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Social Integration

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Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging

Synonyms

Social capital; Social isolation; Social networks; Social participation; Social support

Definition

Social integration is a multidimensional construct that can be defined as the extent to which individuals participate in a variety of social relationships, including engagement in social activities or relationships and a sense of communality and identification with one’s social roles (Holt-Lunstad and Uchino 2015; Brissette et al. 2000). Social integration and social support are often used interchangeably but represent different conceptual approaches to understanding the influence of social relationships. For example, the classic paper by Cohen and Wills (1985) drew the distinction between structural and functional aspects of social support. Social integration is viewed as structural, because it represents the presence or absence of support, whereas perceived social support and received social support are viewed as functional aspects of relationships (e.g., Holt-Lunstad et al. 2017...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Mckay Lefler

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  1. Julianne Holt-Lunstad
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  2. Mckay Lefler
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Correspondence to Julianne Holt-Lunstad .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Division, UN Dept of Economic Social Affairs Population Division, New York, NY, USA

    Danan Gu

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Matthew E. Dupre

Section Editor information

  1. Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, NY, USA

    Danan Gu

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Holt-Lunstad, J., Lefler, M. (2020). Social Integration. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_646-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Social Integration
    Published:
    30 October 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_646-2

  2. Original

    Social Integration
    Published:
    01 September 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_646-1

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