Intimacy: factors affecting its development among members of a home for the aged

The purpose of this research was to explore the extent and nature of intimate interaction in an unGoffmanesque home for the aged. Interviews with all elderly residents and the staff who served them revealed that the residents' intimate relationships were primarily with others outside the home and never with staff members. Moreover, the residents and, more particularly, the staff viewed the residents in negative ways and reported more negative than positive affectivity within the home. Factors impeding intimate interactions were related to the widely shared negative stereotype of the aged residents, the manner in which staff perceived their role, and the absence of mutual aid or helping behaviors among the residents.