report measures of psychosocial adaptation. In both longitudinal and time-lag analyses of pre- and postrelocation data, relocated men scored lower on the attitude toward aging dimension (PGC Morale Scale, Lawton, 1975), had fewer friends, and evidenced better communication behavior (p less than .01) than did unrelocated men. The more sociable men showed more change after relocation than did men who were less sociable.