ABSTRACT
Primary groups are commonly contrasted with other groups whose members are relatively formal, impersonal, and reserved in relation to each other. Members of groups of the latter type tend to address each other by surnames or other titles of office. This chapter focuses on families and family surrogates, inside and outside long-term care institutions. It discusses the friendship groups and the social and psychological significance of roommates in homes for the aged. In marital status, the largest single frequency was widowed persons. In general, there was no significant relationship between marital status and morale. Married elderly persons were no more likely to have high morale than those who were widowed, divorced, separated, or single. Developmentally, in the socialization of females in the United States there is much more emphasis on the value of nurturing performances, such as child rearing and tension management in interpersonal relations, than there is in the socialization of males.
