Social Networks and Mastery after Driving Cessation: A Gendered Life Course Approach

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 02. Social Networks

Abstract

Driving cessation is a common and disempowering life course transition for many older American adults. Little research, however, has systematically documented how people’s social networks change in the aftermath of driving cessation or examined how the network environment in which older adults are embedded affects their sense of efficacy during this life course event. Findings from the longitudinal National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) illustrate the centrality of gender during the driving cessation transition. Specifically, men—but not women—experienced shrinking network size and a decrease in network bridging ability upon ceasing to drive. Further, the consequences of driving cessation on the sense of mastery differed for men and women depending on their social network context. Consistent with a process of resilience, women with high network bridging potential experienced increased mastery in the aftermath of driving cessation. Men with high bridging potential, on the other hand, experienced sharp declines in mastery when they turned over their keys. Taken together, the findings corroborate the importance of a gendered life course approach and point to the complex and varied consequences of driving cessation—a ubiquitous but surprisingly under-studied life course event.

Author

• Markus H. Schafer, University of Toronto