Open AccessThe degree of kinship and its association with reciprocity and exchange in the relationships of visually impaired older adults
Author(s) -
Katheri.-L. Flaig,
Steven E. Mock,
Joann P. Reinhardt
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
european journal of ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1613-9380
pISSN - 1613-9372
DOI - 10.1007/s10433-008-0085-5
Subject(s) - kinship , reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , association (psychology) , psychology , adaptation (eye) , visual impairment , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , social psychology , biology , sociology , paleontology , neuroscience , psychiatry , anthropology , psychotherapist
This study draws on an evolutionary model of exchange in relationships to examine the nature of perceived reciprocity in the context of kin and non-kin relationships among a sample of visually impaired older adults (age 63-99). Further, we examined the direct and moderating impact of functional impairment and adaptation to visual impairment on the nature of perceived reciprocity. Results showed that the greater the degree of genetic relatedness the more imbalanced the exchange. It was also found that degree of adaptation to visual impairment moderated the association between genetic relatedness and perceived exchange, such that the greater the degree of genetic relatedness the more people reported they gave rather than received except at very low levels of adaptation, when people received more than they gave the greater the degree of genetic relatedness. Thus, an evolutionary model was supported such that imbalanced exchange was found more with greater degrees of genetic relatedness, but the direction of exchange was different for high versus low levels of adaptation to vision impairment.